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Accessories Case for low Bb baritone sax

aldevis

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I am sure this topic has been discussed before, but I am after a case for my low Bb bari.
Requirements:

-Cheap
-Light
-Compact
-Protective
-Available in EU
-Cheap (again)

I currently use a Ritter bag that is a nightmare: almost like not having it. My bari is the usual good player that looks like it went through a car crash. It is a late 12m, though.

http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/saxCaseBagsBaritoneBlack.jpg&pid=987951
http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/protecbaritonecase.jpg&pid=34702

These are the two current candidates. £250 era a LOT o money for my wallet and I find the Protec heavy and bulky. No experience about the other one.

I do not rule out gig bags, if properly made.
 
I am sure this topic has been discussed before, but I am after a case for my low Bb bari.
Requirements:

-Cheap
-Light
rote-Compact
-Pctive
-Available in EU
-Cheap (again)

Why not consider making one Al?

If you check out "EXPANDING WEATHERPROOF FOAM" on YouTube,Ebay or elsewhere you will find that this stuff will take paint and can be cut and sanded etc . You need to mould your horn by wrapping it in clingfilm then setting in a box which you then fill with the foam .If you want a contoured exterior then you can either use your existing gigbag as the pattern to mould or cut and shape it.

If you wanted it real fancy then you could even gel Coat it in Glass fibre of your own colour choice.

Its obviously not as straight forward as I am making it but you asked for inexpensive and everything you need is at your fingertips via internet and you never know you might actually enjoy the process.>:)
 
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I'll be following this thread with some interest, as I don't 100% trust my own bari case, but don't want to spend a large proportion of the value of the horn on a new case.

But, to wander slightly off topic, isn't it annoying when commercial sites don't give you a price until you hit "buy" or "add to cart"? It's rather like "If you have to ask, you can't afford it, now go away you vulgar oik".
 
Why not consider making one Al?

Wonderful idea. Maybe not for my bari yet (I live in a flat with a tiny open air space) but I have a little cute curly soprano...
Is there any brand/make/kind of foam you would recommend?
One of the things that always stopped me is the material for the inside, I am not sure i can handle that velvet thing. Any suggestion?
 
But, to wander slightly off topic, isn't it annoying when commercial sites don't give you a price until you hit "buy" or "add to cart"? It's rather like "If you have to ask, you can't afford it, now go away you vulgar oik".

It also happens in brick and mortar shops. I hate it. Once Macari's (in Charing Cross) asked for a ludicrous amount of money for a SH gig bag. Probably I looked like the gullible idiot that decides to buy a gig bag for a curved soprano. I never stepped in again.
 
Why not consider making one Al?

If you check out "EXPANDING WEATHERPROOF FOAM" on YouTube,Ebay or elsewhere you will find that this stuff will take paint and can be cut and sanded etc . You need to mould your horn by wrapping it in clingfilm then setting in a box which you then fill with the foam .If you want a contoured exterior then you can either use your existing gigbag as the pattern to mould or cut and shape it.

If you wanted it real fancy then you could even gel Coat it in Glass fibre of your own colour choice.

Its obviously not as straight forward as I am making it but you asked for inexpensive and everything you need is at your fingertips via internet and you never know you might actually enjoy the process.>:)

Take a look here - expanding foam case...

http://woodwindforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4014
 
It might be worth contacting someone like John Packer, Woodwind and Brass, or G4M - these guys import Chinese saxes that come in, essentially, pressed cardboard cases, but which are nonetheless, perfectly good for normal use. Mine (ex John Packer) has even done a Europe concert tour in the back of a truck with it's previous owner. I'm guessing that occasionally they sell an instrument without a case to someone who already owns a good one, or doesn't trust Chinese cases so may have a few spare knocking around. Worth a try anyway...... You're right about Protec though - lovely cases but they do weigh a ton.
 
Aldevis, have a look at the Gard wheelie bag / case / thingy on the Thomann website. Doesn't look too shabby for £146. Bill
 
The Protec on wheels - which I have for my tenor - is a fantastic case but heavy! I have to carry it up three flights of stairs after a gig which in 32 degrees C and 90% humidity is no fun. Usually though, I have quenched the inevitable thirst that will come before I start the ascent.
 
It might be worth contacting someone like John Packer, Woodwind and Brass, or G4M - these guys import Chinese saxes that come in, essentially, pressed cardboard cases, but which are nonetheless, perfectly good for normal use. Mine (ex John Packer) has even done a Europe concert tour in the back of a truck with it's previous owner.

I contacted JP in the past with the same issue (I need a bari case every time I have a bari gig, then I leave it to complain the following time). Unfortunately all modern instruments are low A. Protec, Bam, Superbags seem to be the only available case for both A and Bb

Aldevis, have a look at the Gard wheelie bag / case / thingy on the Thomann website. Doesn't look too shabby for £146. Bill

I was curious about it. Any experience around?
 
Usually though, I have quenched the inevitable thirst that will come before I start the ascent.

When playing bari, drinking is a traditional requirement.
 


I was in process of writing a decent reply to that thread but as he had finished his case it seemed moot.
So here's my 2 Cents Worth!

I have some amateur experience with different types of foam through building props and costumes and the main factor in determining what to use, IMO, is the Resilience Factor. Most of the Expanding/Insulating/Packaging type foam is designed as either an expedient short term shipping solution or a low action insulation which will only see limited compression cycling. In other words, its like styrofoam, once you put a dent in it; it stays! And as a result, every bump will cause the foam to get larger very quickly and no longer hold the instrument tightly due to compression in all directions. Another consideration is that, except for Ultra Low Density Packing Foam, most are Very Stiff and will still transfer the shock from Bumps to all the Key Works.
Even the older, original case builders used upholstery foam rubber on top of the wood blocks and under the lining that have been the mainstay of sax cases for more than a Century to absorb shock.
A better choice, as can be seen in modern cases, is a moderately low density polyethylene with full resilience, in which when the weight of the object being supported generates a moment of movement against the foam (aka Bump), it will return to its original shape. The best example is the type of foam used in computer packaging.

The vendor I get my theatre foam from is a Hewlett Packard partner, so their density selection is usually pretty good and as I will need to build a case for my Evette when I get her rebuilt and already plan to get 2 different densities of foam. The outer shell will be a 3.0-4.0 pound density, which resists bending and can easily take a layer of Fiberglass OR a few coats of a Urethane Floor Paint or even be bonded to a laminate layer, and the inner, which will actually support the horn, will be a 1-1.3 pound which will absorb shock and minimize that transfer to the body of the horn.
That thread also mentions "Plucker Foam Boxes" and I've seen a few case makers out there using essentially that same method; making a straight outline cut of the horn and let the sides absorb the lateral impact shocks with seemingly no thought to "cradling" the upper tube and bell together. Also, as in the case of GigBags, there's not much else in the way of skin support.

Now one thought had come to mind when thinking of how difficult or easy to make the case. It might well be feasible to simply make a shell, use carved/fitted polyethylene blocks at the strategic support points down the upper tube, both bows and the bell, then use the expanding foam under the case liner where it would not only act as a filler but also as An Adhesive for the liner and the foam blocks! Just make sure to Saran Wrap the saxophone REALLY WELL as that stuff is vicious to get off Anything. Plus some of the products I've used lets off steam while it's expanding.
I may have to do this just so as to know I'm eating my own dog food.


If any are still awake out there you may now return to your regular channel. ^_^
 
Are the foams you're recommending mouldable, or do we have to cut them? And if so, how.

Any suggestions as to brand/supplier?
 

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