Cronkhite bags

[TubaRay]

Worth the price? The leather ones sure are purdy....
RC

To me: No. To many others: Yes.
From everything I know about them, they are excellent quality. Let's see what other members of the TNFJ think....

[tbn.al]

Da Wizard don' need no stinkin' leather bag! Da Wizard don' need purdy! Da Wizard don' care how he git to da gig, jus so's he git dere!

[skeath]

Worth the price?

Absolutely. I wouldn't buy anything else. ...and I prefer leather.

SK

[TexTuba]

Yes. I had one for my 186 and was beyond pleased. In case you were wondering, I had a leather one.

[Neil Bliss]

To me: absolutely. Quality construction, the leather ones will last essentially forever, and a precise fit keeps your horn from shifting around in the bag.

[WakinAZ]

Yup, worth it. (Especially if you have a size/shape horn that won't fit in the very-decent-for-the price model C240 ProTec bag.) I've owned two Cronkhite bags in green cordura (black shows dirt and is boring); I miss them more than the horns that occupied them. The cordura bags are also super lite, no experience with the leather.

Eric

[sloan]

Fabric - DEFINITELY worth the price. My absolute first choice for any new tuba I acquire. The *only* reason not to get one is that he doesn't have the pattern, and isn't interested in creating one.

Leather - worth the price if you like the look. There are three distinct looks that I've seen: new leather, fabric, old leather. New leather looks slick. Fabric looks utilitarian (and doesn't seem to change one bit over time). Old leather (what new leather eventually becomes) has an aura of "been around the block...and back".

Some folk recoil from the price. In this case, in my opinion, you get what you pay for. I'm sure that other apparently similar bags do the job OK - but a properly fitted Cronkhite bag is a work of art.

I have a fabric Cronkhite for my (new, new) King 2341. It fits like a glove. I don't suppose I'm in the top half in terms of amount of use, but I'd say it's travelled from my home to a rehearsal or performance an average of 2-3 times per week for the past 6 years or so. The bag looks and acts now EXACTLY as it did on Day One. Solid, dependable, and made to fit. I think the last is more important than most people think.

I have a leather Cronkhite for my Yamaha YBB-621S. I bought it as a vanity item, and don't use it (or the 621) very much. I had what I consider to be a minor problem with the silver tarnishing when it spent a very long time in the leather bag when the bag was new. Since then, I've been "airing out" the bag and storing the 621 in it's "hard case". I haven't really used it enough to judge how well it will wear. This purchase was probably not well thought out - but I don't regret it. When I need a gig bag for the 621 - this one is perfect (and looks way cool).

I have a highly modified Besson EEb. The modification involves an EXTREMELY FLARED bell. The case that came with it *may* have been a Cronkhite design (long, long ago). The bag works OK, but the extreme flare of the bell makes it difficult to get in/out of the case. This design is very different from the King and Yamaha bags in that the zipper does NOT continue past the bell opening. There's a stiff disk at one end. So...the bag is not quite a top-loader and not quite a side-loader. The flare of the bell fits very snugly in the curve of the heavy fabric. Lots of protection - but a bit of a pain to load. The King has a bell of about the same size (but not quite the same flare) and it goes in and out of the modern Cronkhite side-loading bag with no trouble whatsoever (and, the bag fits just as snugly when zipped up).

If this bag ever fails, I would probably TRY to get a Cronkhite bag for it - but the non-standard bell would probably mean that he doesn't have a pattern for it, and I'd be SOL.

My new (well, 1934) Conn 36J and my Eb helicons have Altieri bags (two helicons share one bag - in practice that means that the newer, better helicon gets the bag and the other goes naked). I wanted a Cronkhite bag for the 36J (with an upright, but detachable, bell), but could not convince him to build it. The Altieri bags are very nice, and do the job. I don't think they offer the same kind of protection and ease of use - but they are the best "top-loaders" I know of. I'm happy with them. The good news with Altieri bags is that they are not "tailored". The design is pretty easy to scale in any direction to fit any tuba. I believe the one they made for my 36J was completely custom, from my measurements, and it fits just fine. (with one "feature" that surprised me, but that was probably me - most Altieri bags I've seen work by having you put on the bell-protector (the "night cap") first, and then load the horn into the bag. With the detachable bell on the 36J and the fairly tight fit for the very wide bell - when I try to do this, the bell tends to detach. Instead, I put the horn in the bag, snugging down the bell with the drawstring on the main bag, and then putting the "night cap" over the bell-and-bag. It works great - I was just a bit surprised).

At TubaChristmas in Nashville, I ran into a gentleman toting his (very nice) fixed bell front tuba in a sleeping bag. Yup - a simple, cloth sleeping bag. No handles or backpack straps or pockets or flaps; just a zipper down the side - but I suppose it keeps the dust off.

