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I had a dolly bag, and it wasn't that heavy, and never had a problem with the straps. I did have to send it back to dolly one time to have the zipper replaced.

I wish they were still made


Here is a Pic of the the day I sold my piggy with the dolly bag. It was almost 20 years old at the time.

“Dolly”…thanks for remembering that.

No… They weren’t as heavy as hard cases, but they were really heavy for bags - and (to my earlier point) added as much carrying weight as the amount which causes some people to sell better-playing tubas and buy (often: in my view) not-as-good-playing tubas. I’m glad you had good luck with the straps on yours, while you owned it.
The straps on the one that I had (obviously) just couldn’t quite support the extra lbs. of that huge sheet of plastic, and one of them tore off. (They also weren’t reinforced to the bag as well as RB/Cronkite or Mr. Rice’s straps, so I’m sure that was part of the issue.) The “Dolly” one that I had was one that was included with my 5450 that I bought from someone. It’s certainly not a bag that I would have chosen to buy.

Also (am I remembering correctly?), I believe the Dolly was a top-loader, and that style has never been my favorite. Top-loaders typically tend to involve (loading/unloading) interacting with the floor, when loading or unloading, and quite a few floors aren’t particularly clean. With clamshell bags, I can set them on the backstage tables - with everyone’s else cases, and open and close them like a hard case - avoiding floors.
Now that I finally have a place at home to store my bags (at home) where cats cannot to get into them, I’m trying to keep them cleaner - inside and out…not that I’m a super-clean nut, but I’m lazy, and don’t like continuously cleaning things.

Well the 4 valve piggy wasn't the heaviest horn in the world, so that might have had something to do with the longevity of the bag

LeMark wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:11 am Well the 4 valve piggy wasn't the heaviest horn in the world, so that might have had something to do with the longevity of the bag

That’s a good point. It was made of .5mm sheet metal, as well as being compact.

I don’t believe I would mind a top-loader bag, if I was caring a short/lightweight tuba, because I could probably unload and load it holding it up in the air, instead of setting it on the floor.

(My homemade short Holton is somewhat compact, but the 19-inch bell sort of “cancels out” some of the compactness of the instrument, and it is certainly not lightweight.) Being a hoarder of California clamshell bags, I have a very nice one that’s only a couple of inches too large every way for it - a decent fit - but I’ve been carrying it around (for now) in this cool little super compact (very old / new stock) MTS case - that Mrs. bloke upholstered just to fit this instrument. Who knows? I might eventually move it into that bag. I’m certainly not going to sell the bag.

Mine was a side loader.

Thanks for that information. I guess we (- I -) learn a lot here. I guess Dolly bags were offered both ways, just as a couple of other makers now offer bags configured both ways.

I went in a completely different direction and got me an Indian bag. (Gard)

The top loading is OK now, with a lighter tuba, but with that Mack210, Oooof!!

A big bag (to fit a big tuba) could weigh as much as 10 lbs. more than the tuba. I've wondered about retreating to the "pre-bag" or super-crappy (non-padded) bag era, and- taking the tuba out of the bag (when leaving the car) flipping the tuba up on the shoulder(per typical - through the 1970's) and walking up to the stage door with only (gulp! ) THE INSTRUMENT.

Of course, then the OTHER 10+ lbs. worth (expensive electronic sheet music "player" and special stand (2-3 lbs.) or wonky fold-up stand (1 - 2 lbs.), lights, 3-4 extra mouthpieces (2 lbs.), four types (1/2 lb.) of oils, various pencils, markers, emergency ties, spare MASKS, thick folders from various nothing-to-do-with-this-gig ensembles, etude books, and solo collections (5 lbs.), etc., etc., wouldn't be immediately available.

If these folks can do it for hours on end (while playing), is it possible that the rest of us could manage it - probably, with the bell facing to the rear - during a 1 - 3 minute walk to the stage door? (Rex Conner - age 60, when I met him, and not particularly svelte, in appearance) carried his big Meinl-Weston all over Interlochen with the instrument propped up on his shoulder. ' funny how I've never felt tired nor strained, when toting one of my own instruments in that manner.



bloke "just sayin' "

I had a Dolly bag I bought in 1995 or 96 for my Kalison Pro 2000. I maintain it was the best bag I've ever owned - the plastic sheet just worked for me in that thing and I'll buy a top loader every day of the week given a choice. I had a leather bag from Glenn circa 2007 and I presently have a leather bag from Superfine which were / is exquisitely crafted and are far heavier than that Dolly bag was as I recall. Were I to start a bag business I would make something similar to the Altieri bags with that plastic sheet in there - it's no more protection against serious trouble than a wet napkin, but, I would expect to do well against the casual / more common dings.

.

bloke wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:46 am
(Rex Conner - age 60, when I met him, and not particularly svelte, in appearance) carried his big Meinl-Weston all over Interlochen with the instrument propped up on his shoulder.

bloke "just sayin' "

The average weight loss in the Tuba Hut during the mid 1980's Summers was about 8-12 #'s. Jerry Young was thinner that the typical SI swimsuit model.

John Cuozzo usually was the same. And that speaks for itself. Those Sunday treks to the Flap Jack Shack were something to look forward to. I probably should retrieve my Dolly bag and have backpack straps placed on it for the euph. I have the Chinese Tan RB too, with the straps. Good memories with that Dolly.

I, too, lost weight when I was up there, but it certainly wasn’t from sweating it off.
At that time, the summer session of the University of Michigan School of Music moved there each summer, and I was taking transferable courses and checking them off of my own degree requirements, along with tons of practicing, participating in the concerto competition, playing in a busy quintet, playing a little bit with Rex’s faculty quintet, playing in the University of Michigan band under Reynolds and Revelli, and staying up too late at night, doing stuff like skinny-dipping in the lake.
(I rarely left the campus. I went to the Hofbrau maybe once, went on one Sunday outing to the dunes - with some other young ladies and gentlemen, and quickly flew home-and-back - to participate in my sister’s wedding.)

@tofu

It’s an extremely rare occasion that I use the straps to strap a tuba bag on my back. First, the bag has been in my closet, and my back car seat or the back of my vehicle, etc., etc…
…and those places are just not quite as clean as my clothes.
The “shorter distance to fall” thing (that you pointed out) is also something that occurred to me many years ago.
Further, when I take it down (from my back), I cannot see the dirt that it left on the back of my clothes…neither on my coat nor on the butt of my trousers.
Unless it’s a double-carry (or triple), I am carrying tuba bag in my left hand, because I would rather my go-to hand not bear all that weight for whatever length of time is required to schlep the thing up to the stage door and backstage.
Fortunately, most of my parking situations - for most of my gigs - are really quite accommodating, with the distance from the stage door to the tables backstage often being farther than from my parking place to the stage door.