Nice inexpensive case A style case

[Coffee Guy]

I am looking for a nice inexpensive hard case for an A style mandolin. Any recommendations?

[mandobassman]

It's hard to beat Travelite for both protection and low cost. Lots of people here on the Forum have high praise for them. I had one but it was sold with one of my previous mandolins. It may not be a "hard case" in the true sense of the word, but it offers terrific protection and is very lightweight. Here is a link from a Cafe sponsor.

http://www.folkmusician.com/Travelit...tinfo/TL%2D45/

Also, even though it says "F style", I kept a couple of A mandolins in it.

[Marty Jacobson]

I buy these by the dozen. They are surprisingly decent. Everything about them is perfectly fine. The latches are a bit stiff, but that's all I can complain about.
http://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Gear...+mandolin+case

NFI

[Stephen Scaggs]

+1 on the Musicians Gear mandolin case. I got one a while back for my Kentucky KM-150. It fits well and is well padded.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Travelite every time.The mandolin is well supported/padded on the inside, & the case is padded on the outside as well. The exterior is covering is made from Ballistic grade Nylon material & is as tough as hell !. My Ellis "A" style was delivered in a TKL "A" style case.The padding inside was very thin gave very little protection. Thankfully,the cardboard box that the case + mandolin came up in,was well padded !.The Ellis now resides comfortably & in perfect safety in my Travelite,as would my other 2 mandolins if i could get the darned things in the UK,
Ivan

[houseworker]

The Ellis now resides comfortably & in perfect safety in my Travelite,as would my other 2 mandolins if i could get the darned things in the UK.

It's your lucky day, Ivan. Amazon UK currently have a warehouse deal on one at £22: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000UGBIFU/

[mandobassman]

I buy these by the dozen. They are surprisingly decent. Everything about them is perfectly fine. The latches are a bit stiff, but that's all I can complain about.
http://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Gear...+mandolin+case

NFI

I have one of these for a beater mandolin and it's fine for the money, but it doesn't have much internal padding and the mandolin bounces around a bit. I would never travel much with it though.

[Mike Arakelian]

Another vote for the Travelite case. As stated above, it's well padded, has a good size storage compartment, and will fit both an A and an F style mandolin.

[Coffee Guy]

Will it fit a Kentucky km 250?

[MikeEdgerton]

The Musician's Gear case is the www.musiciansfriend.com brand name.

[onassis]

Will it fit a Kentucky km 250?

If you mean the Travelite, it will fit any standard mando, F or A. Besides being inexpensive and light, it's incredibly protective. Unless you jump up and down on it, I can't imagine anything short of a Pegasus or Calton being more secure.

[Ivan Kelsall]

My Travelite has fitted every mandolin i've had in it = 2 Lebedas,1 Weber & now my Ellis "A" style. They all seemed to fit 'perfectly' as well. A friend of mine & fellow UK Cafe member,is currently zooming back to the UK from LA with his new Travelite,into which he will insert his Gibson 'Sam Bush' mandolin.
Thanks for the info. on the Amazon Travelite deal,i'll have a look. My only problem is that i already have 2 un-used cases & if i buy a T/lite,i'll end up with 3 un-used cases !,
Ivan

[Flame Maple]

Did you manage to get the case on Amazon Ivan , when I looked it was already taken.

[Sterling]

How do they compare with TKL cases?

[mandroid]

what exactly is the 'they' you wish to compare?

TKL comes from Canada, I Expect the Musician's Friend one is sourced from Asia.
TKL is wood IDK the other , I have a Hard foam MF case its loose enough sized,
to fit my Banjo Mandolin in it

Travelite manufacturer is unknown . owners get out your tape measures ...

[Sterling]

The 'they' was Travelite and TKL A style cases. How do they compare?

[MikeEdgerton]

The TKL is heavier, they are both cases. I had a Travelite for a while when I broke my shoulder because I couldn't carry the weight of my Calton. Was it a great case? It was OK. I'd feel comfortable accidentally dropping it while carrying it. Would I feel comfortable checking it as baggage? Never but I don't know how comfortable I'd be checking a TKL either. The plus for the Travelite is the weight and the backpack straps. Beyond that I'd see that comparison as a wash. TKL's are generally well built cases.

By the way, the Travelite is a mixed A or F case.

[Sterling]

Thanks! I'm a long way from Syracuse, NY at High Point, North Carolina with a Marty Jacobsen #37 in a TKL case facing a crowded plane ride back home tomorrow.

[Explorer]

Thanks to this topic, I remembered seeing an F case or two in the used case aisle of my local store. I took over a mando, and found that the TKL is externally a bit smaller than the Travelite, and a little looser on the inside. Neither case had much storage inside, and there were no external pockets on either for written music.

When i compared the weight of the two though, the difference was huge. I asked one of the guys which case he thought was heavier, and the TKL was clearly the heavyweight... even though the TKL was empty and the Travelite had my instrument and strap inside. *laugh* The fact that the Travelite also has D-rings and a strap for hands-free carrying was just the icing on the cake.

And then because I was thinking it through, and that might have come across as hesitation, the price got dropped below the marked price of $50 used to $35. "Well... okay," I said, clearly just barely convinced.

All thanks to the Café.

----

Update: The case won't fit an instrument with a neck joining the body at the 12th fret, as is the case with most oval hole instruments. I didn't think of this when I just grabbed a mando to go over, but this rules out using this case with the two Eastman oval hole mandolins, one of which is an F and the other an A.

I don't know if this is also true of Travelite's A-style cases, that they won't fit the slightly shorter instruments.

Just an FYI for those to whom this might apply.

[MikeEdgerton]

I believe TKL does make a case for the shorter necked mandolins. The real shame is that Musicians Friend used to sell a great $29.00 case that fit them perfectly. I only bought two and let one go with a mandolin. I believe Jim Garber had a few as well.

[houseworker]

Did you manage to get the case on Amazon Ivan , when I looked it was already taken.

It's still there (listed under 'used').

[Ivan Kelsall]

I didn't go for the Travelite case,because as i mentioned,i already have 2 un-used cases & i don't want a 3rd one. Also,as 'houseworker' mentions,it was a 'used' case. It most likely would have been ok,but without actually seeing it,i wouldn't buy it.
TKL cases - which one ?. I have a shaped "A" style TKL case 'un-used', that my Ellis came in. The Ellis was a poor fit & rattles around a bit. Thankfully,it was well packed for it's journey up from Brighton. I also have a TKL rectangular case,which my Lebeda resides in. That case will also fit any of my mandolins very well. The Gator case i have for my Weber Fern,will take the Ellis,but again,it's a loose fit. It won't take my Lebeda which is a larger than standard mandolin - it's 1 1/2" too long.
SKB make a nice looking moulded ABS "A" style case,but i've never seen one.
From Explorer - "Neither case had much storage inside,..". It depends what you want to put inside the case. My Travelite holds 2 sets of strings,a small pair of snips for cutting strings, a small pair of snipe nosed pliers,a Dunlop Turbotune string winder,a Red Snark tuner & a small tin containing spare picks. That's more than either TKL case will hold, & as much as the Gator case will hold,
Ivan

[houseworker]

Also,as 'houseworker' mentions,it was a 'used' case. It most likely would have been ok,but without actually seeing it,i wouldn't buy it.

'Used' covers a multitude of sins, but I've never been disappointed by an Amazon Warehouse offering yet (and you get a free return if you consider that the item is damaged). I'd have bought it myself, but it won't accommodate the short neck of my F-4.