Hofner Senator Bass Case

ElectricXII

Some of you might've read my recent post about wanting to buy a slope shouldered dreadnought, and I've almost convinced myself to raise my budget and get a used Gibson rather than Sigma, Epiphone or Faith lookalikes. I'll need to sell something(s) to find the extra cash, so I'm considering letting my 1963 Hofner Senator Bass go.

Given that I live in Scotland, Gumtree and Marketplace might reach too small a market, so I might try on here and on Reverb too. The problem is that I can't get delivery insurance without a hard case which I don't have. It's a long shot, but does anyone know what case might fit my bass? It's 45" (115cm) overall length, 20" (51cm) body length, width at lower bout is just over 16", and the body is 2" deep. With a squeeze the body would fit in an ES335 case, but the neck's too long.

I looked at the Epiphone Jack Casady case which might work, but there's no stock on this side of the Pond.

Would I be daft even shelling out for a brand new case, just to be able to send the bass by courier?

ICBM

Given the value of it and the fact that most couriers won't insure any musical instrument not in a hard case, if you're going to ship it you need to get a case.

Gear4music do an acoustic bass hard case which should be big enough for £70 - despite being described as a dreadnought case and that it won't fit a jumbo, the bass pictured in it is jumbo-shaped and not a dreadnought! It will be too deep but you can easily add more padding.

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Deluxe-Dreadnought-Acoustic-Bass-Case-by-Gear4music/PC6

ElectricXII

Thanks @ICBM, I wondered about that one, and also the Hofner President Bass case which is also very deep, but also twice the price. I've actually not got much of an idea what price to pitch my bass at. Reverb has them from £700-odds all the way to £1300-ish. I'm guessing it's the dealers at the top end.

ElectricXII

Looking again at  the dimensions of the gear4music case, I think it'll be too tight at the lower bout.  The search continues.

Kristo

I have a Protection Racket Deluxe Acoustic Bass case which is pretty huge. I think it'll probably fit in one of those.

ElectricXII

Those Protection Racket cases are good. I've got one for a Fender bass. I've got a Mono dual for my guitars and I almost never use hard cases. Trouble is the Monos and Protection Rackets are not "hard" cases which the insurers seem fixated on.

Kristo

Ah, my bad. It's strong, but yeah, not technically a hard case. I have a case for my Epiphone Rivoli bass that I don't really use. I think that would fit.  

ICBM

The irony is that I'd far rather throw my bass down a flight of stairs - probably a reasonable approximation of what couriers will do to it - in a Mono gig bag than a hard case, since the softer padding is better at absorbing impacts... but to get courier insurance, it must be a *hard case*, regardless.

ElectricXII

Kristo said:

Ah, my bad. It's strong, but yeah, not technically a hard case. I have a case for my Epiphone Rivoli bass that I don't really use. I think that would fit.  

Yeah that case might fit but if I were you, I would hold onto it. They're not easy to get hold of these days I believe. I think I might have a local buyer for the Hofner too, so I might not need to spend extra to send it. Fingers crossed.