Review: Concertina Connection Hardshell Case

[MatthewVanitas]

Last year I posted a thread (Off-the-shelf hard case for Concertina Connection boxes?) trying to find a good solid case for my CC Elise Hayden Duet. The soft-case that comes with the 'box had served we well for a few years, including hauling it around Afghanistan, but it started working itself a part after two years, and also really didn't provide as much protection as I'd like. Fortunately, Wim replied to my post, pointing out the CC hardshell had just gone available for $55, so I ordered one and have been using it for a year now.

 

Overall impression: generally pleased, but there are a few weak points that, if possible, it'd be great to improve in later production, and I'll try to modify the on my case.

 

 

The Good

 

- Looks decently pretty for the money! It looks darker in the flash photo, but under proper light it's kind of a mid-chocoltely brown, with a slick red piping running around it at top and bottom. It's alligator-textured, which also gives it some nice grip. Nice matching faux-velveteen red interior.

- It seems quite sturdy indeed. I don't want to blow $55 failure-testing this thing, but I've tentatively leaned on it with a lot of my weight and not felt it give. On a bet (with empty case) I think I could carefully stand on top of it without crushing it. And though I'm sure it's not meant to be waterproof, I think it would hold up pretty well to an accidental splashing, having a rather impervious exterior and pretty good seal to it.

- The reinforced corners are a nice touch, I imagine it helps out somehow.

- Fit is as cozy as it can be without being unpleasant. At first it was rather too tight, and it was hard to slide it in and smoothly, and the lining kept wanting to slide out with it as I pulled the instrument out. But after it broke in, it fits nice and tight with about zero rattle side-side and only slight slack back-front, but comes out of the box fine.

- Padding seems decent for a basic case, it's about 1/4-1/3" with some slight give. So it's not a Pelican Case full of foam, but it has more internal give than most instrument cases I've owned, including plenty of free-reed cases.

- Hinges (two of them) are nice and big, don't seem a likely failure-point at all. Nicely set up so they max out at just past vertical, so the lid holds itself up great without falling forwards or clunking back, and isn't heavy enough to unbalance the case

 

The Bad

- The latch is terrible! It's one single latch of pretty thin sheet metal, not a very firm lockup, and the worst thing is there's just one of them. I've already had two incidents where while carrying the instrument my leg bumped the latch open, fortunately neither time resulting i a spill (at least once because the padding has such a nice firm fit). So now I'm careful to carry the case latch-outboard and make sure it doesn't bump anything. I really intend to replace the latch, ideally with two "drawbolt" latches with that locking loop to make sure it stays shut when I need it to:

 

No:

 

Yes:

- Minor quibble, but the liner gluejob on mine was pretty poor. The liner came slightly loose on several sides from the initial breakin period. Not a huge problem, I just need to get some expoxy and glue it back in place.

- Another minor: the plastic of the reinforced corners looks a little chintzy compared to the nicer plastic alligatoring of the case. No huge deal, small aesthetic complaint.

- The four tiny feet on the bottom of the case, though nicely placed to avoid rocking, don't have a lot of grip, so aren't as resistant to sliding as I'd like. Also the nail used to hold each is almost level with the surface of the foot itself, so though one shouldn't go putting cases on nice furniture/floors anyway, it in theory adds more risk of scratching surfaces than optimal.

- The handle is really tiny. I have small hands for a man, and my four fingers completely fill the handle, so a bigger guy would have to 3-finger this one. There's also only 1/2" or clearance or so between my knuckles and the join of the handle, so a larger hand would be pretty cramped in there, plus it doesn't leave much/any room for padding the handle if you're going to carry it around for extended periods of time.

 

Neutral observations

- The case is a little bigger and heavier than I expected: about 10x9x9" and 7.5 pounds. Granted, the Elise is a big 7" concertina and the case is quite sturdy; so not criticising, just noting.

 

 

Those are my observations, and I can answer any questions if anyone's curious. I'm also open to any suggestions on improving my case, particularly replacing the iffy latch.

Edited October 2, 2013 by MatthewVanitas