Cronkhite or Messina?

[Mary Ann]

You're going to end up like the rest of us with a bagged tuba in a collapsable wagon or hand truck. Neener, neener.

[bloke]

It's pretty easy to drop things off at the stage door, get them inside to a reasonably safe spot, and then go park.

[DonO.]

It's pretty easy to drop things off at the stage door, get them inside to a reasonably safe spot, and then go park.

Not in my case. One of my bands practices and performs at a downtown city university. I have to park in a city multi level parking garage and then walk a couple of blocks. Sometimes I have to park in one of the upper levels. The rehearsals are at night and the parking garage elevators are not in operation. In the building where the rehearsals are held, there is literally no place to park and drop off, and even if there were, the rehearsals are on the third floor, so there would be no one to watch my horn while I go park. I have tried various wheel/cart/dolly schemes but they all fall short. I finally decided that just putting the thing in a gig bag and using the shoulder straps was the best option.

[DonO.]

Update update update!

I sent my tuba’s measurements to the good folks at Cronkhite. I have been on pins and needles wondering which pattern of theirs they were going to recommend. What pattern would be my horn’s measurement twin? I have my answer. It is…drum roll please!…

Gronitz 125!

This is what they recommend for me. Funny, because my horn is a small BBb, the Gronitz is a largish F. They say it will be a good fit. So I bit the bullet and ordered it.

My horn has a 16” bell. The Gronitz, 16 1/2”. My horn is 33” long. The Gronitz, 34 1/2”. So it shouldn’t be a skin tight fit. But I figure I want a little extra room for the ease of in and out, yes?

Anyways, I figure they’re the professionals, they should know their business. I will see in 10-12 weeks (their present lead time). I got blue Cordura. I will let everyone know what I think when it gets here.

[kingrob76]

You will get a very well made bag. Congrats!

My CB-50 leather bag is about 2-3" too long, which, in the grand scheme of things is just fine by me. It affords me the ability to sell it separately OR swap it over to a different horn like a Eastman 632/832. The Getzen stands 31 1/2" tall which is pretty short. The extra length at the top of the bag isn't an issue because the horn sits in the bottom of the bag when I carry it. I actually have considered adding a piece of foam to the mix but it really isn't necessary - the Getzen is heavy and built like a tank.

[bloke]

Away from the topic of which bag and to the topic of logistics, I've always figured out some way to get something done, but - when I really don't want to get something done - I've always figured out some reason-or-way to not do it.

Whether a bag, a case, a bag strapped to a collapsible two-wheeler, my days of pulling a tuba a city block are over. It's not just the work involved or the fact that sometimes I use more than one instrument on a concert, it's a matter of crime and safety as well... and crimes (hold-ups, etc.) occur every day in most every town with some sort of five-decimal-places-or-larger population. If I'm messing with either of one of two particular instruments, they are both worth individually more than any of my cars are worth.

even more off-topic:
Mrs. bloke or I will mention to the other one some amazing concert, event, or party that a friend is throwing that is located at such-and-such public event location. Most of the time, we look at each other and both agree that we are not willing to risk parking our car anywhere near most of the locations where most such events are held. (We did attend a large annual party this last weekend which was an hour and a half away, but/and way out in the country.) I'm also completely familiar with the frog in the pot (with the heat being gradually turned up on the burner below it) syndrome. Most everyone has just become accustomed to taking more and more risk when they go into populated areas, and the majority of people born today were born after there was already geometrically more risk involved in such things than there was when I was growing up and entering my teens and twenties, so younger people's "normal" differs greatly from my "normal". I have to except a higher level of risk occasionally, but only try to limit those times to propositions were remuneration is involved. A couple of amazing and affordably-ticket-priced concerts that we simply judged as being too risky to attend in the last few years have been an Eddie Van Halen concert and the amazing Texas swing band called "Asleep At The Wheel". We would have loved attending both of those concerts - as well as quite a few others, but we just judge such things - located within high-crime areas - as simply taking on too much unnecessary risk.

This post may look like some troll or way to steer the topic off into the ditch, but we (tuba people) carry very large and heavy/unwieldy things into venues, and they're large and heavy/unwieldy whether we have them in a this-maker sack, a that-maker sack, or whether we have them in more protective hard cases. The fact that we are dealing with something big and heavy - or maybe even two big and heavy things - renders us as relatively defenseless, yes: in locations where people often find that they need to defend themselves. This is why - regardless of the obstacles or logistics involved - I always pull up to the venue's door, carry my equipment into the venue, place it near where my friends are chatting next to their chairs, and then go back out to my car and park where I'm allowed to park.

[TxTx]

I’m in the process of getting a bag from Cronkhite for my Willson 3400S-FA5 (their compact Eb). As in your case they didn’t have a pattern for it, so I made all their measurements and sent them in. They replied saying the dimensions were really close to a Kanstul 902/5C, which fits in the bag made for a Conn 52J.

Heard from them again today. They said they were going to reach out to the person that bought the 52J bag for their Kanstuk 902/5C and ask them how well it fit. Since it is sometimes a small world, any chance the person reading this bought that bag for their Kanstul? If so, how did it fit?

Thanks!

Eric