Meinl Weston 5450 Flight Case

[tubaing]

Is there a ($600) Unitech Flight Case that will fit a Meinl Weston Thor?

[BuddyRogersMusic]

Unitec makes several models to fit a number of tubas. Their Fly Vault case is designed to accept the tuba in its gig bag. The case is essentially a coffin case with a minimum of padding but it allows the player to utilize the bag once he/she arrives at their destination.

The ABE-tuba is an Alan Baer design that sports extra wheels and extruded construction that allows for multiple cases to be stacked and interlocked. This is effective for freight-style loading on trucks or pallets. Its foam/felt interior is instrument specific. The "Road Tuff" U-tuba case is covered in amp felt and is more of a "general fit" case. Its padding is not form fitted to each model but has substantial padding to suffice for road travel.

I have travelled extensively with the Meinl Weston aluminum flight trunk and Walt Johnson cases, and can report zero damage to my horns. I can't say that about the cases but they did their job. While composing this reply, I did notice that Johnson cases are being manufactured again but I've seen no mention of tuba or euphonium cases as of yet. As Bloke has pointed out on many occasion, flying with a tuba is an experience fraught with great expense and anxiety. Great money will be spent on cases, overweight/oversize fees, large vehicle transportation, repair bills, and mental health counseling after watching a really expensive case with its even more expensive contents fall off the conveyor belt to the pavement below.

That still leaves the issue of storing a big case at a temporary destination.

(edit) For $600, you're only going to find a used model and probably the U-Tuba version. I believe the Fly Vault goes for $1100 new (or thereabouts).

[bloke]

Because they are not new and shiny, you can sometimes find a low-price good-condition Walt Johnson 6/4 fiberglass case, which has enough room for a 5450 - bubble-wrapped, and stuck in its bag.
Able to anticipate some unforeseen opportunity, I have both the 4/4 frame and the 6/4 frame Johnson cases… I’m not going to tell you how little I paid for either one of them.