Soft Case Solution for DoubleNeck.

[Henry Hibbert]

Maybe my enthusiasm overtakes my sensibility and maybe this is just silly, but to me its pretty dang cool.
Anyone ever notice how a gun case bag is the exact same size as a Fender Double Neck?
Let me back up. In my lustful search for a Fender double neck that I could afford I found one on eBay.
It had no case, and no legs. I found legs and I began my self teaching. And grateful I found this group.
But my 1954 ole girl needed something to keep the dust out, and I was going nuts. I know about Hatten cases, and yes I may do that some day, when I have 250.00.
So I'm thinking heck just get a bassoon bag. Then I see these gun bags on eBay and the dang dimensions floored me. 4 inches deep, 37 inches long, 10 inches wide. So I dropped 30 bucks.
Now I grant you, you don't want to go slamming this thing around on the road, those tuning keys are delicate. You might use it to gently tote your sweetheart to a friend's house and that's my plan.

Well see for yourself. Ain't this grand?

[Dave Mudgett]

37" length makes sense for the long-scale Stringmaster version. Can you give a link for that one? There are a bunch of them out there, each a bit different.

This is what I wound up with for my smaller and significantly shorter D8 consoles: a '57 Gibson C-530 Consolette and '51 Fender Dual Pro - https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Keybo ... 09DK7VY1Z/ - they were $37 last year, but now up to $60.

The dimensions came to about 31.5"L x 10.25"W x 3.5"D. It fits the Gibson perfectly, but it's a real tight squeeze for the 32"L Fender. But it does work with a bit of stretching. Just the body, no legs - I put the legs into a mic stand bag. This is just for toting myself, I would never trust anybody else to handle these steels in a bag like this. But I wanted something to use to save the original cases, which are in nice shape.

The hardest thing to find, for me, is a hard case for my long-scale (24.875") Clinesmith cast aluminum 8-string. I wound up with this lap steel case from Rondo Music - https://www.rondomusic.com/egclap.html - but I had to carve it up inside and the narrow waist is still real tight. The Blue Heron bag it came with is good, but within a few weeks, just getting buffeted around a bit in the back of my car, two tuners broke. The tuners stick straight up and they're real easy to break in the bag. Luckily, replacements were easy to find and not expensive, and I got a couple of full 6-string sets.

[Jeff Mead]

Gun cases work great for lap steels - singles and doubles at least.

The only downside is that my mail box is now full of spam, trying to sell me ammo and assault rifles.

I also get some suspicious glances at airports.

[Marty Broussard]

[Tony Oresteen]

I was lucky. My T8 came with the original Fender hard case.

Good idea on the gun case.

[Henry Hibbert]

I don't want to go through Atlanta airport with this thing! LOL.

Dave, here's the link, and if I said 37 inches it was actually 36 in.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313936650985

Thanks for the replies!

Kind regards,
H.A.hibbert

[Dave Mudgett]

Thanks for the link. Looks like a good deal for a longer D8 console.

[Henry Hibbert]

Dave, I just now ordered a microphone bag just the right length for legs.
Wow, great idea....thanks.

HH

[John Goux]

Dave I have a 1951 Dual Pro and it’s only 30” long but it’s 12” wide. The dimension on that keyboard bag say 10” wide.

We’re you able to stretch the bag around in some way to fit a 12” wide steel?

Lately I’ve been taking it to rehearsals and gigs. I was relieved to find it will fit in the trunk of my car with the legs on. I don’t have take the legs off, and I can walk it to the car and stop to rest. (My case is extremely heavy.)
Do you think it is safe to lay it on its side supported by one leg? The strings and tuners are facing a carpeted wall. If I was to stop short(when does that ever happen) the steel might slide forward hitting the strings and tuners. The pickup cover is probably fine, but those dime shaped tuners are probably fragile. I could put some foam or a kick board behind it.

Around town travel solutions for Fender Dual Pros?
John

[Glenn Wilde]

Yessir, I just bought one for my Supro, it fits perfectly with plenty of storage for legs and whatnot.

[Dave Mudgett]

Dave I have a 1951 Dual Pro and it’s only 30” long but it’s 12” wide. The dimension on that keyboard bag say 10” wide.... Were you able to stretch the bag around in some way to fit a 12” wide steel?

There was enough extra depth in that bag that I was able to get my Dual Pro in it. It definitely took some stretching, and it's a very, very tight fit at the corner corresponding to the wider section on the steel - it's fine at the narrower end. I had to 'train' it to retain that shape. I pressed the steel pretty hard against the wall of the bag and fairly gently zipped around that corner as far as it would go, then press some more to extend the bag. Gradually, after many many repeats, the zipper would close without stress, and without breaking the zipper.

If there is any variance in the dimensions of either the Dual Pro or the bag, it might or might not work. I don't have that steel with me right now, so I can't go measure mine right now. The rationale to prefer the bag for local use is to both reduce the weight and to try to not destroy the original case, which is in pretty good shape.

BTW, that bag fits the Gibson C-530 Consolette perfectly. Almost as if it was made for it.

[Henry Hibbert]

Glenn, every lap steel needs a SAVIOR!
HH

[Bob Stone]

At 12.75 inches wide, this bag should fit a Fender Dual Pro. It's available through Amazon for $66.95. It's a little long, but some high density foam will fix that.

https://on-stage.com/products/view/13988/588883

https://www.amazon.com/On-Stage-KBA4049 ... 7VY1Z?th=1

[Eric Philippsen]

Now if I could just find a case or for the T8 Stringmaster I have……..