Gig Bag for Parlor Guitar?

[Gerry]

I have a parlor guitar I intend to take on the road for 6 weeks or so.
It's 38" long, 4" deep (at its deepest point), and 13" at the lower
bout. Anybody have a suggestion for a light gig bag, no more than
around 2 pounds? I don't need a lot of compartments on it, or any at
all, frankly. I just don't want the guitar rattling around in a
regulation acoustic guitar case.

[Steve Freides]

There are lots of these around - I own a parlor acoustic (haven't
measured the body but it's small, although it has a normal scale length)
and it fits in just about every bag case I've had that was made for a
3/4 size guitar. In your place, I'd head over to the local Sam Ash or
Guitar Center and see what they've got. I just did a quick Google and
most of them seem to weigh around 2 lbs so I think you're OK there.

A few of my students have used a Road Runner brand - those seem fine,
have held up well, and they seem well padded, too.

-S-

[Gerry]

So far everything I've found leaves a 3 or 4 inch gap around the body
of the guitar. got a promising one from Phitz that fit the body but
was about 2 inches short.

[Steve Freides]

This is interesting - I've only had mine out of the house once or twice,
and in a too-big hard case. I used to have a gig bag for mine but I
think I sold or gave it away with another guitar, will try to find what
works because I should have one of these, too.

-S-

[John]

Gig bags scare me, although I'm sure they keep off any dust, and spilled drinks in the venue. The foam cases don't weigh much more, and I don't think they cost much more. Thick athletic socks are great for filling up excess space in the cavity. All of this only IMHO.

[Gerry]

Gig bags can easily be found that weigh between 1.2 to 2 pounds.

[Steve Freides]

Just FWIW, you'll almost never see an upright bass player using a hard
case except when flying - too bulky, and too heavy. There's a place for
gig bags in the world. :)

-S-

[Steve Freides]

Gerry, I just ordered this for myself

http://www.amazon.com/Gator-GBE-MINI-ACOU-Acoustic-Guitar-Bag/dp/B000MXJIL2

and I measured my parlor acoustic at 38-1/2" long, 13" wide at the lower
bout, so mine is pretty close to what you have.

I'll let you know when it gets here how it fits mine. This conversation
made me realize I really should have a bag for this guitar and I had
other things to order from amazon, anyway, so I took the free shipping
option, said 5-8 days to get here. It says it has 10mm of padding, also
says it weighs 1.2 lbs.

-S-

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-13 16:32:34 +0000, Steve Freides said:

> Gerry, I just ordered this for myself
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Gator-GBE-MINI-ACOU-Acoustic-Guitar-Bag/dp/B000MXJIL2
>
> and I measured my parlor acoustic at 38-1/2" long, 13" wide at the
> lower bout, so mine is pretty close to what you have.
>
> I'll let you know when it gets here how it fits mine. This
> conversation made me realize I really should have a bag for this guitar
> and I had other things to order from amazon, anyway, so I took the free
> shipping option, said 5-8 days to get here. It says it has 10mm of
> padding, also says it weighs 1.2 lbs.

Cool, let me know. I looked at that one (among every other one on the
planet) and was concerned that I couldn't carry it back-pack style. I
want to avoid shlepping it everywhere by the handle. That was a major
concern. I can see it has some doodads on the back but don't know how
they work for back carriage.

In the interim, I've taken my parlor to my guitar tech and he indicated
nothing could be done about the action, which is too high. I thought
I'd put gypsy strings on it and in conjunction with a little neck
torqueing and saddle fiddling maybe have a guitar suitable for a
solid-body devotee to use. I suppose not. He recommended I snoop
around, that there are a few $300 parlors on the market that might
better suit my needs.

Of course one of the rationales for taking my Segull Concert Grand was
that if a boot found the soundboard or it was stolen, it wouldn't break
my heart. On the other hand *buying* a new guitar to have stolen would
irk me far more.

[Steve Freides]

Gerry wrote:
> On 2016-04-13 16:32:34 +0000, Steve Freides said:
>
>> Gerry, I just ordered this for myself
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Gator-GBE-MINI-ACOU-Acoustic-Guitar-Bag/dp/B000MXJIL2
>>
>> and I measured my parlor acoustic at 38-1/2" long, 13" wide at the
>> lower bout, so mine is pretty close to what you have.
>>
>> I'll let you know when it gets here how it fits mine. This
>> conversation made me realize I really should have a bag for this
>> guitar and I had other things to order from amazon, anyway, so I
>> took the free shipping option, said 5-8 days to get here. It says
>> it has 10mm of padding, also says it weighs 1.2 lbs.
>
> Cool, let me know. I looked at that one (among every other one on the
> planet) and was concerned that I couldn't carry it back-pack style. I
> want to avoid shlepping it everywhere by the handle. That was a major
> concern. I can see it has some doodads on the back but don't know how
> they work for back carriage.

I looked at several before I decided on this one, but I don't recall you
mentioning wanting to backpack it - I'll see if it'll do that when it
gets here.

