Couldn't find a recent enough thread on this topic, so starting a new one:
Scott at MTS is a class act. One of my son's tuba cases had broken wheels (one didn't rotate and was cracked, the other had been ground off by an airline dragging it after it got clogged with tape), which is to be expected after 5 or 6 years of hard use: several airplane trips, going to high school many times, summer camp, and so on.
Scott simply sent us new wheels (and rivets and metal plates), free of charge. Took less than half hour to install, and now the wheels on the tuba go round and round. The horn is ready to go to WASBE and to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in a few weeks.
Thank you!
MTS case wheels: Thank you Scott
-
ralphbsz
- bugler
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:39 pm
- Location: Los Gatos, CA
-
ralphbsz
- bugler
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:39 pm
- Location: Los Gatos, CA
Re: MTS case wheels: Thank you Scott
The case is the largest one, the 1209. For several years it held a Meinl 25 (BBb with tall stack, similar in size to a 187), and like that it did middle school every day, occasionally school bus, two trips to Disney, and various competitions and special events.
These days, we do something weird with it: It is used as an outside shell for a Miraphone Bruckner CC, which is double-cased: First in a Cronkhite soft case, then that in the large MTS case. This required removing some of the foam on the inside of the MTS case, but gives the horn excellent protection. The Bruckner is small enough that with the Cronkhite it is a nice secure fit. This configuration has gone to summer camp several times, and to Europe already twice (this will be the third time). I think 5 or 6 flights so far. It has been in the back of a pickup truck (all the way from California to Oregon and back, multiple times, even through backcountry), on top of an Audi on a german Autobahn (roped to a ski rack), with no problems at all. The other advantage of having the tuba in both a soft and a hard case is that it gives you flexibility: You can unpack the hard case at the tour bus or in the hotel room, and then go the last section conveniently with the backpack soft case (which on summer tours can be quite a long way, my son remembers an unpleasant hike maybe half a mile up a steep path to a castle on the Spanish coast).
In all that travel, we've had no case-related problems (don't ask about the redwood twig that got lodged in the 4th valve though). The case looks scratched and scuffed, and we just spent 10 minutes removing old airline stickers (still need to wash off more glue with paint thinner). The wheels were the only problem; I think it's a combination of curbs and concrete at school, and once being dragged by airline staff with one wheel jammed by gaffer's tape (oops); that had made a giant dent in that one wheel.
The Bruckner originally came with an SKB hard case, but that thing is tight and a bit flimsy, so I wouldn't trust it, unless handled gently (by the tuba player, not by airlines). These days we use the SKB case for the (much smaller) F tuba, with extra padding. We've never tried the SKB on an airplane, but it's good enough for summer trips (car or tour bus), orchestra camp, high school, or a hotel room.
These days, we do something weird with it: It is used as an outside shell for a Miraphone Bruckner CC, which is double-cased: First in a Cronkhite soft case, then that in the large MTS case. This required removing some of the foam on the inside of the MTS case, but gives the horn excellent protection. The Bruckner is small enough that with the Cronkhite it is a nice secure fit. This configuration has gone to summer camp several times, and to Europe already twice (this will be the third time). I think 5 or 6 flights so far. It has been in the back of a pickup truck (all the way from California to Oregon and back, multiple times, even through backcountry), on top of an Audi on a german Autobahn (roped to a ski rack), with no problems at all. The other advantage of having the tuba in both a soft and a hard case is that it gives you flexibility: You can unpack the hard case at the tour bus or in the hotel room, and then go the last section conveniently with the backpack soft case (which on summer tours can be quite a long way, my son remembers an unpleasant hike maybe half a mile up a steep path to a castle on the Spanish coast).
In all that travel, we've had no case-related problems (don't ask about the redwood twig that got lodged in the 4th valve though). The case looks scratched and scuffed, and we just spent 10 minutes removing old airline stickers (still need to wash off more glue with paint thinner). The wheels were the only problem; I think it's a combination of curbs and concrete at school, and once being dragged by airline staff with one wheel jammed by gaffer's tape (oops); that had made a giant dent in that one wheel.
The Bruckner originally came with an SKB hard case, but that thing is tight and a bit flimsy, so I wouldn't trust it, unless handled gently (by the tuba player, not by airlines). These days we use the SKB case for the (much smaller) F tuba, with extra padding. We've never tried the SKB on an airplane, but it's good enough for summer trips (car or tour bus), orchestra camp, high school, or a hotel room.