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bloke wrote: ↑Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:12 am Some of us goofballs have stopped using bags, because we've grown weary of dent removal - even when we can do it ourselves.

Agreed. Wasn't it @Rick Denney that coined the term Dent Bag? I have seen that term used in this thread yet.

I don't ever drive to gigs, because automobiles are only held up by four mostly smooth tires stabilized with nothing but compressed air and articulating asphalt with a bunch of automobile oil dripped on it and sometimes even has rain water on top of the engine oil. I always require that any gigs - for which I'm contracted - are scheduled to be held at blokeplace.

https://ririro.com/de/die-drei-dummen/

Mark wrote: ↑Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:12 pm

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:12 am Some of us goofballs have stopped using bags, because we've grown weary of dent removal - even when we can do it ourselves.

Agreed. Wasn't it @Rick Denney that coined the term Dent Bag? I have seen that term used in this thread yet.

I sort of thought that I coined "dent bag" and "elephant room" and that Tony coined "BAT", but maybe Rick coined "dent bag", or maybe he just uses it more than I do. It matters about as much as any of the last few posts in this thread. We are on page 3, are we not?

I got a huge laugh out of the other two people in the Quackers (double reed trio) today when I explained what BAT stood for.

Grumpikins wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2024 7:16 am I have never owned or been near a top loader bag while it had been loaded or unloaded.

Just looking at the pictures, it seems to me that it would be very difficult to maneuver a large tuba in and out of one. Standing up, you have heft the horn up and out. Probably with one hand while tugging the bag free with the other hand. Or lay it on the side and drag the horn out, also one handed....

A section mate plays 6/4 Cerveny CC (not sure which specific model- it's big!) She uses a top loading bag and it comes out and goes back in easily. She's about 5'5" but has no problems. Another section mate plays a Mira 186 CC and uses a top loading Mira bag. Same thing- comes out and goes back in without a fuss.

Been using a miraphone bag for the last couple of days. here's my observations

1. I like the bell protection
2. I dont like how the valves always want to hang on the entry of the bag.

I've seen worn distressed and torn-apart Miraphone bags. I'm not criticizing the bags for being worn and torn up. People cause that crap. What I'm about to say is that - inside the walls of the bags - the stuff in there doesn't look to me to be as good as the stuff that's inside California-style bags. Again, the only reason that I would choose a top loading bag over a clamshell bag is the lack of access to a backstage table. I certainly have tables at home... and yes, top loading bags are susceptible to the lining being torn by sliding instrument parts.

But maybe I shouldn't be posting at all, because I have abandoned bags. They're just not enough protection for a tuba.

Mark wrote: ↑Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:12 pm

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:12 am Some of us goofballs have stopped using bags, because we've grown weary of dent removal - even when we can do it ourselves.

Agreed. Wasn't it @Rick Denney that coined the term Dent Bag? I have seen that term used in this thread yet.

No, it was some bloke.

Rick "who uses them but is careful" Denney

bags:
Sometimes, I need three (or even four) of my own instruments for some cornucopic gig, or for multiple gigs on the same day at multiple locations.

Additionally, colleagues or schools on the way to/from somewhere) have repairs to hand off to me or receive back.

When a bunch of stuff gets stuffed into my vehicle like that - and my own things are in mere bags, there can end up being damage to my stuff - particularly if there's some huge pothole (ex: hidden by some truck in front of me, etc.) or someone slams on their brakes on the freeway.

"but bloke, you shouldn't be tailgating"

pfft. I leave safe following distances, but two or three cars (as everyone here knows) change lanes INTO those safe following distances.

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I don't know how old the bag is that I received with my Norwegian star, but all of the piping that goes around the zipper pocket was all torn up and hanging loose so I just took scissors and removed it all. The zippers themselves seem to be in good shape

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 9:37 am bags:
Sometimes, I need three (or even four) of my own instruments for some cornucopic gig, or for multiple gigs on the same day at multiple locations.

Additionally, colleagues or schools on the way to/from somewhere) have repairs to hand off to me or receive back.

When a bunch of stuff gets stuffed into my vehicle like that - and my own things are in mere bags, there can end up being damage to my stuff - particularly if there's some huge pothole (ex: hidden by some truck in front of me, etc.) or someone slams on their brakes on the freeway.

"but bloke, you shouldn't be tailgating"

pfft. I leave safe following distances, but two or three cars (as everyone here knows) change lanes INTO those safe following distances.

While that can certainly be an issue, it isn't an issue I ever have. My horn, in its bag, sits across the back seat, with no other 'stuff' on top of it. :-)

I recently took the same horn to a university concert band rehearsal in a perfectly fitting Jacob Winter case. Not wanting to destroy the newly replaced wheels on the case, I carried it across the large, rough asphalt parking lot. Even switching hands/arms a few times, I definitely felt the weight of it in my hands and arms by the time I got to smooth concrete.

