Hiscox mandolin case

[adlerburg]

I was wondering about these the web sight makes them look like a great travel/flight option. Does anyone have an idea on the cost and any U.S> dealers

My friend Ed Smith at Fine Acoustics is a Hiscox Dealer. His shop is in Westminster Maryland and ships worldwide.
-Mick

[sachmo63]

Does anyone have pictures of the case with a f style mandolin in it? From the looks I am curious how the mandolin stays in place as you carry it.

I don't have a picture of my F in the case but it fits perfectly with or without the toneguard on the mandolin. There's a lot of space in this case and I don't feel my mando moving in the case what so ever while i'm out and about. This case carries well also, its light and well made and like I said in an earlier post when I first got the case I stood on the lid and well i'm no light weight. Lets just say I feel secure my Dearstone is very protected in this case.

This really is a great case, probably the best i've ever had for 1/3 the price of a calton.

[Bradley]

Well Mrs. Clauses christmas package arrived today and I am very Pleased with the Hiscox Case. It is light, Has space and provides excellent protection. I was worried about the fit and I will say it fits the Collings just fine.

[Robert Lane]

I got my case about three weeks ago. I too also stood on the lid of mine and held my 210 pounds very well. It is a bit thicker than I thought it was and the size might be a problem for as a carry on item on plane in my honest opinion. But all around I like the case alot. I currently have two eastman shaped fiberglass cases and one of them I will probably use when I travel on a plane. I do know for a fact that a Eastman 515,Kentucky km-1000, Weber Maple Gallatin A mandolins, all with the toneguards all fit in this case very well and dont move. I would not hesitate getting another one later this coming year. Just my two cents.
Robbie

[mandolirius]

I've also had mine for two or three weeks and yes, I stood on it too. I pretty much agree with Robert. It's a bit thicker than I expected and, being a fat rectangular shape probably won't go in airline overhead bins.

It's nothing special to look at. It actually reminds me of the cases kids in school bands took their tenor saxes home in. But inside it is very nice, well designed with a huge storage area that has no lid to get in the way. There's a pad on the upper portion of the case to hold everything in. I've been toting around a TurboTuner (not the smallest of tuners by any stretch) a pickup for the tuner, an eyeglass case with tools in it, a pick container, strings, cloth, extra clip-on tuner and a golf ball with no problems at all. There's also room for a thin folder of words, charts or whatever on top of the mandolin.

It's very sturdy and sits really nicely when you set it down. I'm not wild about the standard, molded luggage handle. I wouldn't have minded something a bit more plush. The hinges seem solid and well-made. There's just two, which is kind of nice. It's lighter than a Calton, but bulkier. It's also less than one-third the price. To be honest, if I were flying a lot I'd probably go with a Calton or equivalent in a shaped case. There'd be a better chance of getting it onto the airplane. No way with a Hiscox. Since I don't fly much, as an everyday case for gigs etc, it's great. Excellent value for the money.

[Lynn Dudenbostel]

How is the fit with the lid open? The reason I asked is a friend of mine just got one and brought it to show me yesterday. I love the case, but the mandolin slid end to end way too much. He's contacted the distributor and they said it must be defective and are sending him another. Sounds like great customer service! I'm anxious to see how his new one works, and to find out if anyone else has had this issue. I really like the case otherwise and the price is right.
Lynn

[Robert Lane]

How is the fit with the lid open? The reason I asked is a friend of mine just got one and brought it to show me yesterday. I love the case, but the mandolin slid end to end way too much. He's contacted the distributor and they said it must be defective and are sending him another. Sounds like great customer service! I'm anxious to see how his new one works, and to find out if anyone else has had this issue. I really like the case otherwise and the price is right.
Lynn

Mine does not have a fit problem at all. i tried all three different brands of mandolins. non slide around like you are talking about.

[Mike Bunting]

How would a short scale A Jr fit in one?

[Bradley]

I have no issues either on the Movement with the lid open

Mike excuse me for not knowing but what is the dimensional difference in the
A jr versus a standard A. is it the neck length>

[Mike Bunting]

Yes, old A's had 12 frets to the body.

[Lynn Dudenbostel]

That's good news. I think my friend just got one that was a bit off. These are nice cases.

Lynn

[mandolirius]

Mine does not have a fit problem at all. i tried all three different brands of mandolins. non slide around like you are talking about.

I'm sitting beside mine right now, with the top up. Lynn, there are a couple of pads (or there's supposed to be) right about the top of the f-holes that keep the body from sliding back and forth. If it's a very skinny mandolin, there may be a problem but my standard shape Randy Wood fits perfectly. I really love this case. It's big but that's a plus to me as I like to carry a lot of stuff.

I don't think you'd get in onboard an airplane and I'm not sure how it would stand up to typical baggage-handler treatment. At some point, if you fly very much, it's going to get tossed. I'd like to see a big guy fling the case as hard as he could (which is what would happen to it in real life) and then see how the mandolin inside made out. I should mention that I am a former baggage-handler. I saved many an instrument from rough treatment at the hands of my brutish, union-protected, near-retirement colleagues.