> In the interim, I've taken my parlor to my guitar tech and he
> indicated nothing could be done about the action, which is too high.
> I thought I'd put gypsy strings on it and in conjunction with a
> little neck torqueing and saddle fiddling maybe have a guitar
> suitable for a solid-body devotee to use. I suppose not. He
> recommended I snoop around, that there are a few $300 parlors on the
> market that might better suit my needs.

Might be worth taking it to another guitar tech for a second opinion.

> Of course one of the rationales for taking my Segull Concert Grand was
> that if a boot found the soundboard or it was stolen, it wouldn't
> break my heart. On the other hand *buying* a new guitar to have
> stolen would irk me far more.

I really need to look into my insurance coverage ...

-S-

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-13 21:51:05 +0000, Steve Freides said:

>> In the interim, I've taken my parlor to my guitar tech and he
>> indicated nothing could be done about the action, which is too high.
>> I thought I'd put gypsy strings on it and in conjunction with a
>> little neck torqueing and saddle fiddling maybe have a guitar
>> suitable for a solid-body devotee to use. I suppose not. He
>> recommended I snoop around, that there are a few $300 parlors on the
>> market that might better suit my needs.
>
> Might be worth taking it to another guitar tech for a second opinion.

I trust him implicitly. It's not worth the effort: this guitar can be
made to do the job by taking the entire bridge off and shaving it
down--but it's not worth the money. There's also a possibility that
the neck could be taken off and modified before putting back on--also
not worth saving a $300 guitar to get the action down a few milimeters.
I'm putting on a lighter string tomorrow (Savarez Argentines 11-46),
perhaps it will help a skosh.

Today I went to GC and played an Alvarez Parlor and a Ibanez. I wasn't
moved. I also tried a couple of gig bags for them; the parlor bag
(Roadrunner) was too short, the electric bag to small around the lower
bout.

At this point I've about defaulted to taking the Traveler Speedster,
about which I have very mixed feelings. It worked on my last long
trip, but it's kind of difficult to play with a thick neck, inherent
design-related tuning issues, and always takes a little fiddling to set
up each time I play it. Also playing through headsets all the time
sorta stinks.

[Steve Freides]

Ah, the wonder that is the Internet - have you seen this

http://parlor.guitars

-S-

[Gerry]

No, but I've always loved parlors. Unfortunately playing full-time on
the lightest light-touch solid-body for the past 7 or 8 years has kinda
ruined me for wrestling with these things...

[David J. Littleboy]

I've found that the lightest gage Elixr acoustic strings (.010 on top) make
acoustic guitars a bit friendlier....

-- David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

[Gerry]

Seems reasonable, but with 10's I'm wary I'd have to replace them every
3 weeks!

I'll report on the Savarez Agentine's if I can get off my ass and put
them on the guitar tomorrow.

[Steve Freides]

Yes, but there's a cost in terms of sound on some, maybe even most,
acoustic steel-string guitars with that light a string. Not every
guitar, but once you find an instrument that really starts to speak with
a heavier string, it's impossible - at least for me - to give up the
better sound just to make it easier to play.

Archtop users can play some pretty thick strings, too. I think a lot of
folks here do, no? I'm currently playing 13's on both parlor acoustic
and my archtop, which is an Epiphone 175-style.

-S-

[David J. Littleboy]

"Steve Freides" wrote in message news:dncd11...@mid.individual.net...

>David J. Littleboy wrote:
>>
>> I've found that the lightest gage Elixr acoustic strings (.010 on
>> top) make acoustic guitars a bit friendlier....
>
>Yes, but there's a cost in terms of sound on some, maybe even most,
>acoustic steel-string guitars with that light a string. Not every guitar,
>but once you find an instrument that really starts to speak with a heavier
>string, it's impossible - at least for me - to give up the better sound
>just to make it easier to play.

My OOO likes the lighter strings. I sometimes replace the top two with one
number higher, but I find that lighter strings on the lower 4 let the
instrument resonate more. And the Elixr strings are lovely.

>Archtop users can play some pretty thick strings, too. I think a lot of
>folks here do, no? I'm currently playing 13's on both parlor acoustic and
>my archtop, which is an Epiphone 175-style.

I'm using the .011 Thomastic flatwounds on my archtops and electrics, which
is also what my teach uses on his Super 400. Sounds great. Short clips from
his new live double CD (trio and quartet) at:

http://tinyurl.com/j34sp59

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-15 15:32:02 +0000, David J. Littleboy said:

> My OOO likes the lighter strings. I sometimes replace the top two with
> one number higher, but I find that lighter strings on the lower 4 let
> the instrument resonate more. And the Elixr strings are lovely.

Seriously, do they smell slightly of fish and/or do your hands smell
funny after playing. I've only used Elixr's twice and that's my,
admittedly odd, experience.

