TubeNet

the elephant wrote:It is a light duty bag. With that in mind, I liked the one I owned. It was pretty well made out of decent quality materials. Stitching was well done with no unstitched areas like on Dolly bags. The rain fly is a nice thing, if a bit unnecessary save for in a massive downpour. Zippers were of good quality, but not the best. I did not fear them breaking, just wearing out after a few year's use. However, it was an inexpensive bag that I planned to use as a stopgap measure until I had the scratch for a leather Cronkhite.

It was the small one, and it never really got used. It was WAY too small despite my horn having the same measurements listed. It is designed to fit rather tightly and the shoulder was FAR too narrow for my instrument. It simply would not go into the bag past the first valve. (They are bell-loaders only.)

My only issue was the fit, and if your prospective horn already fits that that worry is a non-starter for you.

Storage would have been an issue for me with the small one as the zippered pocked was too small for a music folder. There was no small accessory pocket, either. There is, however, a mouthpiece-sized pouch for the rain fly. I imagine you could stuff that in and still get your mouthpiece in there with room for some other small items.

The shoulder straps were less than comfy for me and would not tighten up as much as I would have liked. (The horn hangs a little low if you only use a single shoulder strap as is my habit.)

Padding is highly adequate for such an inexpensive bag.

This bag is miles beyond an Altieri in protection. The only real issue if you purchase one new is the sizing one, as their reps do not seem to know much about tubas. They were not only useless, they were flat out wrong. (Also the reps at Music123, who told me the same BS about how well my horn would fit.)

The only zipper wear to consider is that it is a top loader and needs to be FULLY UNZIPPED prior to flipping the lid. Otherwise you will stress zipper teeth in a manner that will cause it to fail at some point. However, the zipper is of a tooth size that is similar to very expensive luggage, so a luggage repair shop could probably repair/replace it like what had to be done to my old Dolly bag. (Cronkhite uses much more stout zippers with larger teeth and heavier pulls. They cost a good bit more, but are totally worth it.)

Again, if there already is one paired to the horn, ask to see clear photos of the zipper's teeth, the seams and straps. If it looks to be in good condition it will be in good condition. I saw zero evidence of straps being prone to pulling loose; it felt to my hands like the strap webbing was sewn with a generous overlap and very heavy stitching.)

If I *knew* 100% that my tuba would fit the intended bag well I would not hesitate to get another one. But I would not put an expensive horn in one, new or used. I have had strap hardware break and a horn hit the street hard. (It was a Tuxedo bag back in 1993, with catastrophic damage as a result.) Although I did not see any evidence of cheapness or low quality in the strap hardware I prefer to spend more for top notch stitching of top notch materials with top notch hardware. I cannot afford to have another one break on me.

Cronkhite leather is about as decent as you can get for dent minimization short of a plastic insert like Dolly used. And I still pick up small, shallow flat spots when I whack a doorway. The padding on the Gard, while very good, is not to the same standard.

You can always buy a new bag later. And this one might be a very good one for some time.

Again, ask for photos. I would not let this bag stand between you and a horn that you like. They cost less than $200 new and just do not add any sort of value to a horn. Consider the price for the tuba only. Bags and mouthpieces do not affect the price unless it is a genuine Anvil case or a Johnson or a nice leather bag. Low cost bags are not a part of the picture, here.

Good luck.