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I currently own two tubas. A bbflat Yamaha neo and a besson sovereign 981 ee flat.I own two high end gig bags but have always preferred to carry my assets in their respective hard cases.My repair tech greatly appreciates it.I am no spring chicken... I am 57 years old and sometimes it is a struggle to carry them in this fashion, especially in this part of the world.It would seem that not many of us use the hard case anymore.Am I right on this?

bloke wrote:Cases tear up automobile interiors.
Bags tear up tubas.
Pick one.

+1
For everyday, im thinking of taking a gig bag,
but if im going long distance to new places or to a audition/competition, Hard case it is
as long as you're not overly clumsy, you should be fine with a gig bag (at least thats what ive been hearing)

the elephant wrote:

eeflattuba wrote:I ... have always preferred to carry my investments...

Just pointing out (because it bugs me) that tubas are assets. They are not investments. It is important that we all understand that our horns are NOT investments.

thanks.

bloke wrote:Cases tear up automobile interiors.
Bags tear up tubas.
Pick one.

I thought I did?

eeflattuba wrote:

bloke wrote:Cases tear up automobile interiors.
Bags tear up tubas.
Pick one.

I thought I did?

good point lol

Hi,
Ever since I bought my Kaiser Tuba 1996 I've always transported it in its hardcase in all situations.
I don't own a gigbag for it and feel no need for one despite I play it many times every week in various bands.
Still the tuba has no dents, only a few very small dings originating from bad behavior of my neighbour players.
For me as an amateur the tuba is an investment which I want to last as long as possibly.
It also looks very impressive due to its size among my tuba neighbours and I want to keep it so.
The drawbacks are that you need strong arms and a spacious car.
The tuba in its hardcase weights about 60 lbs together.
In the long term I consider it's worth it.
Hopefully you're lucky with your gigbags,
Lars

Most of the time I use a gig bag. With some thoughtful moving it gives enough protection even to big bell horn like my Besson 982. Just take care about doorframes, but even an unruly elevator door did no harm to my horn. All dents happend outside of any bag or case...The gig bag has less weight and more carrying comfort than a hard case, but you have to test it, my old Soundwear bag was not only too bulky for the car trunk but I also had to bend my arm when carrying, otherwise it scraped on the floor. The Couesnon bag is much better. And yes, it is better for the car backseat. But mine fits into the trunk, so this doesn't matter too much.
For concert tours with the horn down in the basement of course a hard case gives a bit more security. And I love the hardcase when going by train, I made a very light trolley with roller-bearing pneumatic-tired wheels, so I can push it around very easy and without noise. I also fitted a bicycle bell to prevent people falling over it...

bloke wrote:Cases tear up automobile interiors.
Bags tear up tubas.
Pick one.

Wish I would have thought of this last year before the back of my new truck got scratched up a bit.

And gig bags look cooler

Not me - either way. I've never owned a tuba case, and bags don't protect anything I care about (finish is already pretty far gone.) When people see me coming with the tuba, they're a little more likely to catch on if the tuba itself is hanging out there in plain view, and give me the room I'm going to need. Anyone else handling or working around my tuba in the "green room" etc. is going to be a little less likely (I hope) to step on it or whatever, if it's conspicuously a musical instrument. (When I had a home made bag for my big rotary long ago, people used to ask me if it was a tent.)

In contrast, the one time someone really damaged an instrument, it was in a big, hardy looking case. OK, it was a bari sax, which is about as delicate as a musical instrument can be, and it was an airline employee, but in retrospect, that case was not a solution, it was part of the problem.

Though my big detachable front bell tuba might be a special "case", if it turned out to be more manageable split into two cases. That's a hard tuba to carry.

I use a gig bag as the MTS hard case I used to have wouldn't fit in my Celica without dropping the back seats and taking other gear out of the trunk. I loved the better protection the hard case provided, but without a good way to transport it the case became a garage ornament.

bloke wrote:Cases tear up automobile interiors.
Bags tear up tubas.
Pick one.

I pick neither.

I think that carrying and transporting my tuba case-free makes me super-aware of doorways and speed bumps.

a gig bag is a specific exclusion in my instruments insurance policy

Not “Hard case VS gig bag”, but “hard case AND gig bag”. When I need both tubas for a gig I carry one in a backpack style bag and the other in its case. But when carrying one horn at a time I usually use the case. If concerned about upholstery (my friends’ cars when riding with them—mine...meh...damage done already) I’ll toss in a clean packing blanket to lay the case on. As convenient as a gig bag is, I’d kick myself hard if I bent a valve stem, or dented a leadpipe or valve tubing as a result of not protecting my tools properly.

Get the lightest tuba you can find in BBb, maybe a small Jupiter with a hardcase and use that everywhere

Stryk wrote:I have a mixture. As much as I see them berated, I like the Chinese cases. They are light, don't tear up the car, and do a better than gig bag job of protecting. Down size is they are bulky - but not as much as a hard case. My favorite for every day use is the Gard Wheelie. It has a lot more protection than most gig bags, yet not as bulky and heavy as a case. As Bloke says, pick your poison.

The Wheelis bags have backpack straps correct? Do they work well enough for stairs and the occasional band shell across a field or bad parking lot?

Hard case here, for the previously-stated reasons.

I bought a gig bag for it ("it" = Miraphone 191) last year specifically for a quintet performance requiring a stair climb up a 160' carillon tower. I did a dry run up the stairs carrying a bare, borrowed (much) smaller horn, and on getting to the top, realized that there was no way my tuba would fit through the hatch into the bell loft. We decided against the quintet in the bell loft and made other arrangements to compensate for the distance with the quintet on the ground. So I never used the gig bag, and it's taking up space in the studio.

My main gripe about the hard case is it weighs as much as the horn, with a combined weight of ~75#. Quite a schlep if parking isn't close to the venue.

Still prefer to carry both my tubas in hard cases. I have yet to tear up the interior of my 2012 honda civic.Are there dents on my tubas?Yes,but nothing of any significance.The older I get(58 right now),the less I want to carry my tubas in gig bags..and I have two..one for my ee flat and one for my bb flat Yamaha neo.

Now I find out that the 377 comes with a sweet case. Every day is a step closer to buying one : )

bloke wrote:...Since (truth be told) the JP377 Eb is actually a better instrument (sound/response/intonation/precise fit and alignment of pistons), I wonder if I should just BUY ONE of those...?? Heck, they come with an AMAZING styled-after-MB (fiberglass frame/zipper) case.

bloke "taking advantage to obscenely and unapologetically shill, just as does a team of shillers, here..."

INFO https://www.jpmusicalinstruments.com/pr ... g-eeb-tuba

eeflattuba wrote:I currently own two tubas. A bbflat Yamaha neo and a besson sovereign 981 ee flat.I own two high end gig bags but have always preferred to carry my assets in their respective hard cases.My repair tech greatly appreciates it.I am no spring chicken... I am 57 years old and sometimes it is a struggle to carry them in this fashion, especially in this part of the world.It would seem that not many of us use the hard case anymore.Am I right on this?

I think you are right. I use a well padded gigbag (Gard) myself, and the tuba gets the back seat in the car, or a snugly fitted place in the trunk of our Nissan Leaf, but some dents and scratches are unaviodable. The hard case is too big and clumsy, so that is used only for transportation anywhere else than my car. Fortunately, that does not occur very often.

The other tubists in the band that I know of, also mostly use gigbags, so there are only a very few hard(case)liners left.