From: Steve & Anne Price Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 04:47:24 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Electric Harp Case (long)
On Sat, 28 Sep 1996 JfGindi~ol.com wrote:
> People have different needs. I need a very large case to fit and organize > lots of harps and mics, plus an open section large enough to transport my > blues tool harp holder with it's added STARND mic. (S. Price criticizes my > spelling of this. I hope I got it right this time.) > (Ahem.) Strnad. Nice try, Jon. Once again, you got all the right letters.
I've stayed out of this discussion because I have a pretty good bag right now. It's what the local American Tourister folks call something like an Overnight bag, or a personal bag, or whatever. It's soft side, so I'm not carrying much bulk just in the bag, it's got a shoulder strap, which for me is an absolute must, has three decent sized pockets into which I can put about 25 harps, a chromatic 64, a couple of mics and cables, two stomp boxes, batteries for one & adaptor for the other, a CD player & adaptor (for between sets), my harp rack, a power strip, folders with papers (songlists, promo, posters, a notebook), guitar strings, and a few guitar tools, my Lea Oskar repair kit, a toothbrush (hey, I'm a harp player, no popcorn please), ibuprofen, etc. I keep some of this in smaller bags and boxes so that I can do the modular thing and not haul a bullet when I'll be playing on a rack, and when I don't need the stomp boxes, or when I need extra mics, but am not setting up for a whole band. The thing is extremely durable. I'm constantly on the look out for bags and zippered things that can acommodate stuff that'll fit inside and organize things on account of the fact that I'm a control freak and this may be the only area of my life where I'm actually pretty organized.
I also dislike having anything on my person when I perform or drive, so I use the bag for my wallet, keys, dayrunner, etc. Anything bigger I'd fill and hate because it's too heavy, and everything smaller I dislike because I can't get one more thing into it. I don't wear a harmonica belt because, as I say, I hate having things on my body while playing (I do wear clothes), and I hate hunching over briefcase or suitcase to switch harps, so I bring a folding T.V. dinner table to my gigs on which I put a set of harps, rest the bullet or rest the harp rack when I'm not using them, a drink, sometimes a song list, the CD player, sometimes a taperecorder, etc.
I honestly doubt that even this blues tools guy can come up with something that'll be much more functional, durable, or comfortable to carry. I agree with fjm that milk crates have their place (although, I prefer using plastic tool chests with handles for a lot of that stuff), but I need a gig bag that isn't uncomfortable to carry (should strap, soft side) and that can be completely changed (electric harp gig with band, solo acoustic guitar gig, paper etc.). A foam insert that you can modify to your own needs is great until your needs change, and you've torn out the inserts a certain way (drove me crazy when I was doing photography regularly, and the Pelican case kept getting revamped).
Modular for me is which small bags I throw into the bigger (but not huge) bag. I spent months looking for the right bag and settled on this one and have been very pleased since.
Will's got a great bag, BTW. I kept seeing him and his bag and it drove me nuts until I got this one. His is better, but I can jump up and down on mine to get one more delicate thing into it.