>> Archtop users can play some pretty thick strings, too. I think a lot
>> of folks here do, no? I'm currently playing 13's on both parlor
>> acoustic and my archtop, which is an Epiphone 175-style.
>
> I'm using the .011 Thomastic flatwounds on my archtops and electrics,
> which is also what my teach uses on his Super 400. Sounds great. Short
> clips from his new live double CD (trio and quartet) at:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/j34sp59

I agree that the heavier the strings, the better the sound,
particularly the attack if using a pick. Nevertheless the trade-off
his discomfort and/or lack of flexibility. The big bonus with 11's is
that I can still bend most strings up a whole step...

[Flattop]

I had a similar problem several years ago before parlors became more common. I ended up getting a bottle shaped drag string bag made that covered the guitar and went inside the gig bag. An Asian taylor whipped it up for me.


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[Steve Freides]

Steve Freides wrote:
> Gerry wrote:
>> On 2016-04-13 16:32:34 +0000, Steve Freides said:
>>
>>> Gerry, I just ordered this for myself
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Gator-GBE-MINI-ACOU-Acoustic-Guitar-Bag/dp/B000MXJIL2
>>>
>>> and I measured my parlor acoustic at 38-1/2" long, 13" wide at the
>>> lower bout, so mine is pretty close to what you have.
>>>
>>> I'll let you know when it gets here how it fits mine.

Bag arrived - it's padded with what sounded like newspaper, but it is
padded, and it does fit. Length is closer, width and depth seem fine.
Overall, I'd say it's worth what it cost. For the number of times I
take this guitar out of the house, I'll keep this bag and use it.

-S-

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-16 01:25:54 +0000, Steve Freides said:

> Bag arrived - it's padded with what sounded like newspaper, but it is
> padded, and it does fit. Length is closer, width and depth seem fine.
> Overall, I'd say it's worth what it cost. For the number of times I
> take this guitar out of the house, I'll keep this bag and use it.

Any idea how the fittings on the back work vis-a-vis back-packing?

[Steve Freides]

If you look at the second picture, you'll see one hook at the top and
two at the bottom. It comes with a single strap connected from top to
one of the bottom. I'd have to have a second strap to try backpacking
it, but I'd say shouldering would work.

I took a pic of the back of mine - if you want that, I use a real email
here, just ping me and I'll send it to you.

-S-

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-16 22:24:27 +0000, Steve Freides said:

> If you look at the second picture, you'll see one hook at the top and
> two at the bottom. It comes with a single strap connected from top to
> one of the bottom. I'd have to have a second strap to try backpacking
> it, but I'd say shouldering would work.

Ah but shouldering a guitar only works if both your other arms aren't
already dragging or holding something!

> I took a pic of the back of mine - if you want that, I use a real email
> here, just ping me and I'll send it to you.

No, I think I get it. At this point I'm gonna shlep the Speedster, I
believe. Though from what you're telling me there is enough
real-estate and fittings to give it to a luggage guy and have him make
it do right.

[Gerry]

And thanks for the report!

[Steve Freides]

Gerry wrote:
> And thanks for the report!

No problemo, dude.

:)

-S-

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-16 22:36:55 +0000, Gerry said:

> No, I think I get it. At this point I'm gonna shlep the Speedster, I
> believe. Though from what you're telling me there is enough
> real-estate and fittings to give it to a luggage guy and have him make
> it do right.

This Traveler Speedster stinks. The action is too high, and maybe with
a weekend of tweaking I could make something happen. But the bigger
issue is that for every 10 minutes I play, I spend 15 minutes tuning
it. The "wrap-around" structure they use for conserving space really
produces problems.

I changed the strings on the Seagull to these Savarez gypsy strings
(11-46), and it knocked back the action issues *almost* enough. And
perhaps "almost" is what you get with a shlep-along practice guitar.
They feel a little firmer than 11's so actually, considering the scale,
perhaps putting the Savarez Argentine 10's on would do the trick.

My right finger is hovering over the "Buy Now" button on the Gator gig bag...

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-17 17:48:18 +0000, Gerry said:

> My right finger is hovering over the "Buy Now" button on the Gator gig bag...

Click.

[Gerry]

On 2016-04-16 22:24:27 +0000, Steve Freides said:

>> Any idea how the fittings on the back work vis-a-vis back-packing?
>
> If you look at the second picture, you'll see one hook at the top and
> two at the bottom. It comes with a single strap connected from top to
> one of the bottom. I'd have to have a second strap to try backpacking
> it, but I'd say shouldering would work.
>
> I took a pic of the back of mine - if you want that, I use a real email
> here, just ping me and I'll send it to you.

Got the "Gator GBE-MINI-ACOU" gig bag for Amazon. Works *perfectly*.
It seemed too small at first and then I realized by taking off the
tuner it would fit without issue.

As for as the back-pack matter: It comes with a single strap you can
shift for left/right shoulder. The wife has a bag full of straps from
various other bags/suitcases over the years. One of them is a pretty
good match. So you hook both of them up, one to the bottom-left, on to
bottom-right, and it is actually comfortable. It works!

The strings Savarez gypsy strings (11-46) also work. Everything works!
I'm done!

Many thanks, I couldn't have done it without your input.

[Steve Freides]

Always happy to hear of a good result.

-S-