TubaForum.net

Touching up a tuba case that's had a hard life ...



What's that for?

Its for a handle. The open ends would both receive the points of a C-shaped handle. Seems like a questionable strength handle for something responsible for such weight. I'm guessing the C shaped handle strained and broke.

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 04, 2020 11:16 pm Its for a handle. The open ends would both receive the points of a C-shaped handle. Seems like a questionable strength handle for something responsible for such weight. I'm guessing the C shaped handle strained and broke.

Bingo. Might have been a steel wire-reinforced Bakelite handle for an old suitcase. Nice, but definitely not up to the task in this case. (Pun not intended, but pretty good, nonetheless.)

There's an ordinary handle "on top", of reasonable construction to support the weight, although of course it's still a bit awkward as the case isn't exactly slim. This is on the small end - the latch in the background is right on the end, this is a bit above, and now that you all mention it, I see other cases have a sort of secondary handle there, to tip the case up etc.

Is that a peek at the side of an old Alexander French horn case, or something else?

It's the butt end of the case for a big BBb Kalison. Might be the original case - the dimensions seem right on - but if so must be fairly early in their history. The cases I see in pictures look sleeker and have newer looking hardware. This one is plywood, and not unnecessarily curvaceous. Maybe the BBb Kalisons were initially made by Alexander (ha ha.)

May have had wheels on the front, which would be another possible scenario for the rear handle - lift the rear up off the rubber feet, and roll the case with the bell pointing back. (I arbitrarily assign the bell end as "front".) What's left is a pair of metal plates with a hole in each; whatever came out of the hole has been broken off, and what's left is secured on the inside of the plywood with bent-over wings, like the brass closure on a 9x12 manila envelope (but steel and much more robust of course.)

That Kalison is interesting.