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I know that lots of people have had problems with (recent, Chinese-made) Reunion Blues leather bags tarnishing their instruments, but are the fabric ones okay?

- Crappy

Hi Crappy,

In a word - NO. A section mate bought a new euphonium (YEP-642) last year and also a cordura RB bag (Burgundy if it matters). It starts tarnishing his horn over night. Every place the horn comes in contact with the fabric liner, the horn shows tarnish. Maybe the fabric inside was treated differently than the older RB bags - I don't know. I have an RB (fabric) bag that's 6 years old and it does not tarnish my horn at all.

Hope this helps.

I have an even older leather RB bag, and never had any issue with it no matter what horn I put in it. The old leather bags also had cloth insides (don't know about the later ones... )

Is there any way to remove the tarnishing chemical from the inside of the bag? Dry cleaning? Wet cleaning?

I was wondering what, if anything, has RB themselves told you about the problem. Do they even acknowledge that there is a problem? And, if so, have they given you any info. about possibly replacing the bags under warranty??

I have three Cronkhite bags. My euph bag in leather and the two tuba bags are cordura. The insides are all made of some foam-like padded matterial. No tarnish issues.

Glen Cronkhite was the founder of RB. RB was sold and new purchasers moved the manufacturing to China. Glen sued over the rights to his designs, won, and now makes bags under the Cronkhite name. I highly recommend them. His bags are not the cheapest, but are, IMHO, among the best around.

I should clarify - I do have a Cronkhite bag and I love it. I also was just given this Reunion Blues bag that I would like to give away, except that it tarnishes horns. So right now I'm stuck with this bag that I can't use and can't give away, so I'm hoping someone's heard of some cleansing process that will eliminate the chemical from the inside of the bag, because otherwise I will just be forced to throw it out.

I have heard from friends that Reunion Blues takes no responsibility for the tarnishing, won't acknowledge it at all, and claims that it's the horn's fault. I've also heard that if you bought your RB bag at WWBW, they will replace it.

Thanks, DP, you're right and it's been done.

CrappyEuph wrote:I So right now I'm stuck with this bag that I can't use and can't give away, so I'm hoping someone's heard of some cleansing process that will eliminate the chemical from the inside of the bag, because otherwise I will just be forced to throw it out..

The solution here seems obvious to me--just find someone with a horn in lacquer instead of silver. The bag and horn should be fine together.

As an aside, I don't understand the use of bags for euphoniums. Hard cases aren't much larger than a bag and give a whole lot more protection. OTOH, bags for tubas kind of make sense if you're willing to risk damage in exchange for 20 fewer pounds to lug around.

the cases are only a little bigger and heavier, but for me it's the fact that I can sling it over my shoulder. Carrying the case around is very annoying. At least with many tuba cases there are wheels, but euph cases are too small for that.

Also, I would never carry my euph or put it in a position where it could get damaged in a case or gig bag, so it's not really a factor for me. A case affords a certain amount of extra security, but you have to remember that it also means the entire euph is coming to a dead stop when it hits impact, instead of a slightly slower stop with a gig bag.

Chuck(G) wrote:As an aside, I don't understand the use of bags for euphoniums. Hard cases aren't much larger than a bag and give a whole lot more protection.

Oh my! The gig bag is so much handier. It has room for music folder, glasses, etc. plus strap or straps for carrying on your back. I've been using my RB bag for six years and haven't acquired any additional dents.

FWIW, Steve Mead carries his euph in a leather gig bag -- even when flying. But he told me he's never had any trouble taking it on board as 'carry-on' luggage.

As a Christmas present, a friend was given a brand new gig bag to hold his Besson euphonium which he had been carrying around in its hard case since the 60's. About the second time out with the gig bag, he tripped over a concrete parking bumper and fell squarely on his horn.

Up until that time, the instrument was pretty much cosmetically flawless...

I guess his euphonium came to a "gradual stop"...

Here's a solution I've used for my English Baritone and my euphonium to keep them from getting tarnished in a case or a gig bag. They're made of silver cloth which has very fine strands of silver impregnated in the fabric which counteracts the tarnishing process. It would solve your leather oils problem too.
PKeen

http://www.wwbw.com/Gillis-Tarnish-Prev ... 5763.music