Choosing a case

[fesoj108]

I have a York Eminence 4052, and am looking at getting a new case for it. I've been recommended and am currently choosing between the JP Pro 852 and the Soundwear Professional. What are the pros and cons of these two, and are there any others I should be considering? I'm looking for something lighter than the standard Prestige style case, but still with a fair amount of protection.
Thanks,
Joe

[davewerden]

Welcome to the forum, Joe!

Could you describe what you mean by "Protection"? Are you talking about flying with it or just the day-to-day banging around?

[fesoj108]

It'd just be day to day banging about, I'm hoping to go to University next year, so something that should keep it safe being taken on buses to band practices.

[EuphGuy]

I have the soundwear professional. If you search here on the forum, I did a brief “review” of it when I first bought it. I think I’ve been using it for a couple of years now. It has held up well. The backpack straps are useable, but not my preference with this case....the shoulder strap is a better option for me. There is also some reason not to trust the backpack strap connection to the case without securing it further with a big safety pin or something similar. You’ll see what I mean in the pics on the review.

Positives......The case is very padded and protective. I like the fact that I can fit a large sized band music folder in the music sleeve. Option to carry with handle, shoulder strap, or backpack straps (with some rigging for safety).

Downsides......the case feels surprisingly heavy for what it is. It probably rivals some hard cases in terms of weight. There is no dedicated mouthpiece slot, although it did come with a pouch that attaches to the shoulder strap (not sure why that would be ideal)....I keep my mouthpieces in a mouthpiece roll that holds 4 total and keep that in one of the zipped storage spots on the case. My hirsbrunner has a 12” bell and it’s a tight fit.....keep that in mind. Not sure what size the York bell is.

I’d also mention that all the pictures that you see online of the soundwear “professional” model bag are probably not accurate. The design has changed aparently.

i looked at the JP case (not in person) when I was shopping and almost bought it. It was more expensive at the time and not available as quickly as I needed it. I understand that it’s kind of a cheaper version of the Marcus Bonna case. Might be worth a look if you are wanting something a bit lighter weight and less bulky. Not sure about music, mouthpiece, and supplies storage with that case.

good luck! Happy to post pics of my soundwear case if it helps.

[KKORO]

I really like my Altieri Bag. It's got good padding, well placed shoulder straps and plenty of pocket space. Their standard size fits perfectly with my King 2280 but you can order a different size at no extra cost. I have not used the backpack straps yet, but they seem stout. I'm going to use the backpack straps often this summer as I'm going to go to rehearsals and performances on my motorcycle whenever I can. Although I chose the standard black, I like the option of different colors. I did choose a different color interior.

I'm going to order another bag from them for my baritone. I like the euph. bag so well, I'll not be checking other bags.

Be Well! KKORO

[fesoj108]

Thanks for your replies everyone. The soundwear, from your description EuphGuy, seems to fit my needs quite well, but I believe my bell is about 12 and 1/4 inches, so I'm inclined to go to my local music store and check the fit before ordering it. Thanks for your suggestion KKORO, I've looked a bit further into the Altieri bag, but for me I feel like it wouldn't have quite the protection I'm looking for at the moment, but thanks again.

[fesoj108]

I've just pulled the trigger on the JP Pro case, I'll write up a review once I get it

[Eupher6]

One thing I've noticed about cases - many of them, anyway - is that they're zippered.

Zippers will inevitably fail. I just don't understand how case makers gravitate toward zippers when the old-fashioned clasp works just fine.

Get off my lawn! lol

[Barking Iron]

I recently purchased a Ritter gigbag for my british baritone. Very nice bag, at a good price (purchased through Thomann). It is very lightweight, the protection is quite thin, so I would not recommend it for intensive traveling.

[booboo]

I replaced my ancient Boosey & Hawkes case with a JP Pro a couple of years ago and it is excellent at less than half the price of the Bona case it is clearly based upon. It's essentially a hard shell case and I've happily thrown it on the back of trucks, and coach lockers with no problem. I suspect it provides very close to, or the same protection as other hard cases. I have used the back pack straps, but would probably only do so for a 5-10 min walk at most. The bell points down unlike most gig-bags when it's on your shoulders and it is of course heavier than a soft bag. For these reasons I don't think it would be practical on a bike/motor bike.
There are adjustable pads in the case to tailor it to specific instruments, and one small compartment capable of taking a couple of mouthpieces, and a larger one where I keep oil, grease, spare pads, springs and a cloth. There is a zipper compartment on the outside which can take a fair amount of music - it's probably possible to squeeze an arban in there. My only real complaint is that the case is also shut by a zipper rather than catches. Like Eupher6 I find this an annoying and potentially unsafe bit of cost-cutting. It's worth noting that more expensive Besson and Bona cases are also this way though.
It saves a bit of space and money over larger hard cases, but probably weighs about the same.

[ghmerrill]

Zippers will inevitably fail. I just don't understand how case makers gravitate toward zippers when the old-fashioned clasp works just fine.

Get off my lawn! lol

I'm with you on the zippers, and also with the crazy old man comment. But everything will inevitably fail -- or as John Maynard Keynes famously remarked, "In the long run, we are all dead."

However, I've never actually had a zipper on an instrument case fail. I confess that I'm surprised, but there you have it. I've expected my (widely felt to be cheesy) Schiller bass trombone case to have failed some time ago, but the silly thing isn't even showing signs of wear. And my Gard tuba bag (now going on 6 years of use) is the same. Likewise, the zippers on my equipment bags for tuba/euph/trombone. I've had some stitches fail (and had them restitched) on the handles, but no problem with the zippers. Maybe I'm just more careful with my cases than most people.

Also, clasps don't really work when the case is flexible material (leather or nylon fabric). And I HAVE had clasps fail -- and they're a pain to replace. I guess I'd prefer metal zippers -- except when I think of what happened to a very nice pack with metal zippers that turned into a useless mess after my son took it saltwater fishing one day. Now the old-style leather straps with buckles ... THOSE are a force to be reckoned with. But zippers ... I don't know ... They seem to be making these nylon zippers much tougher recently (and stitching them on more solidly).

My repair tech's main complaint against the fabric cases is that they don't have real hinges, and tend to fail at that point. But so far the Shiller case hasn't shown signs of that either. And at a cost for that case alone of under $100, and the protection it offers, I could afford to replace it every few years and still come out ahead of alternatives. It's shockingly durable.

Protec has introduced a new line of cases called "MAX" that appears to be intended to be part-way in quality between their basic ones and their higher end series. The bass trombone one is about 50% more costly than the Schiller, but appears to be simply an enhanced version of it (and probably worth the extra charge). They're getting a good a reputation in the trombone community, but although they're made for a variety of instruments, these do not include tubas or euphoniums.