Theory Of The Month
Bass case warlock Jonny Coffin of Coffin Cases has been making sarcophagi to die for over the past 25 years. We sit down for a grave chat with him
The Lydian Dominant scale, you say? It’s Nik Preston’s middle name...
Don’t you just hate it when somebody comes up with an idea so genius that you can’t help but kick yourself for not coming up with it first? Jonny Coffin did that over 25 years ago – and what started as a one-off guitar case has grown into one of the most recognisable brands in the world. How did this ball get rolling, we ponder?
“In the beginning, I had a handmade coffin case that I was gigging around with in LA, in the late 80s and early 90s,” he recalls. “I had guitarists and bassists asking me, ‘Where did you get that case?’, so after a few hundred requests I decided to look into registering the patents and trademarks. I had a small wood shop in my garage to hand-make custom orders for clients, but I always had a bigger vision for the company, so I’m still making cases and other musical products a quarter of a century later.”
What are the challenges of this making coffin-shaped cases, we ask? “For me, a coffin-shaped guitar case actually makes a lot of sense,” he explains. “A lot of thought went into its design, because it’s not an easy shape to produce.
I started with custom hardwood cases and transitioned into an affordable consumer line. It was important to me that we still keep the integrity and style of my original handmade cases, so we still use our trademarked diamond quilted velvet in the cases for added protection for the instrument. The coffin aesthetic holds and protects the bass so well that there’s no reason to change it. Plus, the coffin shape is timeless.”
Many of the biggest bands in the world turn to Coffin to ensure that their instruments ‘rest in one peace’, as it were, while on tour. Having Slash, Metallica and Rolling Stone Keith Richards on your roster is impressive, to say the least. However, rubbing shoulder to shoulder with rock royalty hasn’t made him lose sight of the big picture. How important is it to maintain a healthy relationship with the music community on a local level?
“IMAGINE A KID 50 YEARS FROM NOW PULLING A COFFIN CASE OUT AND SAYING, ‘WHAT IS THIS?’”
“It’s a priority,” Jonny says. “It’s what we built our business on. We support local musicians everywhere, and offer endorsement deals for bands who are as passionate about music as we are. Everyone has something to offer, and we recognise that. I see the level of talent out there from such a large number of men, women, boys and girls, and it blows me away. As a musician, I think we all have a common bond and we need to support each other through whatever outlets we have. As a company, we love promoting talent through our channels, new or established.”
He declares: “Coffin will be around forever. I love to imagine a kid 50 years from now pulling a Coffin Case out of their great-grandparents’ closet with a bass inside and saying ‘Holy shit... What is this?’”