do soft-shell pedal steel cases exist?

[Aaron Shively]

do they?

[Joe Naylor]

maybe soon !

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com

[Tom Wolverton]

I got my D-10 Sho Bud in a case made fibreboard. Just like a drum case. It is nice. Mr. Bentley makes them.

[Brian Henry]

I have a GFI S10 and it weighs 22 lbs. The case weighs 24 lbs. I am thinking of making a fiberboard case for it that will weigh 7 lbs. That means my guitar in its case will weigh 29 lbs. Cost of materials incl handle and latches $15.

[Eric Philippsen]

The push/ pull that I gig with came with a no-name, light, thick-fiberboard road case. It also has wheels! I love it.

[Jay Ganz]

I've been using a foam padded gig bag for a small keyboard. It's also got zippered compartments.
Perfect fit and the bag weighs almost ZERO.
It was around $25 a couple years ago.

[Brian Henry]

Here is a case I made for my frypan style lap steel.

[Will Hart]

There was a post with pics relating to this a while ago and I haven't been able to find it again. It was the drum style case with straps. Was that your post Tom? If so how does one reach Mr Bentley.

[Fred Glave]

I had a soft case for a small electric keyboard that worked well with my last steel. Cost about $45.00

[Brian Henry]

Actually I made the lap steel as well. I just bought some aluminum from ebay and cut it out with my bandsaw. Then sent it to Nashville to the legendary Doug Moss who polished it. It sounds awesome and the cost was a fraction of the real frypan.

[Tom Wolverton]

Will, Danny Bentley makes those cases. He is a SGF member as I recall. If you can't find him, drop me a line. I've got some contact info for him.

[Roger Rettig]

This thread reminded me that, a couple of years ago, I bought a soft keyboard gig-bag for that very purpose. In the end I didn't use it but it's now occurred to me that my new Zum Encore will fit into it very nicely.

I didn't opt for Doug's case and had inyended to use the fibre-board case I have as a spare. The gig-bag, though, will be even lighter and will be plenty of protection for the steel when I travel by car.

[Darrell Birtcher]

A band I was in a few years ago bought a lightweight flight case for the steel player, to save on airfare. It was made of what I'd call "plastic cardboard" in that it was a sandwich type material much like cardboard but using plastic. Very rigid. You see it used for campaign signs all the time. He flew with it and had no problems checking it and his steel never got damaged. I can contact him for details if this is what you're looking for.

[William Hughes]

I have a StageOne. I don't know what the case is made out of, but it is very light for a hard case.

[Earl Foote]

I had Susan at Studio Slips make me a custom set of gig bags for my StageOne, one for the body and one for the legs, rods, and pedal rack. They are double padded and the body case has extra handles on the ends and leather wear strip on one side. It was already pretty light to begin with but our rehearsal facility is up two flights of stairs and every little bit helps. It is really easy to carry around now.

[Larry Allen]

Check out GATOR cases for keyboards, Light and strong, many sizes. Larry

[Karen Sarkisian]

My Jackson came in a regular hard case, however I was also given the option of going with a "lightweight" softer case. I ended up getting the hard case and then paying additional for the soft case. The hard case never get's used... I keep it for if I ever need to ship or fly with the guitar. I dont know if you can get one of these lightweight cases fro them without buying a guitar from them, but its worth a call to Dawn. I love this case it is so easy to carry and is also very solid. David Jackson told me that it would be fine to fly with the guitar in the soft case, but I think i would feel better if it was in the hard case. For gigs and general hauling around tho this case is great !!

[Roger Rettig]

Karen

My fibre-board case looks identical to the one in your picture - from the outside, at least. Does anyone know how I could go about making the interior look like that? Mine has just a thin sponge lining and nothing to divide the space. Karen's looks perfect for my new Encore - if I could get it lined and compartmentalised like that.

[Karen Sarkisian]

Its a great case. I like how it buckles up too, very secure.

[Bo Borland]

How much does the fiber case weigh vs your hard case..

I think my empty hard case is about 25lb.

[Karen Sarkisian]

I never weighed it but it is much less. it is even less weight than my empty pack-a-seat ! i carry the jackson around so easily in this case and i am a weakling !

[David Mason]

RR, structural foam is pretty common stuff on Ebay. If you can draw up everything you need, then you can hit the sellers who carry Pelican gun cases, bow cases and such. You can go through the Pelican site and get an idea of the interior dimensions of each case, then dig up a seller - they all sell the foam separately too.
http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1740

There's probably a cheaper way, but I know this is good stuff.

[Roger Rettig]

Thanks, David - I'll check Ebay.

[Steve Hinson]

www.brandxcases.com

[Paul Sutherland]

I have a Bentley split case set for my Emmons D10. The case for the body weighs about 7 pounds, and with the body in it, about 50 pounds. Of course, the case with the legs is much lighter. Mine has been well used and is holding up. I'm not sure I'd want to fly with it.

About a year ago I talked to Dan Bentley about making a case for a keyless Williams S10, which would have been a really light weigh set-up. Unfortunately Dan said he wasn't making cases anymore.

I just looked at the Brand X link. It appears to be the identical construction method to my Bentley cases. I might have to contact them about the Williams. That steel, with the pedal bar and legs should probably weigh under 35 pounds in one of those cases. The Williams flight case that came with the steel weighs more than the steel.