Instrument Cases
Protect Your Horn!
Chances are you've got yourself a nice piece of metal, and don't want it getting dinged up while you're walking around town or flying around the world to play solos with all the major orchestras. Luckily, we have the best of the best when it comes to cases.
Who makes 'em?
Glenn Cronkhite
Glenn Cronkhite has been a well-known San Francisco Bay Area and touring musician for many years. In 1971, he founded a company to make lightweight protective cases for musical instruments. At that time, no such thing existed. In the mid-1970's, he sold the business part of the company to Michael Snead, who renamed it Reunion Blues. However, Glenn retained ownership of his designs. For the next 25 years, Glenn collaborated with Reunion Blues under a licensing/royalty contract, and his cases comprised very nearly the entirety of the Reunion Blues line. This included products manufactured for other companies such as Selmer, LeBlanc, Zildjian, Gretsch, and others.
In June 2001, Reunion Blues closed their factory in San Francisco and moved production to China. Glenn said no, collected the best of their veteran craftsmen, and set up a new shop across the bay in Berkeley, California. He was just fed up with watching everybody go to China. Glenn has no claim to the trade name "Reunion Blues", nor any financial interest. Conversely, Reunion Blues has no claim to Glenn's designs, and has agreed not to copy them in any way. When Glenn began manufacturing his own cases again, I started selling them immediately. In January 2002, I saw the first Chinese made Reunion Blues cases at the NAMM trade show. Gone were the wooden reinforcements, gold plated hardware, saddle type leather, firm foam, and new designs. These new cases are not of the quality that we were used to seeing on the older cases. Reunion Blues is still represented as the San Francisco case company by some large mail order retailers. However, musicians who need top quality equipment for their expensive instruments know the truth: the only thing in San Francisco is the office. By continuing to make only the best products, Glenn Cronkhite Custom Cases is growing and thriving.Glenn said it well: "The first repair to your instrument because of buying a cheap case will cost more than the expensive case did." Cronkhite cases are not cheap, but they will last forever and will protect your instruments. You can know with certainty that they were locally designed and made by a group of artists and craftsmen with the best materials available. No one makes them like this anymore, except Glenn Cronkhite. Torpedo Bags in Minnesota now owns Cronkhite Cases and continues to make them with the highest quality.
Marcus Bonna
Marcus Bonna was a São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra horn player from 1982 to 2002. After suffering an accident in 1990 and have had his back seriously hurt, he projected a case for himself, lighter, compact and with a brand new design in order to facilitate the transportation of his instrument, as the cases which there were in the market were too big and heavy. At his surprise, the case was so successfully among his colleagues from the orchestra that, in a short time, the same colleagues had the new case made in fiberglass by Marcus Bonna himself. (Model MB 1). In 1991, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra had a performance in São Paulo. When the horn players from this orchestra saw the new horn case model they got very impressed and interested in getting one. For this reason, to start sending the orders, not only to Brazil but also abroad, in 1991 the MB company was founded, that nowadays has 45 employees at his own head office located in Bragança Paulista (80km from São Paulo). Besides the production section and the management section, the Company also has a good canteen, play room and an auditorium with a grand piano to classes and chamber music. The MB exports about 480 cases a month for more than 25 countries. All the cases and mutes are handmade. The cases model are exclusive (some of them are protected by a patent), all designed and developed by Marcus Bonna himself.
ProTec
For over 25 years PRO TEC International has been supplying the music industry with cases and bags designed by musicians for musicians. In 1984, their designers came up with a true winner when they introduced the uniquely innovative PRO PAC case line. Since its introduction, these sturdy, lightweight, shock resistant cases have become the leading choice among musicians that demand the best in protection and convenience.They also provide a wide assortment of accessory cases and protective gear.
SKB
Established in 1977 by company founders Dave Sanderson and Steve Kottman, SKB Corporation manufactured its first guitar case in a small Anaheim, California garage. Today, SKB is recognized globally as an industry leader in the design and manufacture of molded polymer transport cases. Vacuum, rotational or injection molded, these cases are engineered to provide protection for equipment utilized by hundreds of companies involved in diverse industries from music and pro-audio products to military, industrial and medical applications. SKB even supplies maximum travel protection for consumer sports and electronics equipment. The familiar SKB logo has symbolized uncompromising quality and unsurpassed durability for three decades.
These are usually a great choice when you need to check your horn on a flight, however they tend to be "one size fits all" in many cases, so extra care should be taken when packing to ensure a secure fit with your exact horn. Even though these cases are tough, they still come with a full lifetime guarantee in case anything should break. What a deal!
