Cronkhite Gig Bags

[PigLord]

Hello everyone,

I just have a few questions about these gig bags. One of the questions I have is whether there is any disadvantage to the cordura rather than the leather. I ask because of the fact that I have heard that the leather bags sometimes can have a seam on the inside that can cause tarnishing on the bell. Also, is there any difference between ordering a bag directley through Mr. Cronkhite or through a online place such as Hornguys. If it makes any difference, I am trying to obtain a gig bag for a Besson Prestige 2051. Thank all of you so much for your time.

[davewerden]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I can opine about one part. Leather is neater- it comes from real cows, you know! It has a natural prettiness to it, but on the practical side, it is probably more durable in normal use.

Cordura is pretty tough, though. One advantage it may have is better handling of wet weather. I have had to carry my Altieri fabric gig bag in the rain several times and it got wet. Once it dried, it looked just fine again. I suspect leather would have gotten water spotted, but I haven't tested that theory.

Of course, there are treatments you can put on leather that would help. And you can use saddle soap or leather balm to restore the natural sheen of leather.

I've had an Altieri bag for about 18 years and it has been great. The new ones are made of nylon packcloth outside and are treated for water resistance. Soon I'll be replacing it with a Reunion Blues, which is made of "ballistic fabric" (whatever that means). We'll see if I have as good luck with it as with the Altieri.

Leather is the better looking of the two choices IMHO, but may require more care to keep it looking good. I think it might weigh a bit more than fabric. Reunion Blues says the leather is 7.4 pounds vs. 5.7 for the fabric.

[carbogast]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I recently bought a used Cronkhite leather bag (advertised on this forum). It's black leather with tan trim; very sharp looking! I'm very pleased with it. One aspect of having "stuff" is the pleasure one gets from using it, and I really enjoy this bag. Regarding the potential for tarnish: a quick shine is easy, and I wouldn't worry about it too much. The padding is substantial, it has a good sized accessories pocket, the handle is well made as are the back pack straps. All in all a great bag! I just returned from the Cosmopolitan Tuba Euphonium Workshop (more on that later), and found that having a distinctive bag was helpful when a dozen or so euph bags were lying about.
- Carroll

[PigLord]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Thank you for the response Mr. Werden. Just for everyone's information, with what I have experienced with a leather bag that I use to carry music, it does not seem that rain causes it to water spot. Just curious, for what reasons have you chosen the Altieri and the Reunion Blues over the Cronkhite gig bags? I am just wondering if they are a better option for me to get than the Cronkhite ones. Thank you for your time.

[PigLord]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Thank you for the response. It seems that most people are pleased with this bag. So you have not had that many problems with the tarnishing then? That is my one worry about the leather version so it is good to know that it does not seem to be that big of a problem. Thank you for your time.

[carbogast]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I've only had the bag for three weeks, so I've not experienced any tarnishing to date. Maybe it will happen, maybe not. In any event, my point is that tarnishing is easy to remedy with a periodic polishing. Polishing just the bell takes only a few minutes.
- Carroll

[davewerden]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

At the time I chose Altieri, they were the only maker who had shoulder straps. But I have been very happy with that bag. I might have gotten a replacement of the same brand, but the Reunion Blues is coming to me as a gift, and it seems to be a fine bag as well.

Before I got the Altieri, I had a leather RB bag, but with only the single strap at that time. And all these purchases came before there was a Cronkite brand. I did not avoid the Cronkite for any reason and would seriously consider it if shopping today.

[RickF]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Well, I for one have had trouble with my horn tarnishing in the Cronkhite bag. I also got mine used from a fellow forum member here. It's black and brown and protects pretty well. I'm pretty sure the gas or vapors that cause silver to tarnish comes from the exposed leather in the seams inside the bag. So I added strips of Pacific Silver cloth into those seams - which seem to help. I also bought a terry cloth-lined shower cap that I put on the bell when I use the bag. I'm also in the habit of taking my horn out of the bag when I get home and lay it on the bed in the spare bedroom (I now call my music room).

Hope this helps.

[carbogast]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I don't store my horn in a gig bag either, just use it for carrying, so it may be a while before I see any effects.

I've been reading some articles about the causes of tarnishing; high humidity can accelerate it. I practice and keep my instrument in the basement, and for a while was leaving the horn in a stand when not in use. It started to tarnish very quickly; which wasn't normal, so I now store it in it's hard case. I would think an air conditioned room would be an ideal place for a silver instrument.

- Carroll

[davewerden]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Do any of you who experienced tarnish have a fabric bag? I suspect the cause of the tarnish is the chemicals used in tanning leather. I learned this when making leather guards for my horn - it was necessary to carefully line the guards so leather never touched brass.

But in a closed gig bag, I imagine it's possible the fumes of a leather shell would cause tarnish to quicken even without direct contact. I never had any such issue with the fabric Altieri bag I had.

[RickF]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I agree David that it's the leather. I had an RB (Reunion Blues) bag before this made of cordura and it didn't tarnish my horn. It was an older RB bag from when Glenn Cronkhite still worked at RB.

I'm not sure if Glenn Cronkhite has made any changes to his leather bag design or not recently. I contacted him about this issue a couple of years ago. I wrote in an email that my bag was bought used so I didn't expect him to do anything about it - just wanted any suggestions he might have. His reply was that he had heard from just one other person (tuba player) who had a tarnish problem. He actually offered to take the bag back and try to add some extra liner inside (what a guy!). But by then I had already figured out the shower cap cover.

[PigLord]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Thanks for all of the responses. This has been a great source of information on these gig bags. I will probably email Mr. Cronkhite soon about obtaining one of these gig bags and will report back on whether anything has changed with his leather bags. Thank everyone for their time.

[djwpe]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

I just got my leather Cronkhite bag last fall. I get the tarnish around the bell rim (one or two small spots) if the horn sits in the bag for more than 2 days. It's a minor annoyance at worst. Good reason for not leaving the horn in the bag (Daily practice is a better reason).

Don Winston



P.s. Nice meeting you at CTEW, Carroll

[PigLord]

Cronkhite Gig Bags

Thank you for the response. I have figured out that if I use the Besson cloth bag (literally a cloth drawstring bag) that comes with the instrument, that should prevent the tarnishing from occuring.

[Dubby]

Instead of starting a new thread I fired I could just revive this one: I've heard nothing but good things about altieri, cronkhite, and Reunion Blues bags, but has anyone used a soundwear bag? They look appealing and I'm trying to weigh all of my options equally. What bag does everyone here use?