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Need sled case


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Should have been more clear on this--I'm looking to buy in case anyone has a spare, want to sell theirs etc. LA only. thanks!

 

 

You are welcome to borrow mine, as my rig is sitting in the camera truck foam bed when not in use for the next couple of weeks and my hard case is in the garage.

Otherwise is there not some Pelican case available over the counter right now. I'm sure Irwin has 12 of them.

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Charles,

 

PRO lists their sled case for a scant $350 (http://www.pro-gpi.com/price.htm). Having just spent way more than twice that on a new custom A&J sled case (PRO's is too short for my rig), it seems like a great deal. Funny thing about my situation is that UPS has destroyed my case twice while being delivered to me from A&J! So, I've yet to use it and I'm beginning to question both UPS and A&J. The second time they delivered it (both times ground), I was home and watched the UPS driver bring it up my stoop. I could see lots of holes in the cardboard A&J had wrapped it in. I look in the very first hole to see splintered wood. I tell the driver to take it back and explain this is the second time this has happened. She replies, "they need to wrap it better." I tell her it is a shipping case and the cardboard is to prevent cosmetic scratches only. She replies "they need to wrap it better." I repeat that it is a shipping case. She says, "not a very good one."

 

Hmmmmm. Left me wondering, but there must be a reason virtually every US rental house uses A&J. To A&J's credit, they have dealt with UPS and are making every effort to make things right. I'm demanding they return it to me via air next time since I've paid for the case in full and been without it for a ridiculous amount of time. Also, it seems UPS ground is just too much for these legendary cases.

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Hmm, very funky story Alec.

 

I wrote the first post on my phone from set (how much do we love technology these days...) so I didn't have time to go into the gory details, but basically I have been evaluating the Battery Hanger from Rig Engineering (aka Steadyrig, aka Hugo's outfit) for the past year and the new version with battery protectors/skid plates is on its way to me now...for this reason I haven't wanted to get a case made until I know what the final design and dimensions will be. It may well fit in a standard PROII case but I'd hate to put the cart before the horse.

 

I've been carrying the rig around locally in the Steadi Sled bag from Modular 51, which is great. Reminds me of the gig bags I used to use with my saxes back in the day. But not so good for shipping.

 

I think I'm just going to break the sled down and stuff it like a dismembered body into one of my existing Pelicans at this point--a little extra work on either end but I'll survive it.

 

thanks all,

 

Chas

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Thanks everyone for responses. I'm travelling the sled in bits and pieces all wrapped in foam for this gig, hopefully by the next travel gig I'll have the new hard case made.

 

Guido, nice setup! One of the things that I have been working on with Hugo is a way to be able to set the rig down on the ground if necessary, something I miss from the PRO1; it's also a battery protector in case you take a little "scrape". That's part of the new prototype he's sending me. I see that your fore battery is quite a bit lower than the other two--that makes this sort of thing a bit difficult! But it all depends on whether you consider having a flat base necessary on a sled, some do, some don't.

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Hey Guido,

 

That's a nice rig you have on your bottom battery on the Nexus. Mine 3rd battery on my Nexus runs on the bottom, right under the post. As I'm thinking of switching to an LCD, I'll need a bit more weight in the front, and your rig accomplishes that.

 

Is it a custom rig, or did MK-V do that for you?

 

Hey Alex,

 

It seems like we both have been chasing the perfect sled case for years now. I ended up with an extruded aluminum case from Quantum in Toronto. I thought I was being smart in saving precious pounds with an aluminum case. Although it is much lighter than an A&J style case, and they did a fantastic job with the interior layout, what I neglected to anticipate is that aluminum, even extruded, will dent. In less than a year of travel, my case looks 10 years old. My AC calls it "character" but I think I'll have to buy a new case within a few years.

 

If only Pelican made a case big enough for our rigs!

 

Mark Karavite

A Camera / Steadicam Operator

mkaravite@comcast.net

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Charles;

Regarding the Modulus 51 case....... I used walk around with my Selmer MarkVI in a nice foamy gig bag, until it cost me $600.00 to have it untwisted. The Pelican 650 case fits the PRO sled profile well, why not go with that option? And you don't have to wait for A&J to destroy several cases in the process.

Jamie.

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Check out Encore Cases in LA.

They made me a custom case for my sled several years ago.

It's travelled many times no problems.

 

It's big and when the sled's in there, quite heavy...but I wanted that.

No tossing or throwing by shipping people because it's just too big and heavy

for them to do that.

 

Just a thought.

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Yeah Jamie, I'm actually shipping the case today in a Storm 2950 (roughly same size as a Pelican 1650) but it required me to take off the top stage and monitor, something I'm not used to having to do with the regular sled hard case.

 

Yup, you're right about the damage that the gig bags caused--I only used mine for a year or so (couldn't afford the Mark VI though, I was a Yamaha man) before reverting to the hard case. I think the rigs are a bit less delicate than sax keys though! The Mod. 51 bag generally rides in the passenger seat when I drive to jobs and then the rig comes right out, so I think it's working out great for jobs around town. I think my rig sees far more abuse on the job than in the bag!

 

Innerspace has made most of my cases to date, so I'll probably go there once the battery hanger arrives (apparently it's en route).

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Charles,

 

you've seen me at NAB!Do I look as if I have to put down the rig?????-Just kidding! But seriously, I never put the rig down on the ground, so I don't need a flat base!As you stated before: some do,some don't!

 

 

 

Mark,

 

Howard send me the mount for the front battery but it comes in a 90° angle.I didn't like the look nor the weight distribution (battery too high!).So I went to Christian Betz (ex-Chrosziel here in munich).We designed a perfect delrine triangle which put the fron battery in a 45°angle (same as the front of the Nexusbase) and further down for better balance! With lighter cameras I usually use the two battery-version (video,SR3,235,etc) but if you want a shorter setup with those cams you can put the 3rd battery on (takes about 30secs).You can also use two batteries in differnt setups to achieve perfect dynamic balance (backbattery high+front or vice versa).Makes it very easy get the perfect setup!

BTW,how do you like my Nexuscase?!

 

 

Guido

 

PS:Cases look a liitle different now that I finally got my G70 and my new fiz!!

post-300-1165271751_thumb.jpg

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