I don't fly much but if I did I think the Hiscox would stay home or get loaded onto the plane empty, if I needed it where I was going. I'd probably do my usual routine which is use a gig bag and keep it between my knees until all the passengers have boarded or all the seats near mine are filled. When I'm sure there's nothing else going into the overhead, I put the mandolin in.

[mandowilli]

I received my case yesterday and concur with the majority here that say this is a really good case that won't be permitted as a carry on due to its size.

This thing is really well made and has plenty of room which allows me to ditch the accessory bag that I used to need. I travel extensively by car and wanted something that has a bit of insulation and the strength to be stacked upon and this has both features.

I would recommend this case to anyone who gets around quite a bit on the ground and is concerned about mishaps involving impact. Compared to all other cases that I have had, this thing is the strongest.

[AlanN]

Maybe been answered, but can't tell from photo: does the headstock touch anything when seated?

[Bradley]

Alan the neck support is really great and the mandolin rests very peacefully in the mandolin. If you look the real support is the pads that they have placed around the body and back of the mandolin.

As far as the headstock it is clear of everthing in the case.

[biosplonk]

The case is bigger than I expected despite marking out the spec measurements before I purchased it. That being said, I rather like the bigger size and the resulting storage. The pocket is wonderful and I already have so much stuff in it that I have trouble finding what I'm looking for. I have no problems with the instrument moving around inside the case with either the lid open or closed. (Eastman 605).

People have noted above that there might be issues getting this case onto an airplane. For what it's worth, I picked up this case because I needed something a bit more robust to get my instrument to South Africa and back (from the east coast). There were many flights involved and my instrument was never a problem to bring onboard. It lays flat in the overhead bin, leaving room for coats or smaller bags on top. It takes up enough space in the bin that getting a full sized rolling carry-on in next to it would be a problem, so on crowded flights or smaller airplanes I could see there being a difficulty.

Incidentally, an artist friend of mine painted the flat rectangular surface on top like a mural, which was awesome and got many complements on route. Take that form fitting cases...

[sachmo63]

I've had mine for several months now and must admit while its not an attention grabber the case is wonderful. The pocket holds a lot of stuff and I love that the lid to the compartment is on the lid to the case so everything is accessed easily. My Dearstone fits like a glove with the Toneguard and I don't see the thickness of the case an issue. In fact one think I never liked the TKL Rectangular case was that it is too thin and has the tendency fall over easily. My hiscox is very sturdy and easy to carry around. I feel very good the mandolin is protected in the case.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mandolirius - If you don't like the Hiscox case handle as supplied,Brettuns Village in Auburn,Maine,can supply this type of handle,as a replacement,
Ivan

[Brent Hutto]

Incidentally, an artist friend of mine painted the flat rectangular surface on top like a mural, which was awesome and got many complements on route. Take that form fitting cases...

I dunno. Give your friend a while to think about it and he or she could probably come up with a really cool mural design that utilizes the outline of a form-fitted case. Might be pretty awesome, too!

[biosplonk]

Indeed. He mostly paints guitar cases, which are more form fitting than rectangular :-)

[frankblackcat]

Mine arrived yesterday, my Rigel A+ fits perfectly on it's own, feels a little tight closing the lid when it has the Tone Guard on, but it's just one of the pads pressing on the tailpiece rather than on the strings/bridge. very happy with the amount of case I got for the price (£89.00).

[almeriastrings]

I also just took delivery of one of these last week (shipped to Spain by Hobgoblin UK). I've been using Hiscox guitar cases around 20 years, and have put some miles on them. My experience is that they offer great protection with modest weight (they are much lighter than my two Caltons). The guitar cases actually come in three grades: regular, pro II and a new 'artist' model that has an extra-thick shell. There is a fundamental design difference in how Calton v. Hiscox approach protection. With Calton, it is primarily the thick, very inflexible outer shell, with 'normal' padding inside. With Hiscox there is some slight flex (not much on the PRO II) in the shell, but the 'padding' inside is completely different from a Calton. It is more rigid and has inherent strength on its own. Dropped from a height, the shock-absorbing properties of the Hiscox cases are extremely good (I believe better than a Calton - the padding is thicker). A friend of mine, a few years ago, put his Hiscox case containing a D-28 on the roof rack while loading in the dark and forgot about it... it was only after several miles he remembered and retraced his route to find the case lying up against a concrete post by the side of the highway. He'd be doing at least 60MPH at that point. The outer shell was cracked, but the guitar was completely undamaged. Good cases. I've never dared test either brand to total destruction. All I can say is that in about 20 years I have never had an instrument suffer damage in either of them and that includes tens of thousands of miles flying time, in addition to cars, trucks, etc. The new mando case is quite bulky, though, which might be a drawback in some cases.

[Rob Gerety]

If any of you folks that own this case have a teens Gibson A (short neck variety) could you report how it fits in this case? I occasionally get a itch to buy a decent case for my lovely old 1916 A4 that I play all the time and the case I have is not real good.

[trevor]

Its a good fit. They measured some of mine when designing it.

[Austin Koerner]

Not to steer anyone away from the case, but I ordered one and it also slid end to end way too much like Lynn had mentioned. It was not a snug fit. I sent it back and bought a calton, which is a perfect fit

It's a shame, really. I LOVED the case, super rigid, light, roomy accessory compartment, and it's just cool. I recommend the case, I just might not have gotten a good one