Harley Benton SafeBag E-Guitar

Fantastic gig bag for the price. The Harley Benton SafeBag is packed with all the important features to keep your guitar safe and store all your necessities. I bought this to take my guitar on packed trains to my lessons and band practice, for which it provides more than enough protection. I was debating between the SafeBag and the Boss CB-EG10, but decided on the SafeBag as it feels slightly sturdier (according to Thomann customer service) and has a more accessible large storage pocket.

The padding all around the bag, including the cover, is thick and firm. The padding is reinforced to keep its shape especially when it's all zipped up, unlike the floppy kind of gig bag. It fits my Les Paul perfectly so that the guitar doesn't move around when you are carrying it. The adjustable neck rest is tall and firm such that the angled headstock just about doesn't touch the base of the gig bag. If you have the waterproof cover in the pocket above the shoulder straps, the headstock might touch ever so slightly, but I don't see this as an issue. The outer fabric feels very tear resistant, hardy and durable.

The bag is designed to be incredibly practical. The water proof cover is extremely useful especially for UK weather. The large pocket is very spacious as it has its own depth (around 4cm) and can easily fit papers, laptop (it just about fits a 15 inch macbook), lead cable, and more. To maximise storage space, I have put the water proof shell in the pocket where the straps can be kept away, so that I can use the upper pocket above the shoulder straps for my tuner and ear plugs. The gig bag with the guitar is not too heavy considering all the reinforced padding (Thomann customer service said around 2.2kg).

There are obviously a lot more expensive bags out there that will have more features and I believe you get much more than what you pay for with the SafeBag. Regardless, here are some areas where it may lack compared to other gig bags:

I find the top zipped pocket fairly flat. It's alright for some strings, picks, papers, but its a tight fit for something like a clip on tuner. I don't mind this so much since, as mentioned, I use the other small pocket on the opposite side which has more depth.

The pockets don't have any organisational pockets or straps or clips internally.

Larger guitars like Strats may find the fit quite snug. I don't have one so I can't say for sure. Taking out the internal bottom pad might help, and in my opinion, the extra bottom pad isn't really necessary as the padding around the edges is more than enough to absorb a decent force. If you don't like keeping your larger guitars in snug cases or if you want a more relaxed fit, this might not be the gig bag for you. This personally doesn't bother me and I see the snug fit as a good thing.

The abrasion-resistant floor protection (probably plastic?) is thinner than other gig bags like the Fender FE620 or the Mono style rubber boot for example. But I personally think those thick rubber feet are over the top for my usage. The thin layer on the SafeBag is enough to protect the bottom from wear and slippage. I don't see it wearing out or sacrificing much in protection in at all.

There is no gap in the bottom padding for the strap pin, which could be the first area to see wear and tear after some years. But the inner material seems pretty durable so maybe it will be fine.

I own a Gator transit series e-guitar gigbag so I could compare it to the Harley Benton safe gigbag side by side. The HB gigbag seems to offer thicker padding, slightly lighter weight, and more comfortable shoulder straps than the Gator gigbag plus a raincover. I do however prefer the countoured neck rest in the Gator gigbag versus a flat one in the HB and also the extra pads in the bottom of the HB gigbag do not have velcro to secure them in place. But in general, for only 60% of the price I think the Harley Benton is a better option.

Unfortunately I will have to return my HB safe gigbag because I was in search for one that could fit my short scale Sterling Stingray bass and this one is 1-2 cm short.