One bell. Two handles.

[greenbean]

Wouldn't it be nice if your tuba bag had a handle up at the bell end to make maneuvering the horn easier? And wouldn't it be nice if there was another handle on the OTHER side of the bell ??...

Please behold...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2LgdZiq3LQmrR6nf6

[matt g]

That’s pretty slick…

When I start needing to tote this 2165 out of the house, I’m gonna have to send off an email.

[jonesbrass]

Very nice!

[bloke]

a significant upgrade, and will assist in guiding the bell through car door openings, I suspect.

[prairieboy1]

That is a terrific upgrade. Thanks!!

[bort2.0]

Tom, you may remember that I always a fan of the Götz handle... But two handles? Blew my mind! Can you add them to my bag?

[tofu]

.

[bloke]

I almost never put my tubas on my back nor on my shoulder.
I keep the bags relatively clean (in a closet - away from dirty shoes, pets, spilled drinks, etc.), but Murphy attempts to add cat hair, dirt, dust, etc. to them AFTER I've cleaned them and loaded them into the car.
None of those add-ons (on the back of a suit of tails) tend to add "sex appeal" - whether a player is young and handsome or old and fat.

I carry one instrument (horizontally) in my left hand, or two instruments (horizontally) in (guess...?? ) two hands.

Something else that I often do (if there isn't "parking by the stage door for people with large instruments") is to set my equipment inside the stage door, and then go park. ' funny how much easier that tends to be than carrying a 25 lb. tuba in a 1X-lb. bag.

Yet another "clever blokeStrategy" is to NOT load up my bags with unneeded weight-adding equipment (music stands, random books of sheet music, repair kits, multiple bottles of oil, extra mouthpieces, make-up kits/cans of hairspray, playing stands, pairs of dumbbells, La-Z-Boy recliners, diesel bob-truck transmissions, and the like). I try to limit what is found in the bag pockets to a mouthpiece, a somewhat blunt-tipped pencil, an oz.-bottle of lamp oil, and - if I'm coerced into keeping track of a gig's sheet music - optionally that. Even limiting auxiliary schlep to only those things can add 2/3 lb. of weight. The only other things I might (??) schlep (depending on the gig) would be a tiny König & Meyer model 101 music stand, some "Mars-invasion-looking" weigh-nothing stand lights, and/or (if outdoors) a handful of (real - not clothespins) see-through outdoor music clips.

...but I digress...

>> My ONLY bags are "California-style" bags - of the style/quality that Tom Rice manufactures.

Honestly, I'd much rather have and would find much more useful a well designed strap to carry the horn horizontally well balanced with the strap over one shoulder. My walk into our performance center is short enough that using the backpack straps is a PITA and yet long enough that carrying just by the carry handle is also a PITA. Plus for a lot of people over 50 the hoisting of a horn on the back is painful & not so easy if you have bursitis in the shoulders or like many rotator cuff injuries. I'd even be happy to forgo both the weight and cost of backpack straps completely in favor of a shoulder strap.

[kingrob76]

If this isn't part of my order it needs to be :-)

[greenbean]

Honestly, I'd much rather have and would find much more useful a well designed strap to carry the horn horizontally well balanced with the strap over one shoulder. My walk into our performance center is short enough that using the backpack straps is a PITA and yet long enough that carrying just by the carry handle is also a PITA. Plus for a lot of people over 50 the hoisting of a horn on the back is painful & not so easy if you have bursitis in the shoulders or like many rotator cuff injuries. I'd even be happy to forgo both the weight and cost of backpack straps completely in favor of a shoulder strap.

This can be done. I have been known to make a single backpack strap positioned for either the left or the right shoulder. I can certainly omit the backpack straps altogether and add D-rings for a strap.

[greenbean]

If this isn't part of my order it needs to be :-)

You got it!

[York-aholic]

[greenbean]

Tom, you may remember that I always a fan of the Götz handle... But two handles? Blew my mind! Can you add them to my bag?

Ummm... yeah, actually. Is it worth it, in your case? I don't know. If you were local and could just drop by. For sure.

[cjk]

I like the two extra handles quite a lot.

So why is the accessory compartment still on the same side as the backpack straps?

I actually have two Cronkite bags. The 6/4 sized one has the zippered accessory compartment on the backpack side and the 3/4 sized one has it on the other. I just find this odd.

[hrender]

That's a very smart design. I wish my current bag had these handles.

[greenbean]

I like the two extra handles quite a lot.

So why is the accessory compartment still on the same side as the backpack straps?

I actually have two Cronkite bags. The 6/4 sized one has the zippered accessory compartment on the backpack side and the 3/4 sized one has it on the other. I just find this odd.

I have owned older RB/Cronkhite bags with a pocket on the front. Seems like a bad idea to have your music and maybe a mouthpiece pressing up against the valves. The back of most tubas has some "unused space" within the horn's bugle that is perhaps a better place.

I also like the detachable music holder (folio?) that some other tuba bags have and I have toyed with the idea of trying something similar.

[jtm]

I hadn't even paid much attention to the single handle on the outside of the bell end until you mentioned this. Probably because I've barely used the bag, with no playing to do away from home, yet. It's very nicely done.

I like the second handle, but my tuba is pretty small, so it's probably not worth the expense of sending the bag back to you for refit.