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[QUOTE=alambert] Any one ever make there on case?[/QUOTE]

Sometimes, yes. You ever tried buying a case to fit an 8-course Heiber lute?



For my guitars I usually buy Hiscox Pro cases, and have yet to experience any damage to a guitar on the road. They are usually the standard case offered by UK guitar builders, with Calton as the option.

ColinColin S39063.744525463

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=Rod True]

You can think what you want about Calton John, but anyone who has had one and has traveled with it will tell you that it just can't be beat. They really are second to none in my books and would offer them standard if the clients would pay for it. But they wouldn't, to bad.[/QUOTE]

Rod- No doubt Calton and Ameritage make good cases with quality hardware. I'd be more convinced of their worth if there were some real data (Consumer Reports-type testing) that proved that they were actually better than cheaper competing cases. Is there anything like this available?

Anecdotal evidence (stories from pros, etc) isn't really useful. How many of those folks had 2 cases, one cheaper and one better, and saw both of them dropped from the same height, etc etc...
Sorry- just my science background peeking through here...
Oh, and I'll put my Pelican case with my camera inside under my car wheel any time. Wouldn't try it with any of the guitar cases around my place (some from the 50s), though.

John

[QUOTE=JohnAbercrombie] [QUOTE=LanceK] John, give Ameritage a call or email Nancy and ask for there price list. Every company that sells products has a "retail" price.[/QUOTE]

and the 'marks' pay extra!
John
[/QUOTE]

What does that even mean? Do you EVER have a nice thing to say about ANYTHING?

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

John you are so wrapped up in complaining about the RETAIL price of an Ameritage case that your TOTALLY missing the fact that "RETAIL" is NOT what they cost!

The living room furniture outfit I have "retailed" for over 6000.00, a ridicules price. I paid less than half of that. Retail is NOT the actual price. Don't matter who you know or where you go.

Call THEM, you will get the same price I pay, and you will be pleasantly surprised.


I cannot believe I am explaining this..

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Since we are on the topic of cases, I thought I would take up John's challenge and try to find something on guitar case testing. Didn't find much (I sure not many case companies would pay for an adaquite test) but I did find a case for your case.

Check this out, looks like it could be some added insurance for shipping a guitar.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I just got one in the mail today.   

They are really sweet.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

What Brock? A Hiscox?

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

[QUOTE=LanceK]Retail is NOT the actual price. Don't matter who you know or where you go.

Call THEM, you will get the same price I pay, and you will be pleasantly surprised.


I cannot believe I am explaining this..
[/QUOTE]
Lance- I'm kinda slow. I just clicked on the link (at the top of every OLF page- your website) and got the Ameritage site. You add the case to your shopping cart and click "Checkout". So obviously there is a 'retail price' and folks who don't know any better will be paying that price.
That was my point- I'm not complaining about the price but about the system where the 'insiders' get a better price than the less-sophisticated buyer who just goes to the website.

John

Absolutely true John. But if you are in business then you know the way of business, if you are not then the one time costs are that big of a deal. I sell lots of stuff that I don't make. That means that I buy it for less than you can, the reason is that I typically buy a lot of it, they have all of my payment and shipping and shipping information, I know there products and order them in a format that is efficient for them. Time is money! So because we do regular business together, I get a break that allows me to then offer the products to others. If this wasn't the case then we would all have to go a totally seperate place to purchase each item. On this forum case prices have been discussed on a number of occasions. If you are in 'business' to sell your guitars then these case makers want you to buy their cases and know that you will buy a few over time, not the one off, time consuming, most of the time with no sale, one off purchaser.

Just the way of business my friend, you all would not believe how much time I spend NOT cutting wood to keep this this business going. It took me an hour to wrap one $300 package last night. If I want it there safe, that is what it takes sometimes. That needs to built into the price...I really haven't learnt that yet . On the other hand, I have some customers that order just sets, and in orders of 20 to 50 at a time, on a regular basis. I have them on computer system, there orders are placed with no correspondance required, I can select their tops and package them in half an hour. They are much less time consuming to satisfy. Some people stay wholesale just so that they only deal these types of orders. For me I really enjoy the interaction and pleasure of meeting others of all skill levels in instrument making so do both. I have turned down doing container loads of tops to Asia because then I would have to lose the retail end which I really enjoy. It is a juggle though.

Shane

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Canada

[QUOTE=Brock Poling]
Do you EVER have a nice thing to say about ANYTHING?
[/QUOTE]

Gosh, Brock! Aren't we allowed to question anything here?
Or is this a sensitive area because it involves a 'sponsor'? I didn't really think that it was necessary to be 'nice' to corporations. I think if you check out all my posts that you will find my comments to be quite moderate. I do try to be helpful, but I'm skeptical about unproven claims.

