Pedal Saga Part 3: The new case

Before I begin: Sorry I haven't posted pics yet. I will soon. Hopefully by EOW. :)

Okay so onto part 3. I've covered how well George L's took care of me, how well PedalTrain took care of me, and now I'll share how well LyT Pedalboards took care of me.

Now that I've got this brand spanking new PT-Pro nylon bag with my replaced board, I've decided I don't like it. There's nothing wrong with it, but I can't really stack it or have anything on top of it. Standing it up sideways isn't really ideal either. It's fine, but I was ready to move to a sturdier solution.

If you so desire to purchase just a hard case for the board, PedalTrain will redirect you to a nice guy by the name of Ryan Nixon at www.guitareffectspedals.com

I had a hard time finding the link, so it here it is.

Now, that's a good price. Even for a cheapskate like me, an ATA flight case at that price w/ free shipping is insanely good. I almost bought it.

What held me back was the size. In case you haven't noticed, the PT-Pro board is already large: 32x16x3.5 inches. The case was 39x19x9 inches. 7 inches longer and 3 inches wider is usually a good thing (that's what she said,) but not for me in this instance.

The PT ATA case is also a whopping 32 pounds! Add to that a buttload of pedals (including the metric-ton Planet Waves pedal tuner,) some cabling, and throw in my guitar & power cabling to boot, oh and the Supa Charger on the underbelly. Now I've got a manly-heavy board. I'd wager fully loaded that would be about 70-75 pounds.

Now, I'm a big guy and I used to throw lumber as a carpenter for days on end, but I still don't wanna be worn out dragging a pedalboard heavier than my amp up 2 flights of stairs for each practice. So on a search I went! (Cue goofy pied-piper music in the land of Non as I journey through the internetz...)

I arrived at Lyt Pedalboards and chose this guy The LyTCase 32 model.

But not without some research first of course. I'll make a long story short, but they worked hard to ensure my PT-Pro would fit if I bought it. It did. Maybe 3/16" to spare in both directions. Just the right amount of headroom. Just a perfect, non-oversized, just right, fit. The PT-Pro sits inside the "lid" (or the shallow part.) I just leave it there when I unpack for practice. I'm experimenting with some egg crate foam inside to keep it from "tipping" inside the case. (It doesn't move much.) Once I settle on what I like, I'll hot glue the foam to the inside and it will be all done.

So these boards are the PERFECT option for me. Not ATA rated for sure, but solid. Especially when you lock it all down, the case squares up nicely and does not wiggle at all. I have never liked butterfly latches because it's too easy to bend those hooks if you don't line it up perfectly first, but oh well. I'll have to be careful. Oh, and they are supposedly rolling out an ATA case soon.

One last thing about LyT: They were kind enough, even after all that measuring for me, to offer me a scratch & dent case for about $20 off. Of course I bought that one (told you I was a cheapskate) and for the life of me can't see any damage on the case.

I've already started putting stickers on the case. I promise pics will be coming soon.