SKB Gig Rig Rack Case Review

Howdy!

Today we are looking at a product that I thought would be really neat, but unfortunately turned out to be a miserable chunk of crap. This would the SKB Gig Rig.

SKB has sold a ton of the Gig Rig series mixer/rack road cases over the past 15 years, and the Gig Rig (model 1SKB19-R1208) you see here is based on their Mighty Gig Rig (ambitious name, isn’t it?). The idea is to keep all of your rack-mounted equipment and mixer in one compact, easy-to-use unit.

The R1208 Gig Rig has the mixer rails on top, and they are 12U high and mounted at a 7-degree angle. There are also front and rear facing 8U spaces for amps, effects, or whatever. There is enough space in the top rails that stuff that is plugged into the mixer does not have to be unplugged when the lid is put on.

The whole thing is made of molded black plastic, and there are handles on each end for horsing this beast in and out of vans or trucks. The lid and caster portion come off of the main body of the unit and can be stacked together to get this thing to a nice working height.

So what could the problems be with this thing? Let’s see…

1. The plastic is flimsy and the lid is really hard to separate from the body because the whole thing sticks together – to the point where I am afraid something is going to break when I am trying to separate the pieces.

2. The latches are flimsy and break easily. I do not care how good SKB’s support is, because this thing should not have busted a latch before I ever got to use it.

3. It is heavier than hell – 70 pounds of plastic, and that is with nothing in it.

4. It is hard to swallow the idea of spending $500 for a plastic case.

So, the high hopes I had for the Gig Rig were dashed when it came time to actually try to use one. If a product tries to do everything, than chances are good that it won't do any of it well. Live and learn, I guess…

Mahalo!