From eslawson@comcast.net Thu Jan 01 19:12:34 2004
Subject:RE: Excellent prices on ATA flight cases

I have first and second hand experience with these cases and would not
recommend them to anyone. I ordered one of the alleged "ATA" cases a few
years ago for a Roland RD600. It had 1/4" luan covered in thin
cloth/tolex-like material that ripped easily. The latches were recessed,
but they were tiny and not very high quality. I did not like it and resold
it quickly. This was the "ATA" case...nothing like the ones I customarily
use today, that use ABS over plywood and riveted extrusions including
washers on the inside so they cannot come apart. Heavy duty recessed
hardware is a must for road use.

The "lite" case is very fragile and will certianly not last if you gig a
lot. My guitar player buddy had one for his Marshall. He used it once and
on the first gig a latch was broken off and it was obviously very cheaply
constructed. It was paper thin cheap plywood (I'm guessing 1/8", if there
is such a thing), covered with contact paper. It was basically like hard
cardboard with a contact paper sticker. No real rigidity. Hardware cheap,
not recessed. Like Tony said, you get what you pay for and I would
recommend investing a little more in protecting your keyboards.

These cases might suffice for occasional trips out of the house, but not for
regularly gigging musicians. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Eric Lawson
Moderator
CloneWheel Support Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CloneWheel/