Gator GR-4L

Let?s get the problem out of the way first. Out of the box, this case was unusable. The rail system used by Gator for this case seems to comprise a front rail, secured to the case itself, and a slim rail behind it to grip the threads of the screws and hold them tight. The back rails in this item seemed to be secured to the front rail with nothing more than a light tacky coating - imagine the glue on a post-it note. Once I tried to secure my amp in the case, both back rails fell off and wouldn?t reattach, making it impossible to hold the amp in place without it simply sliding forward. It took a constructive 20 minutes with some strong tape before I could even install my amp in the case. Not good enough, Gator, not by a long shot.

Once that problem was solved, the case is strong and solid, offering plenty of protection to whatever you put into it. The front and back doors both come with locks, which is a nice touch, and the butterfly clasps look sturdy. The recesses for the side handles don?t leave a lot of room for my hand, but I?m a big guy so that might explain it. It shouldn?t cause any problems for Trump!

I have a couple of Gator cases that I bought to save some money compared to SKB. The Gators are OK, but they are not perfect.
The handles and the "cut outs" for your hands are too small for many (most?) grown up men. I do not have very big hands, but it still get my hads squeezed hard when I lift one of these racks as soon as it has some kgs of equipment inside.

The other annoying thing is that the latches and hinges are placed in the opposite way, compared to most other gear I have seen. The movable parts are not on the lids, but on the case itself. This means that if you use the case for a bass amp, the case will vibrate and rattle if you but it on top of a speaker cab. The rattle is very audible if you play at lower SPL, like for jazz, folk or singer/songwriter style.

If you are on a budget, I recommend to look at Thomann's own brand of cases. I have one of those, too, and it is very similar to the SKB design, but not as high quality.