Quality of Gard bags?

[Mary Ann]

They appear to be made in India. Not very expensive but they may have one that fits my Alex tenor tuba. Experiences with quality? I don't need it to be a Chronkite but I do need it to not fall apart.
The Alex came with a pre-China RB bag that is a very VERY tight fit, and I can't zip it, nor am I sure I want to. It would be just fine on a regular euph but the Alex is about 28" tall and a euph is more like 26.5.

[bloke]

I saw a proprietary black leather trumpet bag that Gard makes for a hotsy-totsy brass manufacturer, and it appeared to be quite a bit better than good enough. It was also about half the price of a tuba bag even though it's only about 1/10 of the size. I was with a friend who plays trumpet and does not wealthy but saw the bag and bought it on the spot. I can't remember whether it was reinforced or whether it was just leather, but it held two trumpets.

[the elephant]

I had one. It was impossibly tight for my horn, which it was advertised to fit. I had to send it back. It seemed to be made pretty well out of middle-quality materials. The backpack straps were only okay, and that is the only way I carry a tuba, so no thanks.

I thought Gard was an Aussie concern.

[bloke]

Having seen that super-nice trumpet bag (case?) I spoke of in my recent post, I wonder if they have stepped up their quality over time, because I remember being nonplussed with bags I saw made by them a long time ago, and yes one of the problems was that they really didn't understand sizes and they didn't have their bags identified properly. I think one of the biggest problems is that they didn't understand that girth varied so much from model to model of tubas.

I post way too much and people know that I've migrated over to hard cases for everything (as I grew tired of surprise dents - when unpacking my valuable instruments)...

...and I'm also a California bags person. I've kept all of my California bags, just in case I get to where I can carry something that weighs 25 lbs. less than a tuba in a case, but can't quite manage something that weighs 25 lbs. more... but if I had to pay the Minnesota prices for those bags, I would probably retreat to something cheaper if I had to, because I'm not paying 700 bucks for a padded bag.

[arpthark]

I think they are a good middle of the road bag between Protec Gold and Cronkite. Maybe one half step below the blue Slovakian Miraphone bags. I had one that came with a Conn 4J and it seemed pretty sturdy. I’d use one for my Besson Eb if I found a good deal on one.

[Sousaswag]

A buddy just purchased a Gard bag for his Pt-6. Quality seems on-par with the ProTec bags. Fits the horn fine, and has a disc in the lid to try and protect the bell.

[Kevbach33]

I'd put the quality of these (I own one, the second longest which fits up to B & S 103, Miraphone 186, MW 25, Yamaha 641 [ugh] and Alex 163) as on par with the Protec platinum series; it's better made than the gold series.

Seeing that the tenor tuba is at least taller (isn't it also a bit wider?) than a typical euphonium, finding a bag that fits it could be tricky. Gard cordura bags have some give, but I'm not sure how much give the euphonium bag has seeing that it's a side loader (vs top loading for tubas).

[Stryk]

I have a couple Gard wheelies - had them for 10 or so years with no issues except replacing the wheels once on one bag. I also have two gig bags and have had zero issue with them. Good quality and great service on getting new wheels. Your mileage may vary.

[claf]

I'm not sure about their tuba or trombone bags, but I have a triple trumpet case and I'm trusting it enough to use it daily (I'm very protective with my instruments).
I have a leather mode in the elite series (and a single nylon for my cornet).

They definitely fit in the "gig bag" category (compared to the Marcus Bonna that I use for my bass trombone), but they are really good bags.

[bloke]

I don't know who made their bags, but two people in a row with quad trumpet bags came into my shop about a month apart from each other. The straps had failed, and both of them had to have all four of their very expensive trumpets repaired.

bragging...??
Fortunately, they brought them to the right place.

tuba bags:
Again, I've migrated to hard cases, but I almost never used the straps on my bags, and almost always carried then by their handles. Over the years, I got into the habit of carrying heavy things with my left hand so I wouldn't screw up my right hand - as I'm right-handed.

[Three Valves]

Mine is made in India and has served me well.

If you find one that firs your tuba, it’s a good reasonably priced alternative.

The only downside is they do not have any side-loaders.

[Nemo]

I have a Gard wheelie that I've used for 6 years with no issues (other than losing one of the screw on feet because of carelessness), and a normal gig bag for the last 2. Both are amazing, feel very solid and I trust my horns in them. The wheelie is heavy, and I wouldn't put a lot of music or equipment in the pockets as anything more than the horn and a few folders might overwork the shoulder straps - but I carried it up and down lots of stairs with no issue, and roll it around inside and outside just fine.

Both my bags are the "mid -suspension" variety with extra padding to protect the horn from jostling, and I ordered both a size up to compensate for that. I think their website measures the bags in an unusual way, so they run small. Build quality is fantastic though.

[Mary Ann]

I wrote and asked if their euph bag would fit, and someone named VIjay from India sent me a tuba measuring form to fill out so he/they could determine if it would fit. I measured and sent back the requested form. I'll see what reply I get, but the correspondent was in India.

[claf]

It is an Indian company, but don't let that convince you it's bad quality.

[Mary Ann]

Mine is made in India and has served me well.

If you find one that firs your tuba, it’s a good reasonably priced alternative.

The only downside is they do not have any side-loaders.

This for the Alex baritontuba, so a top loader is ok and even preferable, as opposed to a tuba top loader which requires me to do a bit of gymnastics.

[Mary Ann]

Well, I went to the effort of writing the company about whether one of their bags would fit the Alex; they asked for measurements, which I sent back giving myself a bit of extra room. The recommended bag arrived today, and no way in hell can I get the Alex in there, even after removing all the extraneous "safety" padding. I can't even get the bell in.
So I wrote back to the company saying I wanted my shipping cost refunded because I made the effort to give measurements and was assured it would fit. And of course India is on some three day holiday and they won't be back in the office until Monday.

[bloke]

I've never seen a mass produced bag or case that fits a kaiser baritone (at least not with an upright bell). I wouldn't have believed them (nor bothered to ask in the first place). I feel for you that you did.

The Melton (Meinl-Weston) one that I owned was several inches taller than any euphonium, and the Miraphone ones are taller than the (rare) Melton ones. Astonishingly, it included a new condition custom built hard case.

[Mary Ann]

I have to reverse myself -- I did finally get it in there, with extreme effort and no I didn't bend the bell but was worried I might. The case is incredibly stiff and is difficult but possible to zip. What it needs is 15 gorillas jumping on it for about a week to soften it up. Quality is ok except the backpack straps seem to me not very well attached at the top. Haven't decided whether to keep it or just leave in place my query about a refund, because if I'm totally worn out just trying to force it in there, it won't get much use. For some reason I had thought it was a top loader, which would have been easy to use. Why anyone makes a side zipping euph bag is beyond me, because the zipper is longer and more difficult to install, and it's harder to use. Duh?