I started out with a simple comment that Ameritage cases were expensive, and wondered if there was any proof that they were actually any better at protecting a guitar than some less-expensive product.

The answers came back made the following points:
All the pros use expensive cases, so they must be good.
Nobody pays the retail price except folks who don't have the wits to get a better price.
The expensive cases look very nice and you can get your logo on them.

Rod's link to the travel/road case site was very interesting (and I thank him for it). That's certainly the approach I've seen taken by lots of pros on tour, and I certainly wouldn't trust an instrument in a single case (no matter how expensive) for shipping or air travel.

John

Shane-
Excellent points. I agree with what you say there.

There are quite a few different approaches to the whole wholesale/retail/discount issue. A place I shop locally lets anybody set up an cash account. The computer keeps track of how much you spend there. The greater your rate of spending, the bigger your discount. That's the kind of system I like- everybody's money is treated the same. Obviously if I order 50 tops (you choose) I should get a lot better price than buying 2 tops (with lots of discussion about the choice) , some purfling, a few trussrods, etc.

The system at the case supplier in question seems to be that I could pay one price at the website for a case, or a substantially reduced price if I knew enough to call somebody in the office- even if I were only buying one case .

When I was a kid, you paid a different price in local stores depending on your religion and the language you spoke at home. That's another variant of what's under discussion here.

John

[QUOTE=JohnAbercrombie] [QUOTE=Brock Poling]
Do you EVER have a nice thing to say about ANYTHING?
[/QUOTE]

Gosh, Brock! Aren't we allowed to question anything here?
Or is this a sensitive area because it involves a 'sponsor'? I didn't really think that it was necessary to be 'nice' to corporations. I think if you check out all my posts that you will find my comments to be quite moderate. I do try to be helpful, but I'm skeptical about unproven claims.

I started out with a simple comment that Ameritage cases were expensive, and wondered if there was any proof that they were actually any better at protecting a guitar than some less-expensive product.

The answers came back made the following points:
All the pros use expensive cases, so they must be good.
Nobody pays the retail price except folks who don't have the wits to get a better price.
The expensive cases look very nice and you can get your logo on them.

Rod's link to the travel/road case site was very interesting (and I thank him for it). That's certainly the approach I've seen taken by lots of pros on tour, and I certainly wouldn't trust an instrument in a single case (no matter how expensive) for shipping or air travel.

John
[/QUOTE]

I have checked out your posts and it is the same thing in virtually every conversation you show up in. And frankly I am sick of it.

It has nothing to do with questioning a sponsor, it is about your acidic tone on every conversation you participate in.

In ** this ** case your gripe is with capitalism and the "channel" concept. Duh, of course we get a better price Ameritage (and other vendors) actually anticipate that we might mark up the products we sell. Value add and all that.

John, just be nice. Calling people a "mark" for buying retail is inflamatory and insulting.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=JohnAbercrombie] When I was a kid, you paid a different price in local stores depending on your religion and the language you spoke at home. That's another variant of what's under discussion here.

John[/QUOTE]

See... this is exactly what I am talking about. How does this contribute to a conversation? How does it enrich the community? It is merely "pot-stirring"

So what you are saying is that vendors buying OEM products wholesale (because that is what we are doing with these cases) is equivalent of race/ethic descrimination?

These antics of yours are not productive. If you want to learn or contribute knowledge about building guitars fine, but let's focus on that. ok?

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] I have never owned an truely high-end case but I plan to try Ameritage after seeing the 4 beautiful black ones that Paul Woolson had at Lance's this past summer. Your own logo on the top is over-the-top and very cool.

The nicest case by far that I have ever had came with my Parker Fly Deluxe and it was a Hiscox from the UK.[/QUOTE]

Hesh as I said in my post above, the British Hiscox case is the one that I use and is usually supplied by most UK and close European guitar builders. Iknow that Russell always uses them, in fact I can't think of a builder that offers a different case as standard over here. The cost of importing things like cases from the States is much too prohibitive when shipping and taxes are added to the price. And would they be any better for the much greater cost?

Most UK guitars will never see a plane, as we just hop in the car to go everywhere. In all the years I've used them Hiscox have done the job.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hiscox cases are quite common over here as well. I own one, band mates have had them, and I have seen how they have held up in a lot of different situations. IMO they are fine if all you do is carry your own instrument back and forth from your car, or to haul you instrument around town in; they are also nice and light weight which is good in these situations. They are not necessarily so good if your guitar case sometimes ends up along with drum kits and amps and PA systems in a crowded band bus or under everything else back in the van. For a whole lot of working musicians on the "club and pub scene" this a very real and common situation, at least over here and I would assume in other places. My own experience is from doing it on and off for 25 years. If I planned to gig regularly with my acoustic guitar I'd much rather have a Calton, even if I never went on a plane with it.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin