For background, please see Jack Justis Announces Jack Justis West Cases
I just got back from a trip and was pleasantly surprised to find a new Jack Justis West Case waiting for me still in its box.
The case was in a black case sleeve with draw string, so its finish was protected over the shipping journey.
The all black case is a 2x4 and is made to the specifications of the Pro-Lite Justis cases. . It's built with a single custom oval tube with the same separator interior. The tooling is the typical Justis style. There is no silver highlighting as Jack would normally do on some of his all black cases. The weight is the same as my Justis Pro-Lite
For all intents and purposes, the look is identical to a Justis original case with a few differences. The rivets are solid rather than the hollow style that Jack uses. The Jack Justis West case also uses rivets only to hold the top handle to the lid. Jack normally uses both rivets and tacks/brads to hold the handle to the lid. That sometimes results in the brads getting pulled out when you grab the case by the handle. IMO, the rivets are the way to go, so it's a welcomed change with the Justis West.
For the leather, there's a texture to it that my Pro-Lite doesn't have. The weight of the leather on the handles feels slightly thinner on the West. I'm talking 1.2 mm vs 1.0 mm {edit: the West handles' leather is about 1.0 mm thick while the original just a smidge thicker}. Something of that order. I suspect the rest of the leather on the case body of the West is just slightly thinner as well. The shoulder pad's interior side (the side that goes on the shoulder) is natural instead of black suede, so it stands out. It looks a little unfinished. Also, the spray clear finish isn't holding up as well as Jack's finish or wasn't put on as well. It looks slightly matte instead of glossy all the way through. But, if this was finished like Jack does it, it would be very difficult to discern the Jack Justis West from Jack Justis originals. It's minor, but I think most people would notice it.
That being said, the downside is that this case smells more like shoe polish than I would like. I get this feeling that the polish will start coming off in my hands. My hands smell very dye-like.
Additionally, on the back side, that long piece of leather riveted in place to cover the seam, it looks like it's been glued on to hold in place prior to riveting. There are a couple spots where that glue (if it's glue) has seeped out. It might be spray finish that pooled up, but whatever it is, I"ve never noticed anything similar on a Justis original.
I've loaded the case up with cues and it remains light like the Pro-Lite original. The pockets (short 8"top, long 16" bottom) are exactly the same design as my Pro-Lite with Jack's normal zip up style with a leather pull on a ringlet. The leather piece on the ringlet like the shoulder pad is black on one side and natural on the other. Again, it sticks out too much for my taste. The zipper teeth are very slightly different (slightly smaller?) than my Pro-Lite. Unless you had the two side by side, you'd never know. Pulling the zippers up and down didn't give any indication that there was any advantage or disadvantage either way. I think it's more of a case that it's just a different manufacturer of that particular zipper size. The pockets had the protective foam pads inside.
There's no brass band at the bottom of the Justis West. I?m definitely okay with that, but others might want one. I don't know if it's an option.
The fit of the lid onto the case is good. I've had some other brand cases that the lid didn't look like it was made with the case in mind.
I think the finish (including dye/polish smell) is the only thing that I could fault with this case, and it's hardly noticeable. It just happens that I have a Pro-lite case of the same basic color to compare side-by-side. I could easily buff this case to a shine, do some silver highlighting with a silver marker, and this would look as fine as any other Justis Pro-Lite. In fact, I like the non-highlighted look, so maybe just a shine.
I'll report back on how it holds up over normal use.
Fred
I just got back from a trip and was pleasantly surprised to find a new Jack Justis West Case waiting for me still in its box.
The case was in a black case sleeve with draw string, so its finish was protected over the shipping journey.
The all black case is a 2x4 and is made to the specifications of the Pro-Lite Justis cases. . It's built with a single custom oval tube with the same separator interior. The tooling is the typical Justis style. There is no silver highlighting as Jack would normally do on some of his all black cases. The weight is the same as my Justis Pro-Lite
For all intents and purposes, the look is identical to a Justis original case with a few differences. The rivets are solid rather than the hollow style that Jack uses. The Jack Justis West case also uses rivets only to hold the top handle to the lid. Jack normally uses both rivets and tacks/brads to hold the handle to the lid. That sometimes results in the brads getting pulled out when you grab the case by the handle. IMO, the rivets are the way to go, so it's a welcomed change with the Justis West.
For the leather, there's a texture to it that my Pro-Lite doesn't have. The weight of the leather on the handles feels slightly thinner on the West. I'm talking 1.2 mm vs 1.0 mm {edit: the West handles' leather is about 1.0 mm thick while the original just a smidge thicker}. Something of that order. I suspect the rest of the leather on the case body of the West is just slightly thinner as well. The shoulder pad's interior side (the side that goes on the shoulder) is natural instead of black suede, so it stands out. It looks a little unfinished. Also, the spray clear finish isn't holding up as well as Jack's finish or wasn't put on as well. It looks slightly matte instead of glossy all the way through. But, if this was finished like Jack does it, it would be very difficult to discern the Jack Justis West from Jack Justis originals. It's minor, but I think most people would notice it.
That being said, the downside is that this case smells more like shoe polish than I would like. I get this feeling that the polish will start coming off in my hands. My hands smell very dye-like.
Additionally, on the back side, that long piece of leather riveted in place to cover the seam, it looks like it's been glued on to hold in place prior to riveting. There are a couple spots where that glue (if it's glue) has seeped out. It might be spray finish that pooled up, but whatever it is, I"ve never noticed anything similar on a Justis original.
I've loaded the case up with cues and it remains light like the Pro-Lite original. The pockets (short 8"top, long 16" bottom) are exactly the same design as my Pro-Lite with Jack's normal zip up style with a leather pull on a ringlet. The leather piece on the ringlet like the shoulder pad is black on one side and natural on the other. Again, it sticks out too much for my taste. The zipper teeth are very slightly different (slightly smaller?) than my Pro-Lite. Unless you had the two side by side, you'd never know. Pulling the zippers up and down didn't give any indication that there was any advantage or disadvantage either way. I think it's more of a case that it's just a different manufacturer of that particular zipper size. The pockets had the protective foam pads inside.
There's no brass band at the bottom of the Justis West. I?m definitely okay with that, but others might want one. I don't know if it's an option.
The fit of the lid onto the case is good. I've had some other brand cases that the lid didn't look like it was made with the case in mind.
I think the finish (including dye/polish smell) is the only thing that I could fault with this case, and it's hardly noticeable. It just happens that I have a Pro-lite case of the same basic color to compare side-by-side. I could easily buff this case to a shine, do some silver highlighting with a silver marker, and this would look as fine as any other Justis Pro-Lite. In fact, I like the non-highlighted look, so maybe just a shine.
I'll report back on how it holds up over normal use.
Fred
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