Concertina bags

[LDT]

So I've got a hard case for my concertina but sometimes its a bit awkward to carry around. Anyway I was looking for a bag for my craft stuff and this thing popped up.

Craft bag

It looks like it might be the right size and shape to carry a concertina with extra pockets etc. For other things.

What do you think?

[Theo]

Keep it in the hard case, it's much safer there. The small extra inconvenience is well worth it for the protection of the instrument.  I've had to repair too many concertinas that were badly damaged when in soft bags.

[Jewish Leprechaun]

I'll second what Theo said, went down this road years ago with a Lachenal I had... the soft case started some extra wear and tear on the bellows corners.  Nothing terrible, but definitely unnecessary.  Ditched the soft case and never looked back; hard cases are the way to go.

[Theo]

In one example I'm thinking of the concertina bag was slung over the owners shoulder, who then fell and landed on the concertina.  One metal end plate was badly damaged, and a corner of the action board was smashed.  I had to graft in new wood but it did eventually look and play as it had.  It was a very nice Wheatstone EC. 

[Mike Franch]

I use a camera bag, which is well padded. I use foam tubes, designed for pipe insulation, as corner blocks. I don't know what would happen if I fell on it, but it seems well protected against shock.

[JenStClair]

I’ve been thinking about this because my Rochelle came with a soft-sided bag and I don’t like it. My ukulele also has a soft-sided case and I am super paranoid about where I store it so that it doesn’t end up as a cat’s bed, because they will lay on anything. 
 

My dad has a small vintage leather train case  that sounds like it will fit the Rochelle so I’m going to try it and likely refurbish the inside if it fits. (Measurements sound promising.) 

 

But I also found a hatbox on Amazon that looks good too, measurement-wise, if needed. 
 

 

[Anglo-Irishman]

Hi, LDT,

Long time, no see!

My take is that keeping instruments in cases is, on the whole, safer than keeping them permanently in gig bags. However, there are temporary constraints on the weight and bulk of the cased instrument, when using public transport or hiking, for instance. That's the reason I bought a gig bag even though each of my concertinas has its own hard case. 

I had a look at the knitting bag you linked to. It's wider and longer than my gig bag (28x30 cm vs. 23x25 cm), so it would have pleny of room for protective padding all round. And you wouldn't get even an inferior gig bag for that price!

Cheers,

John

[Syncopepper]

Years ago I bought a concertina case cover from one of the UK suppliers. Unfortunately I don't remember which. I originally bought it because the hard case has only one hasp and I was worried about it accidently opening and dumping the concertina on the floor.   It is made of heavy Cordura and a little larger than the hard case which fits into it. The two open halves zip together with a three sided zipper and it has a stout shoulder strap.  I've used it for years at gigs and festivals and it works well for me - never a drop or a scratch. It's so handy I never bother taking the case out of the Cordura cover. If no longer available a sewer should be able to make one up with a few measurements of the hard case.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Syncopepper

[Ken_Coles]

The Button Box in the US sold case covers made by Cavallaro. I have one and agree that it has held up great after nearly 2 decades. That company has ceased production IIRC, but according to the web site they still have some of the larger covers for the cases for their 7-inch concertinas. Anyone interested could ask the BB about case covers.

 

Ken

[pentaprism]

I really like my Fuselli Concertina Gig Bag. Its padding is about 2 cm thick. I used to use a hard case for the concertina when going back and forth between my house and my daughter's apartment, but now I'm using this soft case instead.

 

Note that there are different Fuselli bags. Mine is the same as the one sold by Button Box: Concertina Cases.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by pentaprism

[TapTheForwardAssist]

2 hours ago, Syncopepper said:

... I originally bought it because the hard case has only one hasp and I was worried about it accidently opening and dumping the concertina on the floor. ...

 

I'm baffled that people for 150+ years have been making concertina cases where you can grab the handle attached to the top and then the bottom falls out. It would make massively more sense to have the handles joined to the bottom portion on the sides.

[d.elliott]

There is a very good reason to not keep the concertina in a bag. It is 'bellows compression'. The box is set up not only to provide protection but to keep the bellows firmly compressed when it is not in use. This compression ensures that you can get the full stoke of the bellows with little or no change in bellows resistance which aids phrasing. For the same reason it is is advisable to press in a couple of keys or the air release and fully extend the bellows, I mean fully extend them.

 

The gig bag may well be proof against bangs and bumps but will not give bellows compression for long term storage, Ok for trips out but that is it. They also tend to encourage holding the concertina on it's end which ruins the valves. 

 

A new square style box can also be a problem in that they give better protection, but, unless they 'blocked out' to hold the instrument properly the bellows will not be compressed and the concertina can rattle around like a pea in a drum. 

 

Dave

[JimmyG]

It goes without saying that a hard case will offer far better protection for any instrument. I'm also one who was taught since school 'when not in your hands, in its case'.

 

Re: keeping bellows compressed, what if a soft case/bag was combined with one of those straps that a number of people have made here out of Velcro etc.? They seem to work. Would this completely negate that problem?

 

Of course, a gig bag or soft case + instrument can be stored on its side.

It's interesting to me that the old-style wooden cases were built so the instrument stands upright. Do we think that's because the instrument was so new that the saggy valve syndrome wasn't known? 

 

Obviously all hypothetical and not the most interesting points to debate but I am curious.
 

Jimmy