Rack bags - worth it or are they just false economy vs getting a bigger moulded case?

Cacofonix

Moltisanti said:

this was my old Axe FX rig , 4U gator case with power conditioner, ART SLA1, Axe FX Ultra, i had my G30 wireless in the back too.

It worked really well but i got the impression if the rack took a tumble, the gear wouldn't get a lot of protection.

That looks like Wall-E.

Notice the A4 in the corner.  Not used mine for ages, I'll have to dig it out.

guitarfishbay

Not happy with this Boschma at all.  Moulding is poor quality - parts are misaligned, one lid side is looser, and there are marks all over it including what look like some scraping and some bubbling.  I have contacted the store to let them know I'm intending to return it to them.

Besides the misalignment, is the general sloppiness typical of moulded cases?  I hope not, but would like some opinions from people who've had them.

Photos:

This is quite a few mm misaligned.

Scrape marks

You can clearly see the difference in gap between the top and bottom on this pic.

guitarfishbay

Just had a (quick) reply from the shop.  Apparently this is typical of roto moulded cases, but I've been offered a refund anyway which is good to know (and I've only ever had positive dealings with this shop).  I'm a bit unsure what to do in that case, I'll look at it again when I'm finished work.  I don't really want to go and get a full blown flight case right now and this is the only moulded case I could find with a decent thick handle.  Besides the sloppiness it felt pretty sturdy...  here is the email FWIW, (names removed)

"Thanks for the e-mail and sorry to hear your not happy with our product

 

I have just looked over one here and it is pretty much the same. I do sell 100’s of these and not had a issue to date and would pass the QC on a roto mould case.

 

I am more than happy to get the case collected and give you your money back"

ICBM

I don't remember my SKBs being that crap, but I could be wrong...

guitarfishbay

The inside is perfectly smooth and the lid is secure. But yeah not the nicest thing to look at, disappointing for the price for sure. If I was going to get a flight case I'd spec the length to be as short as possible, but I don't know which rack unit I'm going to end up with and there is 14 cm difference between an Axe and a Kemper (Axe is longer) and also a 1u height difference (Axe is 2u vs 3u for the Kemper). Custom cases always have terrible resale though and I figured this will always be useful if I get more recording gear but I'm not sure if I want to keep it tbh.

drwiddly

I've got two Boschma cases and neither of them are anything like that. I reckon the dealer's got a load of factory seconds that he's trying to pass off.

guitarfishbay

Yeah I think I'm going to return it.  I just don't think it is worth the money.  The most annoying part is the mouldings right next to the handle (the bits that hold the handle in place, if that makes sense) - they're quite rough and it isn't comfortable if your hand touches them as you pick it up.  That is just an instant fail for me, especially as a large part of the reason for buying this particular case was the thick handle which I assumed would be quite comfortable!

  I might just get a 4u furniture style case for use at my home studio and liberate my 2u flight case from my audio interface.  That will be the cheapest option in the short term, and I'll figure exactly what I want when I know what I need.