cetera Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) Does anyone here own a Gruvgear Kapsule Duo? What are your thoughts on it..... does it do the job safely and securely for air travel? Considering purchasing one for an upcoming tour... Edited January 23 by cetera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetera Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E sharp Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 https://www.talkbass.com/threads/traveling-with-a-gruvgear-kapsule.1616749/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 @tayste_2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 On 23/01/2024 at 14:58, cetera said: Does anyone here own a Gruvgear Kapsule Duo? What are your thoughts on it..... does it do the job safely and securely for air travel? Considering purchasing one for an upcoming tour... I only have the single and the guitar one at that (fits a fender mustang perfectly). I as of yesterday I was added to the Gruv Gear site following this trip from Houston to Istanbul. I travel a lot with basses and I would say so far the Kapsule is the best option but it’s not without its flaws. So firstly trying to take your bass on a plane is an absolute nightmare it’s stressful from start to finish. I did this with a Squier Mustang in a cheap gigbag going Manchester - Istanbul - Bogotá. After that I vowed never again. You’re basically stuck with a small light case where you’re begging to be let on the plane or you have something more robust like a mono m80 and you’re almost certainly going to be forced to check it whilst the case still isn’t ideal for flying. Next I used the skb bass safe, which in terms of keeping the instrument safe is great but very few gig bags fit in it these days and when they do you can get very little in the gigbag. I was shoving a gruvgear edge in there which I believe the bass one will fit and then putting extras down the side. This worked ok but had TSA or similar opened the case and pulled everything out I have no idea how they’d get it all back in and several occasions the side of the case were bulging from me overloading it. Additionally it wheels ok, but it’s got a high centre of gravity and it’s useless on uneven ground, at which point you realise how heavy it is to carry in one hand. Following the chaos of my Istanbul - Bogotá experience I picked up a Gruv Gear Kapsulite in Bogotá. This case is great, sleek, well protected, good weight and I think I made 4-5 flights with it as I bounced around South America. It has a really nice neck pocket bag which is nice to remove from the bass and have with you on stage. But you can fit very very little in it, think a thin strap, cable, di and maybe a pedal. But it’s very solid for flying with. Then the Kapsule which in the video you can see the insane amount of stuff I brought back with me. Everything arrived safe even though half way through the trip I noticed a padlock missing. The bass section has a tsa lock, the top part you need to padlock. The case was a dream to move, lower centre of gravity to the bass safe but then at the end of my journey I could sling it on my back, walk the 1km from the metro and up 3 flights of stairs. Along the way I had handles in all the right places for manoeuvring it through airports. However it was clearly dragged across the floor after its first flight, this meant the grooves where you slide the wheels in were damaged making it quite difficult to get them on and off. I solved this mostly when I landed in Istanbul by running my keys over it to remove the now excess plastic. I’ll have to file or sand these further before my next flight. My concern is if these continue to be damaged and the wheels eventually won’t slide on or stay on that it will render the case useless (I am going to investigate how replaceable these are). I’m probably overly concerned about that because I bought mine second hand and it’s now outside of warranty. Brand new of these break you’re going to get a new case I expect. This leads me on to my next point, I have the single guitar version and it is heavy, fully loaded it is very heavy so if you’re considering the double bass version you need to be fairly confident you’re only going to have to sling it on your back in an emergency. You’ll be able to get an insane amount in the case. I went this route because as great as the kapsulite was I’d still have to check a suitcase so that’s excess baggage every flight even though in combination the 2 cases could be under 20kg. This starts getting expensive if you’re travelling a lot or have additional cases you’re also checking. I absolutely love this case though and think I’ll be getting more, if only as a storage solution where I can keep everything together in one place. So I may very well end up with a bass duo for this purpose. But currently flying with shortscale basses just makes life about 10% easier. So in summary I think it’s the best case available but it is a tool, if you’re expecting it to stay nice then you shouldn’t be flying with it, I’ve flat out had suitcases ripped in half 😂 The only other considerations are Enki which if I was touring and just going in and out of a van or definitely had additional baggage whilst needing 2 basses I’d consider. Gator also make a guitar mini vault which will fit 2 shortscale basses. But neither fit anything else in them so it gets costly with excess baggage fees. I think I just like they can go straight on stage and function as stands. Final point, (assuming you have an iPhone) put an AirTag in whatever you go for, best travel purchase I’ve ever made. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 @cetera did you end up going for one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 I had this and it was superb (but a bit of a nightmare to store!) https://www.thomann.de/gb/skb_r44_electric_bass_save.htm?glp=1&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAuNGuBhAkEiwAGId4apK8IXg4ZYNHN2dtS0Np17RlziTp_07mNMm8bkY8TBp0YEOLKQWLvBoCCnIQAvD_BwE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetera Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 13 hours ago, tayste_2000 said: @cetera did you end up going for one? Not this time. I booked a cheap extra seat so I'll be travelling with my double soft gator case on the seat next to me. I may invest next time though..... cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) Yeah I travelled with one of those until May last year. Don't love it, it’s solid but you can’t get anything but the bass in it and very few decent gig bags fit in it these days. I mean the SKB posted above that I didn’t quote properly. I’ll probably be selling mine soon and get a second Kapsule. Edited February 21 by tayste_2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayste_2000 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Caved and decided I need to be travelling with another Rickenbacker instead of a shortscale bass. So I’ve listed my SKB Bass Safe up for sale to part fund a Bass Kapsule. I just carry too much with me to comfortably fit in the bass safe 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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