Although he’s also the vice
president of Levy’s Leathers, singer/songwriter
Harvey Levy still finds time to head
out to the clubs and perform. His experiences
as a working musician led to some
discoveries as to how the ergonomics and
design of his company’s gig bags could
be improved. So he asked his brother
(Levy’s founder and president) Dennis if
he could personally develop a pro-level bag
for gigging musicians. The result is the
Pro Series CCG120 ($243 retail), which
is designed for acoustic guitars. The line
also includes the CCG118 electric guitar
bag ($224 retail) and the CCG119 electric
bass model ($233).
The Look
Levy wanted the bag to have a sleek and
sophisticated appearance, so it’s dressed in
black polyester with black-leather accents
on the straps. A subtle, black-leather patch
bearing the Levy’s logo is sewn into the
front cover. It’s a very classy bag.
The Feel
The handles are comfortable to the touch,
and remain so even when very heavy guitars
and pedals (stored in the accessory
pouch) weigh down the bag. I pulled and
tugged and otherwise abused the main handles
and the very helpful neck handle—
which I used exclusively when lifting my
guitar into car trunks—without noticing
any tearing, fabric distortions, or slippage.
The quality zippers work flawlessly without
any annoying snags or jitters. You can
tote most laptops in the pouch, and without
ballooning the fabric too much, I was
also able to fit some cords, power cables,
a tuner, a strap, and three stompboxes
in there. The outer pocket secures nicely
with Velcro, but it’s only big enough to
hold small notebooks, pens or pencils, and
folded up set lists and posters. I shook
the bag violently, and the internal 1" foam
padding appeared adequate to prevent the
pouch contents from bouncing demonically
against the top of my guitar. I was
pretty blissed-out about the cloth shoulder
straps, which always keep the bag
firmly pressed against your body. Bravo!
I almost have psychological issues with
the straps on many other bags, because
they keep slipping off my shoulders and
messing with my equilibrium.
The Safeguards
Inside the bag is an adjustable neck cushion
that’s almost the same height as the
sides, so your guitar neck is securely
stabilized against the padded top panel.
There’s also some cagey suspension padding
that keeps your endpin from being
wounded if the bag is rudely dropped on
its butt end. It’s a gig bag—not a fitted
case—so your guitar may shimmy a bit
within, depending on its dimensions. But
I carried various dreadnoughts, nylon
strings, acoustic-electrics, and even an
archtop or two, and never felt the bag
put any of the guitars at risk. In fact,
I zipped up an inexpensive, “basher”
steel-string, and tossed the bag into
a van, kicked it off a three-foot stage,
and dropped it down a flight of stairs,
and the guitar was completely undamaged.
(Though, admittedly, in all cases
the neck did not take a direct blow.)
Kudos to Harvey—the CCG120 is one
tough “security guard” for all but the
most treasured and expensive acoustics.
Kudos Quality construction. Great straps.
Very good padding and protection.
Concerns None.
Contact Levy’s Leathers,
levysleathers.com