My new Gotz gig bag

[bort]

Some people have asked me for photos... so here are a few photos of my new Gotz bag that I took with my phone. (And you thought it was hard to take a good picture of a tuba -- it's really hard to take a good photo of a gig bag.)

It's hard to see, but the color is dark blue, and the straps/handles are black. It's a svelte case. It is custom built and fitted to the tuba.


Straps are unpadded, but that's an easy fix later on.


The zipper bell cap is about 1 inch deep, so the zipper goes just below the bell rim.


The interior has extra reinforcement where the valves are... so the valves won't "catch" on the fabric. This is the upgraded "triple padding" ("double padding" is standard).


I bought it from hornboerse.de, because they offered a choice of colors. And I'm petty, and wanted to choose my color. Cost (including the upgrade to "triple padding") was 348 Euro plus 59 Euro for shipping (407 Euro total). I'm not sure if every case in every size costs the same amount, but that's what I paid. From order to delivery at my house was just over 1 month.

You can get them for a little less at Thomann, but you don't get a choice of color, black and gray only, and you can only get the "double padded" version.

Both Thomann and Hornboerse were extremely easy to communicate with... and emailed in clearer English than many Americans do.

Hope this helps a little. Let me know if you have specific questions or want any other photos or closeups.

[thevillagetuba]

These are nice bags, probably the best top-loader out there. This is the same bag (99% sure) that my PT6P came with (as the extra padded version, I believe). Great photos and I'm sure the bag will be perfect for you once you add some padding to the straps. Congrats!

[bort]

A few more notes:

-- Typical German construction; fit and finish, materials, and overall quality are top notch.
-- The bag doesn't weigh very much -- MUCH lighter than the leather Cronkhite that it replaces.
-- I previously owned a double-padded Gotz bag. I liked the double-padding. I'm impressed by the triple padding.
-- There is 1 pouch, on the back, which is where I think it belongs anyway. What sense does it make to put a bunch of stuff on TOP of the valves? The pouch isn't huge, and you probably can't fit a huge music folder in there. Excerpt books fit with no problem. Again, it's what I expect it to be.
-- There is a zipper pouch for a mouthpiece in the bell cap. I think it's a clever use of space (not unique to this bag), and it keeps the mouthpiece from jabbing you in the back.
-- Because of the shape of my horn (squat, wide bell), the left/right centerpoint makes it feel like the bell is a little more to the left than to the right when I wear it. That said, the balance is GREAT. It sits a little low on my back, but better than the Cronkhite. Again, it's a short horn at 37", so it's more the horn than the bag.

People think this is a concern, but I still don't really understand it -- getting the horn in and out of the bag is a non-issue. If you can lift your tuba by the top bow, you can get your tuba in and out of a top-loading gig bag.

No, it's not cheap. But I think it's comparable in cost and quality to Cronkhite. If you like top-loading gig bags, these are well worth the small amount of extra effort needed to get one.

[TubaNerd88]

Probably just an observation, but this bag looks identical to the bag that came with my MRP-CC tuba that I purchased a couple of years ago. Same color, same straps, same inside material with the one pouch on the back of the bag. I wouldn't be surprised if my bag is made by this company. If that's the case, I absolutely love mine. No issues with it at all.

[bort]

Yes, highly likely to be the same thing. If the leather under the side handles says "Supersac," then it's the same. Gotz makes bags for several companies, who ship the bags with their horns.

There is a similar, but different, bag labeled as B&S now. Also a nice bag, simlar to the Gotz and you can order those through Custom Music.