[neil]

Love my Cronkhite bag for my PT6P. I went through 3 or 4 cheapy fabric bags over the years that had their lining fall out or the straps come apart before I made the decision I should have made in the first place and called Glenn. Worth every penny.

[Bob Kolada]

I believe the one they made for my 36J was completely custom, from my measurements, and it fits just fine. (with one "feature" that surprised me, but that was probably me - most Altieri bags I've seen work by having you put on the bell-protector (the "night cap") first, and then load the horn into the bag. With the detachable bell on the 36J and the fairly tight fit for the very wide bell - when I try to do this, the bell tends to detach. Instead, I put the horn in the bag, snugging down the bell with the drawstring on the main bag, and then putting the "night cap" over the bell-and-bag. It works great - I was just a bit surprised).

I used to play with a guy with a PT4 who did the same thing. He told me he ordered it a bit longer so he could carry around his mute in it. My (621 size) Altieri is a bit long for my King Eb but the top just fits over the bell so I can't put it on the outside (which I would like to keep the rain and snow out). Every now and then I consider taking it to some sort of luggage place and getting it modified so that it has a zipper on the thop, as I am not a fan at all of the draw-string.

[tofu]

My new (well, 1934) Conn 36J and my Eb helicons have Altieri bags (two helicons share one bag - in practice that means that the newer, better helicon gets the bag and the other goes naked).

Could you post a picture of the Helicon bag. Is it a zipper or drawstring closure?

[sloan]

My new (well, 1934) Conn 36J and my Eb helicons have Altieri bags (two helicons share one bag - in practice that means that the newer, better helicon gets the bag and the other goes naked).

Could you post a picture of the Helicon bag. Is it a zipper or drawstring closure?

Drawstring. Handle (on your left) which requires me to bend my elbow to lift it off the ground. Backpack straps. Diagonally cut opening more or less matching the angle of the bell. "Nightcap" bell protector. This bag is a moderately tight fit to my Buescher
Eb, but as you can see the bag closes nicely over the bell. The usual multi-compartment pocket for odds and ends (such as the gooseneck, which must be removed for packing). Here's the picture:


I don't know why the right hand side of the image is cut off (when I view it). "Open in another tab" shows the
entire image, or ...Here's a link to the image:
http://www.KennethRSloan.com/HeliconGigBag.jpg

[tofu]

My new (well, 1934) Conn 36J and my Eb helicons have Altieri bags (two helicons share one bag - in practice that means that the newer, better helicon gets the bag and the other goes naked).

Could you post a picture of the Helicon bag. Is it a zipper or drawstring closure?

Drawstring. Handle (on your left) which requires me to bend my elbow to lift it off the ground. Backpack straps. Diagonally cut opening more or less matching the angle of the bell. "Nightcap" bell protector. This bag is a moderately tight fit to my Buescher
Eb, but as you can see the bag closes nicely over the bell. The usual multi-compartment pocket for odds and ends (such as the gooseneck, which must be removed for packing).

Thanks that helps. Lee S has me thinking of getting one for my BBb, but I'm wondering if I get the bell end a little larger than needed for the BBb if it wouldn't also work for a smaller Eb I've got that is currently being redone. It has a fatter/shorter bell.

[sloan]

Thanks that helps. Lee S has me thinking of getting one for my BBb, but I'm wondering if I get the bell end a little larger than needed for the BBb if it wouldn't also work for a smaller Eb I've got that is currently being redone. It has a fatter/shorter bell.

Well... Lee knows this bag - I found it in his Atlanta shop a few years ago. He had it made for a Buescher helicon that was still in pieces on his shop floor, and it fit an Eb helicon I had with me. He wasn't going to need it soon, so he allowed me to take it off his hands. He should have the details on what he ordered and what dimensions were required.

It now houses a Buescher helicon - just not the one it was made for. I've used it (very light duty) for several years and it works just fine. It's perhaps just a tad tight for the current helicon.

As with other Altieri bags, it came with an assortment of strap-on pads to protect various parts of the horn - I must confess that I never use these. I probably would if I were packing the helicon away for a long trip - but for day-to-day use I don't find them useful.

[Phil Dawson]

I have one of his leather bags and I love it. Is it worth the price? Your choice but if you compare the price of a bag to the price of a horn even the most expensive bags are pretty cheap.
Good Luck, Phil

[tclements]

Best bag on the market, HANDS down.

[Alex F]

I own several of his bags for tubas, euphoniums, and trombones. One euph bag is leather - all the others are cordura. They are great bags. Over the years, I had one minor problem with a trombone bag when a rivet popped. I called Glenn, sent it back, and received it, fixed, within a few days.

The one down side of Cronkhite bags is that they generally lack significant storage compartments. Glenn believes that a gig bag should be reserved for the instrument and if you need space for all your music, electronics, stands, futons, camping stoves, and a sides of beef, buy a second bag.

I've had two Altieri bags for euphs. One I still own, the other was sold to someone here. For a euphonium, it is also a great bag.

Glenn does very good work.