noob R3 owner revisiting the gig bag issue & ? on foot s

[reverber8]

Greets! New guy here w/ a R3 and a few questions.

I'm the singer/guitar player and primary songwriter for my band. I used to play some keys years ago and just picked up an R3 to add some new sonic textures to our music. I really liked the R3 for it's "poor man's" Moog possibilites. It does a fairly decent job at coming close to some of the Moog's sound at a fraction of the cost. Love that portamento thing! It also works well for droning a few warm pad string notes in the background to fill in and add depth to a few songs. Plus arpeggiator is way cool and very easy to use. I'm sure I'll find more uses for the R3 as it inspires me to write and flesh out new ideas into songs.

Anyway sorry for the tangent. I've searched here and everywhere I can think of to find a suitable gig bag for the R3. There's a few posts here about this but I can't find a disco'd Nord G2 bag anywhere. Everything else is too big or an inch or two too small.

I did find this Gator G Mix L 1224 mixer bag:
http://www.gatorcases.com/productsmodel ... 89&MID=247

This looks ideal although at 24" it's an inch smaller in length than the R3 which is 25". Gator Cust Service thought the internal foam padding might be able to be compressed a half inch on each side to accomodate the R3. That would allow for a secure and snug fit but Gator's CS dept couldn't confirm that.

Has anyone found a bag for their R3? Or maybe owns a similar Gator bag and know if the internal foam padding can be compressed a half an inch? I can't believe how difficult it is to find an adequate bag!

Also, I'm looking for a foot switch to use to drone/hold notes as I mentioned above. I have an old Roland standard on/off switch from an old Roland JC120 guitar amp. When I plugged it into the SWITCH input on the back of the R3, I get no visible indication that the hold is enabled and I find that it takes a few on off cycles of the switch to turn it on or off still. Anyone got a suggestion here? Should I be looking for a latching switch? Would the Boss FS5L work for this? I see that it has an LED.

Thanks for any help.

[collias]

I'm in a similar situation. Can't find any of those old nord bags anywhere. I was actually looking at that exact same gator bag, but I also wasn't sure of the padding. If you do end up getting it, let us know how it works out, eh?

[blinkofanI]

Hi,
I think i posted it in the past but i used to have a Korg Prophecy that's about the same size of the R3 and i bought a tenor sax hard case, removed the molding inside and it made it a very sturdy and not too heavy hard case for the Prophecy...

Blink

[David_H]

I've used NY Case on eBay and had great luck. Their prices are reasonable and they build really nice cases. For the R3 however.....I ended up using (of all things) a Roland V-Stand stand bag. It fits perfectly. I just added some foam on the top and bottom for extra protection.

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=548131

[collias]

Wow, what a great idea, David_H! Thanks for the tip. I think I'll order one now!

[Ollie Stench]

Did anyone end up ordering the Roland bag? And if so, how does it work for the R3?

I found a hardshell suitcase that fit the R3 but I have to sandwich it between 2 full sized pillows to make it secure.

[David_H]

I'm currently using it. It works great.

[collias]

I actually just ordered the Roland bag, and it's in the mail right now. I'll post and let you know how it fits when I get it.

[reverber8]

I got a Gator case G-MIX-L 1224
http://www.gatorcases.com/productsmodel ... 89&MID=247

Scroll to the bottom to see the model I got. It's a good quality bag which is very light and the zippered side pocket is perfect for the power supply, foot switch and other little items.

My R3 fits nicely but only after some quick modifications to the sides of the case. I had to disassemble the case and remove the side section of the inner high density foam on one side. I also crushed the foam on the other side which allows for an even better fit.

[Maine]

Doesn't that put the R3 at risk a little? It sounds like any horizontal force would now be absorbed directly by the body of the synth, not the padding and bag.

[blitzdj86]

you could just cut half the foam from each side.. really the most delicate parts of synths are the knobs/buttons/LCDs..
anyway i would not want to be banging the whole body of a synth even in a foam bag! a little knock on the side of the synth is not going to be terrible, but a hard kick would be bad even with the foam.