One bag/one instrument/back seat/seat belted...probably fine...

...but I'm sorta different - in my needs/requirements - from most people.

When cases become a bit too heavy, I'll pull up to the stage door, set them inside, and go park...WHICH IS WHAT I ALREADY DO.

Everyone has their own requirements, and one person's requirements doesn't mean they can dictate usage to a person with different requirements.

My rehearsals are in a church, and sometimes in a school band room. When in the latter, the door is locked and someone has to open it from the inside for every person who enters. And it's a hundred feet from the nearest curb parking. And requires a flight of steps. No practical way to carry a big tuba in a hard case into that band room without having to lift and schlep it--meaning, not using its rollers. And then then having to walk back down to the car, go park it in the nearest available space (a thousand feet away), and walk back, only to have to beg someone to let me in again? Uh, no.

It's easier at the church, but not enough easier.

And there's just no freaking place in my house for hard cases big enough for a 44"-tall kaiser rotary tuba, unless I'm willing to carry it up and down stairs every time I used it. Uh, no.

I use a hard case when it's practical; meaning, the tuba is small enough that the case is manageable even when I have to lift and carry it a ways. That's true with the case that came with the 184, and it's true for the Yamaha 621. I tried to see if the semi-hard case for the Wessex kaiser would fit my Hirsbrunner, but it does not. Yes, I would like better protection for the Hirsbrunner. I just haven't found a practical way to make it happen and still be able to use the instrument.

So, I use a really good bag--a Götz triple-padded Supersac. It opens on the side, but is not a clamshell design and so doesn't have a zipper line across the face of the bell. It's the only bag I've ever owned that I think is as good as a Cronkhite. I can carry the Hirsbrunner over one shoulder with that bag, but it's still heavy.

Rick "tubas are safe when they never leave the practice room, but that's not what tubas are for" Denney

That kaiser Miraphone that I sold is now in upstate New York. I wonder if they want the case. It's one of those 1970's Australia-made elegant wood cases with curved wood and fits very closely against the instrument. You may think that there's little chance that it will fit your tall Hirsbrunner, but the Miraphone is 45 in tall. The bell is only 17-1/3 inches in diameter, but I suspect that an inch more bell might tuck into that case.
It's probably 15 lbs. heavier than a bag, but it's quite a nice and well-preserved case. I feel certain that FatBastard would not fit in it.

If you are someone who might use hard cases sometimes, I think I know of a giant workshop not too far from your house where they could be stored.

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:19 pm That kaiser Miraphone that I sold is now in upstate New York. I wonder if they want the case. It's one of those 1970's Australia-made elegant wood cases with curved wood and fits very closely against the instrument. You may think that there's little chance that it will fit your tall Hirsbrunner, but the Miraphone is 45 in tall. The bell is only 17-1/3 inches in diameter, but I suspect that an inch more bell might tuck into that case.
It's probably 15 lbs. heavier than a bag, but it's quite a nice and well-preserved case. I feel certain that FatBastard would not fit in it.

If you are someone who might use hard cases sometimes, I think I know of a giant workshop not too far from your house where they could be stored.

Heh. That giant workshop has shrunk! I don't know how it happened.

Rick "no shop is ever big enough" Denney

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:19 pm That kaiser Miraphone that I sold is now in upstate New York. I wonder if they want the case. It's one of those 1970's Australia-made elegant wood cases with curved wood and fits very closely against the instrument. You may think that there's little chance that it will fit your tall Hirsbrunner, but the Miraphone is 45 in tall. The bell is only 17-1/3 inches in diameter, but I suspect that an inch more bell might tuck into that case.
It's probably 15 lbs. heavier than a bag, but it's quite a nice and well-preserved case. I feel certain that FatBastard would not fit in it.

If you are someone who might use hard cases sometimes, I think I know of a giant workshop not too far from your house where they could be stored.

Oh, and the Hirsbrunner has a 19" bell, so traditional kaiser cases aren't usually big enough for the bell.

Ray Grim used to have a case he found in Germany that fit his 186 very closely. It oriented the tuba bell-stack down, and that makes them a lot less bulky in use for some reason. They don't have to have an unused empty corner above the upper bow where the case wheels go. I thought that case design was clever and effective. I think the case has given its life for its cause over the years, so Ray is using a gig bag these days. Nobody seems to make them that way any more.

Back in the day I made a coffin case for my 186, but could never get it into and out of my cars of that time without scratching things. I still have it somewhere up in storage.

Rick "might have to make something" Denney

@Rick Denney

I took a peek inside this laptop, and found this not-deleted pic: