TubeNet

the wind ensemble at my school is going to be going on tour this spring to the ABA convention in gainsville FL. i have a CB50 and a gig bag and i'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for me on what to do about travel. what do some of you do when you travel with a cb50(case recomendations etc...)

I've only flown once with my CB-50. This was about 5 years ago. I flew from NC to OK, then on to NM, than back to NC.

Here's what I did. My CB-50 came with a hard case. I put it in the hard case, and filled all the empty spaces as best I could with clothes I needed for the trip. Then I put duct tape over the handle and hinges, and wrapped duct tape all around the whole case in several places. Then I printed out a couple of signs with the word "FRAGILE" and a picture of a tuba, which I taped to the outside of the case.

I took a roll of duct tape with me, and used new tape each time I repacked the horn for the next leg of the trip.

The case got a little scuffed up, but the horn was not damaged at all.

The hard cases that would have come with a CB50 are not made anymore. They were manufactured and were available for a time after the G50 was ended, but would be hard to find now. When I bought a used G50 about 6 months ago, I ordered a new case for it. The one I got was the fifth-to-last one they ever made. Dave Fedderly at Baltimore Brass had the very last new ones, but it looks like he has sold them all.

So, it looks like you can either try to find one of the original cases used, or explore your many options in other cases. You could probably find a different hard case that would work fine, or there are many companies that will make great custom cases for you. I am sure there are other posters know more about these other options than me and will give you more advice about that.

Taping up a case will probably not work any more. Even with X-Rays of every piece of luggage, the TSA has the right to go into whatever luggage of yours they choose to. If you lock a suitcase they may break the lock off, or the suitcase if they can't get it open. A case taped up the way you describe will be a very likely candidate to be opened and searched, and then most likely closed improperly.

My wife's suitcase was ruined by the TSA, even though it wasn't locked, and they left a little note inside explaining how they had the right to do so.

Ive got a brand new G-50 hard case. the horn came shipped in the case, and ive onbly used it 2 times. its been in my attick for 5 years now.
Make me an offer
I might be willing to get rid of it.
Mike

Try a King 2341 case.

If you need a flight case or a really, really good road case, see if you can get pictures of David Fedderly's setup...I'll describe it as best I can, as it used to be mine...

It's a big Anvil trunk that can hold a G-50 in a gig bag. The horn fits in on its side so that you use the handle on the gig bag to lift it in and out. There are blocks of foam that keep it from moving around inside the case, and the entire case is covered in at least 1 inch of foam. Although it sits on its side, there is "air space" on the sides of the horn that will reduce the risk of an impact damaging the valve section...it's really hold held still by the bell end and the bottom bow end...the horn makes as little contact with the sides of the case as possible...a practical version of the "suspension" system, in a round-about way.

I used the said case extensively by air (including a 31 day European Tour last April-May) as well as on tour busses and in trailers. Heck, the thing has even been on a ferry crossing the English Channel with me. I never had any damage.

Cases like this are not for the faint of heart...they are big, heavy, and hard to manage...plus they'll set up back $500+ (which when compared to other cases really isn't that bad).

If I were traveling, I'd either go with an Anvil, Walt Johnson, or Meinl Weston case. Oh, the new Unitec case that Alan Baer posted looks great too...very much like my MW cases but not form fit to a single horn.

I have an anvil trunk (as described above) that was made to fit my old CB50 in great condition. PM me if interested.