A friend of mine (with "warehouses-o'-stuff") found me a new/old-stock (20 years old...??) MTS case which is only 36" long, barely accommodates a 19" bell, and - after Mrs. bloke's amazing un-/re-upholstery - it fits my 32" tall / 19" bell Holton B-flat tuba like a glove.
She's REALLY amazing: She managed to get the case's aluminum valance/closure to drop-and-articulate with NO mashing, YET the tuba does NOT rattle in the case...but all the same goes for her seamstress and woodwind repairs prowess.
Being older, it has some sorta-expensive/fancy/solid-cast-aluminum latches (rather than those $3 "yama-like" sheet-metal ones, which are supplied with MTS cases).
These fancy latches were seen on upper-end Holton double horns, decades ago. Kids tore 'em up on school-owned cases, but I won't.
This case has a handle on the apex of the bottom bow end, but no wheels.
This is a very compact, but NOT thinwall tuba, and is chocked with goodies (4+1 valveset), which adds weight.
The tuba weighs nearly 25 lbs, and - in the case - I believe it's a bit over 45 lbs.
I'm not young, but my arms/legs/back all still work fine.
Were I to add the obligatory (these days) set-in wheels, I could do a nice job of cutting the tricky/round-the-curve rectangular holes, could fish the metal back-up plates in place, and could rivet the wheels in (with those huge pop rivets). I could even deal with the fact that one of the wheels would interfere with the mouthpiece box (which was also rebuilt - to accommodate the sardine-can-yet-perfect fit of this tuba in this case). Additional NEGATIVE information: The base (where the wheels would be installed) is a scant 13 inches wide, so it's difficult to imagine more than a 9-inch wheelbase. Personally, I'm leaning towards "Just tote it, and continue to either park near the stage door, or unload at the stage door and go park".
yeah...In one of my trade deals - a few years ago - I ended up with a new-condition "spare" "Glenn Cronkhite" (not some old "Reunion Blues") black bag w/music pouch (basically) for FREE. It nearly fits this compact Holton like a glove (perhaps only 2 inches longer than it need be)...so I HAVE a bag...but (maybe, this is kooky...??) ALL of my instruments have hard cases - for instances when several instruments must be jammed into my car, OR when they must be put under buses (for orchestra "run-outs"). That having been said, I believe that - with a tuba/case this compact - my default choice will be the case.You probably wrote:bloke, you should get a Cronkhite bag.
Check out the POLL:
weird things seen in this picture:
- There's a mouthpiece in a mouthpiece pouch, laying on the tuba...It's a prototype, and might (??) be a new (and possibly: quite popular...??) addition to the line. As with all the other Sellmansberger stuff (other than all of those rim profiles) it's something that I actually use myself. This tuba asked for it's OWN (not just back-bore, but) CUP, for optimum resonance. As with all other Sellmansberger cup profiles, this cup profile is Mrs. bloke blind-test/tried-like-hell-to-trick-her selected/verified.
- The mouthpiece box (in the case) is being cut down to miss the bell rim and upper bow. The box is cut down, but the hinged lid is NOT YET cut down - thus the weirdness of the lid hanging over the edge of the case.
