For Local Gigs: Cases or No Cases

Rattlin' Bones

Rattlin' Bones

Gold Member
That's the question. Or bags/ no bags.

Question is around using cases or bags for local gigs. Like I drive 20 minutes, pull kit out of car, and set it up. Using cases I seem to be adding lots of additional time and effort to gigs. Plus the drums are lighter without a case or bag. I'm not using a DW Collector's kit, or a Craviotto, or even a nice Ludwig CM or Gretsch Brooklyn. Just a Tama Superstar Classic. Sounds great but not a huge $$$ investment.

I could easily use blankets to protect drums from banging against each other in the car.

So who else foregoes using cases or bags for local gigs where travel is minimal?
 
You also have to consider your car. Drums without cases can scratch leather, center consoles or window film, or leave imprints in the seats. But if your car is a POS, that may not matter.

I vote cases, but I have nice things and I like to keep them nice.
 
I have a rubber tray in the back of my car and across the backs of the back seats, so damage to the car is less of a concern. I always case my snares but I don't bother with the rest, for most of the reasons the OP said.
 
When moving your gear from storage-vehicle-venue, will your gear be exposed to any weather?

Damage from rain or snow would be a drag due to no protecetion.
 
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I’m able to fit my drums in the quad cab of my RAM truck, and the hardware and cymbals have a hardcase to ride in the back so I’ve been ok not using bags or cases lately. But I do own Enduro hardcases should I need to case them up, so I have the option. When it’s just me moving my stuff, then I have no problem not using cases. And my vintage Ludwig maples are wrapped really well and handle all kinds of abuse so I’m less worried about the drums getting damaged.
 
I can barely handle moving my stuff with bags, let alone cases. Fortunately it doesn’t move very often.
 
If you don’t care about your drums taking a few knocks and scrapes then no cases. However, I think soft cases both provide protection and make it easier to carry drums for load in out as well as protect your car/van. Unzipping a soft case takes 10s whole kit in about 1 to 2 min so not much time lost.
 
Man, people in this thread are cray cray.

Soft cases make everything so much easier to carry BY FAR. I can carry all 4 drums of my bop set on me at once thanks to soft cases. You aren't doing that with bare drums.

Why anyone would ever consider drums with no cases (assuming you can afford cases) is just beyond me. I know drums are sturdier for an instrument, but still.....

EDIT: Also cases make storing drums easier. Since I have multiple drumsets in my apartment, I just have them stacked in cases, they take up very little space, and they're ready to haul to my car when I need them.
 
I went years (decades) doing local gigs with no case (except a trap case - that held snare. pedal. throne and hardware). Towards the end of my shlepping drums around on a daily basis tenure - I did start using bags. From some reason or another, I got the jones to refurbish my (then main) Blaemire set. So it ended up temporarily with basically a fabric (spandex) finish (temporary - yet 20 years later, it still looks that way). Anyway - so I got bags (I already had hard cases from back in the day, when we used to fly with drums, because there was no decent backline anywhere) - and while they did protect the drums better.

They were certainly more time consuming loading in and out. Though not dramatically so.

But back in the day - when I could fid myself setting up twice (even three) times a day - 5 or 6 days a week - those extra minutes would've been intolerable. Which is I pretty much never used cases locally.
 
Bags and a few cases. I didn't have them for a while and it was pins and needles carrying them back then.

I got totalled on the interstate with my hardware only in the Equinox. Glad there weren't any un-bagged drums in the car because the finishes woulda been damaged.
 
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I'd worry about my drums damaging the bags, they would be the higher $ investment. Joke, but true. I have decent bags for my snare, cymbals and hardware and that seems to work just fine so far. I only move my own stuff and it rides in my vehicle with me driving to local spots. When I hit the lotto and buy that AQ2 set I will definitely get some soft cases for them
 
I'm a nerd. I never move a drum without it being in a case. Every drum has its own case. Beato drum bags are my go-to's.

Until I become rich and famous, I'm my own roadie. As a roadie, I like being able to lay a drum on wet grass or a gravel parking lot while I open the car doors. I also like to stack drums in the back seat of my car without fear of tearing up the seats or busting out a window.
 
I have Beato bags for all my drums. I went bagless for about two years but I became increasingly anxious about dropping drums down stairs or on rough concrete or dirt and such. I also thought about car accidents. Sometime I take my kids or a friend or two and being able to stack the drums because they are in bags is good. Other people may not be as careful carrying my drums as me. Setting drums down on rough surfaces when setting up risks them getting slid across that rough surface. And I can carry more drums at a time when they are in bags.
 
I went gonzo with my exotic lacquered DW's for a few years. The hard cases took up too much room at the gig, and I hadn't yet gone to bags. My drums lived in my van at that time. Yea they got some small dings. That's what sharpies are for. I don't serve drums, drums serve me. I own them, they don't own me. Nothing is perfect and I gladly accept that. It takes the pressure off. Drums will acquire dings. Not worth it to get upset over a ding. Whatever. Relic-ed lol

I ditched hard cases in 2010. Good. Riddance. Just too much added work. a 22x20 bass drum in a hard case was just too hard to maneuver

My Guru drums get transported in soft bags. Bags are light, they collapse into a small space, and they do offer ample protection for my purposes, and are easy to carry.
 
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I store and move all drums in soft cases. Even my beater kit.

No worries about weather, accidental bumps or drops, and the handles... well, they're handy.


True story*. The George Strait song All My Exes Live In Texas was originally titled All My Drums Live in Cases.

The song writer, Whitey Shafer, overheard a drummer say the line and was inspired to write the song. It was Whitey's wife Linda who suggested they switch it to All My Exes. Linda was Whitey's fourth wife. Said she would be his fifth if he didn't change the title.

The rest, as they say, is history.

*Not a true story 😉
 
Rattlin' Bones said:
That's the question. Or bags/ no bags.

Question is around using cases or bags for local gigs. Like I drive 20 minutes, pull kit out of car, and set it up. Using cases I seem to be adding lots of additional time and effort to gigs. Plus the drums are lighter without a case or bag. I'm not using a DW Collector's kit, or a Craviotto, or even a nice Ludwig CM or Gretsch Brooklyn. Just a Tama Superstar Classic. Sounds great but not a huge $$$ investment.

I could easily use blankets to protect drums from banging against each other in the car.

So who else foregoes using cases or bags for local gigs where travel is minimal?
Click to expand...
Cases or bags protect your drums and the inside of your vehicle. They also make moving your drums between vehicle and venue easier.
 
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