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Thread: Glenn Cronkhite gig bags.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853

    Glenn Cronkhite gig bags.

    Glenn Cronkhite gig bags have been considered by many to be the best offered. Mr. Cronkhite retired recently and sold his business to Steve Kriesel of Torpedo Bags. Here's a letter he wrote explaining why...

    “You have to be willing to let go of the life you’ve made for yourself to make room for the life that is waiting for you.”

    Some months ago I made the decision to close my work as a case maker. I had been wanting to do so for several years, and after talking to several interested parties I settled on Steve Kriesel of Torpedo Bags in Minneapolis, MN. It has been a long journey. Years of making bags for myself and friends, followed by 25 years of licensing Reunion Blues in San Francisco to manufacture and market my ideas. In 2000, RB closed their US factory and for the last 17 years I have been back to doing everything on my own again.

    Until 2000, I had also been able to keep a busy musical career in place, but when I had to take over handling everything myself again, it became impossible. At this point, I am anxious to return full time to my musical life, and it is also time for my case making work to go to someone that can take it on the next leg of it’s journey. Someone that is better set up to not only manufacture my bags, but also has the marketing skills to make them available to everyone.

    Mr Kriesel was my choice for several reasons. An important one is because we are both musicians. We speak the same language (and that of our customers), and have both had first hand experience with the work our customers do, and the part our products play in that work. Because of that, we both have the same dedication to quality and durability standards in our work. Important to me as well is his insistence on doing all of his manufacturing within the US. The reason I ended my license with RB in 2000 was their decision to manufacture in China.

    I will continue to work with Steve to make sure everything my customers have come to expect from me will continue intact.

    I have spent a huge part of my life trying to solve a problem musicians have been struggling with since the first musician had to get his favorite log to the clan meeting without damaging it or himself. Hopefully, if I have done my job right, I’ve put this in the hands of the one most qualified to shepherd it.

    I trust the work will continue to enhance the lives of those who use my gear.

    Sincerely,

    Glenn Cronkhite

    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  2. #2
    I bought a Cronkhite tuba bag around the first of the year. It's every bit as good as the bag I got from Glenn in 2011.

    Don Winston

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Diego, California
    Posts
    460
    Thanks for posting this Rick. I've had my bag since 2012 and absolutely love it. It's a great light weight alternative to the hard case when traveling to rehearsals or driving to concerts. I've never suffered any damage to my 5050.
    Euphs:
    Miraphone 5050 Ambassador
    Wessex Travel (Tornister) Euphonium 'Maly' ER154
    Yamaha 201 Baritone
    Mp: Wick SM4 Ultra X
    Groups:
    The San Diego Concert Band

  4. #4
    Glenn made a bag for my Kanstul tuba, back in about 2010 or so. It's the only way I've transported that tuba -- the hard case is just impossible to schlep around.

    Glenn needed me to take umpteen measurements because he didn't yet have that particular pattern. I did so, and the result is the tuba fits the bag like a glove. Very happy with his work, though it was not cheap.
    U.S. Army, Retired (built mid-1950s)
    Adams E2 Euph (built 2017)
    Boosey & Co. Imperial Euph (built 1941)
    Edwards B454 Bass Trombone (built 2012)
    Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Eb tuba (built 1958)
    Kanstul 33-T lBBb tuba (built 2010)

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