For musicians with hectic schedules, finding a safe and convenient carrying system for a violin, viola, cello, or bass can be difficult. Busy students and professionals jumping from taxi to bus to subway and back again need to have hands free, not just for balance and stability on bumpy public-transit rides, but also to ­juggle cell phones, PDAs, and other travel essentials. A gig bag or case cover can transform a bulky case into a convenient backpack, provide added protection to a travel case, or act as an alternative mode of instrument transportation between gigs.

How do you know if a gig bag is right for you?

Maybe you have a battered old case that you’ve fallen in love with over the years, despite its being heavy and bulky, and you just can’t part with it. Perhaps you’re looking for a quick slipcover to protect your cello between late-night gigs. Or possibly your pocketbook just doesn’t allow for a new lighter-weight case. Whatever the reason, getting a gig bag or case cover is a reasonably priced way to upgrade your current case, or transport your instrument around town without the added bulk of a hard case.

Matt Stamell of Stamell Stringed Instruments in Amherst, Massachusetts, says most of the players who visit his shop looking for gig bags and case covers are professionals and preprofessionals. Their reasons? “To protect their cases and to give extra carrying capability,” he says.

“Hard-shell cases, especially with the larger instruments, are quite unmanageable for some,” adds Simon McHugh of McHugh Violin Shop in Wichita, Kansas.

Some musicians feel that gig bags and case covers are even a worthy replacement for the traditional case, especially when it comes to hauling unwieldy basses. “Bass padded covers are the most practical and safest means of protective ‘everyday’ transport of the bass violin,” says Barrie Kolstein of Kolstein Music, Inc.