TubeNet

Hi everyone,

So, I'm getting close to the time when I will have to buy something to fly with my tuba.

The best option at the moment looks like a custom made flightcase into which I'll put my tuba in it's Cronkhite bag. It's only a 621, so not that heavy and I think the case won't be massive.

The case won't be that expensive, whereas accord cases ARE mega expensive. Although I like the idea of using the accord instead of a gigbag, it's still not a gigbag and I really like my Cronkhite. I can also see the wheels of the accord getting smashed off pretty quickly. It will be lighter than a flightcase, but I'll make sure that I get a fairly light one (using aluminium or reinforced plastic, not wood).

It seems that you can't buy the MTS vault cases anywhere ... I'm probably not considering them, but just noticed that as I was researching around.

I'll let you know how I get on as I know this is an ongoing problem for many ...

Whatever you come up with, keep the total loaded weight under 50 pounds! That is the magic number for most airlines at this point - go over and you are looking at possible hundreds of dollars in excess oversize baggage fees.

bloke wrote:...Johnson cases are no longer made...

...didn't know that!

I'm in the UK, mind...

621 in a gig bag comes in at about 11kg (about 24lb). I have a company here that makes fairly light flight cases. They have made several cases for me before and they take a bashing. They use a type of strong plastic, not wood and it's stronger than aluminium and seems to be lighter too.

I think if it's held in place securely with cut foam in there, it will be OK.

Will it be under 23 kg/50lb... I doubt it, but it might be...

bloke wrote: Fiberglass cloth + Bondo (particularly on the INSIDE...pulling lining materials out of the way, and later putting them back in place) is a very effective way to repair a rickety old wood tuba case

http://smile.amazon.com/Bondo-422-Fiber ... +and+resin

OT - would the above be enough to repair a rickety old 5/4 size wood case?

Update: Although I will be flight casing up a number of things (and have been doing for a number of years now ...) the tuba is getting a seat (again!)

It's a bit of a pain, but at least I won't let it out of my sight!

bloke wrote:Again,
I don't put much stock in the tuba-protectiveness of cases lined with hard/molded styrofoam. They may as well be lined with plush-covered wood, imo.

I do. The trick is *where* the styrofoam touches the tuba. I swear by the Yamaha case for my BBb 621. Every trip, it picks up another crack in the outer shell (because it is *too* closely molded to the shape of the tuba inside), but the tuba is always fully protected. The trick is that the styrofoam clamps down tightly on the LARGE tubing and leaves plenty of air around the fragile parts. Just to be save, I reverse the valvels - but I'm not sure it matters (and no, I don't want to run the experiment!).

In my opinion, it's all about holding on tightly to 3 or 4 pieces of large tubing, and not letting the rest of the tuba touch anything.

I do wish that Yamaha had made the case more of a wedge and less of a form-fitting shell. I'm getting tired of applying Gorilla(tm) Tape to the cracks in the shell (which serves only to keep water out - it's completely useless from a structural or protection point of view.

As you will all probably know, the airline will pay up for damage to a case but not the contents.

PaulTkachenko wrote:As you will all probably know, the airline will pay up for damage to a case but not the contents.

Oh... well then, the solution is simple -- put the case inside the tuba!

I've been experimenting for about a year now with different materials (Carbon Fiber / Kevlar /fiberglass -epoxy matrix composites) and I can now understand why most of these cases are as expensive as they are. It's not the easiest material to work. I think I've found about 803 ways that don't work and 3 that do. If I ever get it down pat I may start producing ( on a very small scale) custom cases. This was driven by the same frustration in trying to get a commercially available case that weighed less (and cost less) than a small car, but provided reasonable protection. Also because a commercial case for the big Rudy is big enough to set-up housekeeping in. I'm hoping to be able to produce a more fitted case.