Fazley GC-AC500CG Acoustic Guitar Case (Champagne Gold)

Well I was looking for a cheap guitar case for transporting my guitars when in the car, public transport and thought this fitted the bill, though given the price my expectations weren't too high! On arrival I was pleasantly surprised. Wouldn't have been the case at full price but for the £37 paid it is very good. The case itself is quite lightweight, the ABS outer is quite thin so whilst offering far better protection than a padded gig bag, it certainly won't take much punishment. Whilst discussing the case outer the pictures seem to indicate it having a smooth glossy finish, mine was a dull textured finish which I suspect will be more difficult to keep clean long term and I can't say I'd call the colour champagne gold just sort of a beige! The main issue with the case (and indeed all cases of this type), is that unlike a wooden framed case where the lid has a lip which sits outside the bottom section, here it relies on a male/female alloy strip on the rim of the lid and base seating properly against each other - they never, ever fit that precisely as the cases have too much inherent flex, mine isn't bad at all only showing minimal (and minor) gapping around where the headstock goes. Other areas of cost saving are the it doesn't have any feet on its back, so just rests on the edge of the case when putting it down. This also applies to the back of the case when putting it down to open/close the case, it just has three large 'pimples' molded into the case shell - they did however put a couple of large studs on the lower bout end toward the back of the case.
The clasps and hinges are just OK quality - again more or less what you'd expect for a budget case and the lock as always, even on more costly cases, is a total joke and offers no real security at all, except perhaps as a deterrent against small curious children! The inner lining is nicely plush, with a reasonable level of padding, again about what's expected at this price level, the accessory compartment is disappointingly small and badly finished with floppy lid. There was also a small gap at its base where small objects could disappear under this lining so no loose allen keys in here! Overall happy with the case, offering that half way house between a gig bag and a heavy duty wood case, but would have preferred the smooth finish pictured. In reality I'd score it somewhere between 3 & 4 stars, so put four on here.