Originally Posted by: blforman

It baffles me why companies like Fender and PRS continue to force people to shell out for hard cases. I shouldn't have to be buying a $2,500 guitar to get a hard case. Both my Taylor and my Gibson SG came with hard cases.

I have a single guitar with a gig bag, but that's solely because it's a Jazzmaster and I have yet to find an afforable case that actually fits the thing well (I refuse to drop the $250 or whatever it is that Fender asks for the JM case).

The why is that the ordinary mass consumer's bottom line voice speaks volumes.

Most manufacturers offer the option in some cases no pun intended. High end units -read that as in overpriced prestige models which I'll wager are a relatively small percentile of overall sales might sometimes come supplied with a proprietary case because they can charge for it to that relatively price impervious demographic, but in my observation they are the anomaly.[br][br]Supplying a guitar in hard case as was has long been passe given the need to remain competitive in a saturated and price sensitive marketplace. Yes my very first Ibanez ('lawsuite' SG) came supplied in a plush hard case then standard practice and for a lot LOT less than a Gibson as was at the time (January,1974). In 2022, Ibanez don't any more, although I can buy a proprietary hard case as an optional extra (vs factored into a higher price point) if I wish. Where's the issue?[br][br]In any case, I don't see a problem. If once reall must have a hard case for any guitar today, there are generic but attractive and well made ABS shell ones that perform their role as good as any available which are inexpensive even in my country, so they must be 'cheaper than chips'/a serve of fries in the US?! [br][br]