We all want to know that our guitar is being kept safe and sound wherever it may be. It's a very expensive piece of equipment that a musician might base his entire life on keeping secure.

But when it comes to owning a safe case for your guitar, are you certain you're getting what you pay for? Here are 6 things you should inspect in a hard-shell guitar case to make sure that it can keep your instrument safe and sound.

1. Does your case have 4 or 5 latches?

A safe guitar case should have at least 4 latches in order to keep the lid securely fastened to the bottom half. There's nothing worse than hearing the sound of your instrument spilling out onto the pavement.

2. Are there 1 or more compartments to keep your extra strings, picks, capos, etc.?

You're going to need a little bit of room to house your guitar goodies along with your instrument when you go out gigging. Try to stick with a safe guitar case that has sections for your straps, picks, and other guitar essentials.

3. Is the case adequately padded for protection?

The outside of the thing might be solid, but what if the inside of the case is just as hard? Well, that's no good! Make sure your guitar is safe with enough padding to keep it comfortable inside of the case.

4. Will the outside shell protect against minor impacts?

There will always be a time when you pull the instrument out of the van or car and takes a little knock on the end when you smack it into the door or guitar cab. For minor hits like this, you want to make sure that it's your case that's safely absorbing all the damage and not your guitar.

5. Does the guitar case have a lock?

What's worse than having a guitar with a bad sound? You don't have a guitar to play!

Keep your guitar safe with a lock. As much as it's great to have lots of people come to your shows, you just can't be sure which guy wants to leave with your instrument when you're not looking.

6. Is there too much room inside of the case?

If you hear a sound like shoes in the dryer coming from your guitar case, then there's probably too much room in there. If there's just a little too much, stick some old rags in there for extra padding, but if the bouncing around continues, you probably have a guitar case of the incorrect size.

Every guitarist should have the comfort of knowing their instrument is safe inside of its case. Make sure to do some research and check reviews on certain guitar hard-shell cases that you have your eye on. Hopefully when you open the case, your guitar is still able to make a sound.