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I though the current Mirphone bags have a carbon fiber (fibre?) bell protector. It's mentioned in some of the retailer adds that I just googled, no mentions of it at all on MIraphone's site that I can see though. The lid of my bad is pretty light, and pretty stiff, but I'm not tearing it apart to check.

The old ads said it was "wood" and it was demonstrably untrue. So is it now made of the much more expensive carbon fiber?

I seriously doubt that anything substantive has changed in these bags.

My old bag, with the great mouthpiece pocket on the inside of the lid, was made of a little bit thicker cordura than the one I have now.
Calling cardboard, being made from wood fibres, wood is not lying in advertising.

Pretty funny in some ways. For years now I have been carting around the NStar in an Altieri, which is a lightweight bag, with no lid at all and a drawstring close that leaves considerable room for something to go down the open bell. No damage due to the bag. It has been played in a community orchestra (long walk from parking lot,) community band (also long walk,) gig venues, and brass band (short walk.) I'm not really sure what people do to damage their tubas in gig bags. For me the worst danger is when putting it in and out of the bag. The bell branch rests on a pillow in the hatch of the Subaru, so the edge of the bell is not getting whacked when going over bumps.

peterbas wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 3:15 am My old bag…

I ain’t sayin’ nothin’

If I have damaged a tuba in a gig bag (yes it's happened) it was because I clipped the edge of the bell on a doorway. I really need to remind myself to carry the tuba with the bell behind me

My NStar-playing friend always carries his (in a cordura Chronkite) using one strap over his shoulder, which would subject it to doorway whacks, but after at least 10 years he has no bag-caused damage. The closest he came to damage was when a lady with a camera was trying to get a picture of her horn playing husband, was way too close, said "I won't hurt your tuba," and he said, "YOU ARE STANDING ON MY BELL."
And the somewhat iffy-minded trombone player who was in the brass band until his relatives came down from SLC and took him home, who every break time in brass band made a beeline for my friend's tuba and appeared to have something against either him or the tuba, because at every single rehearsal he had to grab it out of the way of being stepped on or knocked over. People are far more dangerous than gig bags.

travisd wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 4:54 pm I though the current Mirphone bags have a carbon fiber (fibre?) bell protector. It's mentioned in some of the retailer adds that I just googled, no mentions of it at all on MIraphone's site that I can see though. The lid of my bad is pretty light, and pretty stiff, but I'm not tearing it apart to check.

I bought one in the last month and it sure feels like it’s either a thin carbon fibre or plastic disk to me. It has the flex I’d expect and through the fabric seems to have the smoothness you’d expect nor does it seem to want to crease like I would expect with some kind of cardboard based material. It certainly isn’t wood. But hearing of some of the incidents with rain to others bags I’m a little leery of getting it wet.

Has anybody actually contacted and asked Miraphone?