Altieri vs. Soundwear

[elimia]

I just recently purchased an Altieri bag for my euph and absolutely love it. Lots of padding, plus an overlapping edge to protect against zipper damage. Has shoulder straps to wear it backpack style or handles. IMO not a better one on the market.

[sloan]

My son uses an Altieri bag for his euph. It works.

[Dylan King]

You also may want to consider Dollybags. I had Dolly make a bag custom for my Yamaha F tuba and it is fantastic. Light, protective, and easy to carry.

I've heard some scary stories about Altieri. The Soundwear bags look great, but are expensive.

Good luck.

MSM

[Tubadork]

ummm.....
I don't know anything about dolly bags (but I figured that if they can't put a picture up on their website, I'll pass) and I don't know anyone who owns one. But, in school we refered to Altiere bags as "dent bags". I love my Soundwear cases for my tuba and they protect instruments really, really well, but they are more expensive. I figure that if you are going to pay $10,000 for a tuba $500 is nothing to make sure that it's well protected.
Bill Pritchard

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I cut a 16 3/4" disk of 1/4" MDF....

I am afraid that I am ignorant.....what is MDF?

[Tubaryan12]

MDF = medium density fiberboard

[WoodSheddin]

ummm.....
I don't know anything about dolly bags (but I figured that if they can't put a picture up on their website, I'll pass) and I don't know anyone who owns one. But, in school we refered to Altiere bags as "dent bags".

I have used Reunion Blues (original), Altieri, Cronkite, and Dolly gig bags. The Dolly bags are by far the most protective. The Altieri are the least. I think my leather Cronkite bag is the most comfortable to use while the Altieri was the least convienent to carry. The only saving grace for the Altieri is the giant pocket to store stuff, but the padding was so soft that I would fear denting the horn from the stuff in the pocket.

I have a Dolly bag for my F and a leather Cronkite for my CC. When I bought the CC I wanted to spoil myself and buy leather. I don't believe Dolly does leather and besides I was lazy and did not want to wait for weeks while I sit in queue for her to put it together.

The Dolly bags are top loading and come with both backpack straps and a side carrying strap. This is great for my F tuba because I wear my CC on my back and carry the F over the shoulder.

Here is my dolly bag which I sold with my Yorkbrunner last year.

[Alex F]

I use the Altieri for my euph and recommend it for that purpose. The standard model fits my VMI 3171 with a little room to spare. Plenty of padding and the build quality is great. Depending on the euph's specs, a custom bag may be necessary. Donna is great to deal with.

I am not sure, however, that I would buy an Altieri for a tuba. For one thing, I prefer side loaders. For another, you're dealing with much greater dentable real estate with a tuba.

[sloan]

Oh yeah...I also use an Altieri bag for my 1895 "Symphony" Eb helicon. It wasn't original equipment - but it works just fine.

My tubas (YBB-621 and new King 2341) live in Cronkhite bags - Cordura for the King and leather for the 621. One is a workhorse...the other is a piece of jewelry that I only use on special occasions. My only regret on the leather bag for the 621 is that it's so small that there's no room for some of the nice features I like on the larger Cordura bag for the King - snap on music pouch and an "under the backpack straps" pocket. The good news is that it does fit the 621 like a glove and "it looks fabulous" (even though I'm pretty sure it's not "Corinthian Leather".

Just to complete the story....my wite uses an Altieri bag to carry her flute and pic. My other son, the trombone player, is still in high school so giving him a dent bag would be criminal. He uses an original equipment case (broken zipper, many cosmetic scars - all testament to the wisdom of a hard case on the band bus) for his Bach 42O and a brand new Eastman case (made in China - but very cool looking) for his 1955 King 2B (all the trombone doublers reading this are now salivating).

David, the eupher son, has inherited the student model King trombone that Peter started on 5 years ago (he claims to be coming up to speed as a doubler on it) and continues to use the original equipment case which Peter (the tromboner) hand painted with a way-cool and very intricate design. It was truly designed for the band bus, and shows zero signs of wear after 5 years of middle school/high school band use. Amazing!

Everything else in the music room (baritone, cornet, you name it) lives in original equipment cases - because they never leave the basement (well, the teensy-weensy true baritone has made it to a couple of TubaChristmases...)