Gig bag

A padded soft case with a shoulder strap and usually pockets for a strap, cable, picks and spares.

It is the practical choice for a player who carries the instrument personally: light, cheap, quick to open, and able to take auxiliary gear in the front pocket. What it cannot do is protect against impact, stacking or crushing, and it offers almost nothing against rain or the cold of an aircraft hold. Since the covering is fabric and the padding foam, a bag also compresses under anything resting on top of it, so an instrument with a large or fragile body is better off in a hard case.

Example: a local player walking two streets to a lesson needs nothing more than a bag, but the same guitar in a tour van should be in a hard case.

Gig bag

See also