You can view the page at https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/c...ells-the-Story
You can view the page at https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/c...ells-the-Story
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I’m familiar with that case!
I enjoyed the article. Thanks.
Adam
I would like to share a recent case-related experience, although it's not exactly relevant to the subject of this thread. However I believe it's something mando players should consider.
I acquired a 1929 Gibson F-5 a couple years ago, and it came with its original red line case. I have thought a lot about buying a high-end modern case, like a Calton, but I decided against it for the following reason. While expensive modern cases undoubtedly provide better physical protection, it seems to me that they increase the likelihood of theft, which could offset the superior physical protection.
I recently got some possible confirmation of my theory. I was robbed a few months ago. The thieves took my computer, my cell phone, my bluetooth speaker and some cash. And they left my mandolin which was sitting right out in the open in its old case. If it had been stored in an obviously expensive case, I seriously doubt I would still have the mandolin.
Just some food for thought.
Wonderful article! I bet you can have a sequel with others.
LOVES the cases and stories!
In 2018, I took delivery of a LaBraid "Breton" mandolin (Brian Dean) and a Hoffee case custom fitted to it. It is unlike any mandolin I have ever seen before and Brian sent him scale drawings and measurements. It fits snugly!
That Christmas Eve were traveling and staid in a hotel. In the morning I was dragging our stack of luggage with my right hand and carrying my mandolin in the left. I was backing through a fire door into the ramp when I caught my heel on a wrinkled weather mat and fell down on my back. The mandolin flew over my head and bounced across the concrete ramp. The mandolin was unscathed and still in perfect tune. A few scratches on the lid of the case but no real damage to the shell. It was expensive but worth very dime.
Jim Nikora
Excellent cases and case stories!
Then there are those cases that you know have a story but you just don't know what it is
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
The Calton that came with my first F5 - a custom ordered Vanden was a smooth, unmarked brown one. Very heavy and heavy-duty. 1985 would put it at around the same time as Scott Napier's case. It's long gone now, and I wish I'd kept it.
very cool, fun thread. highly enjoyed this.
d
I took more of a 'case candy' approach than the other authors. I've found some pretty nice materials in vintage cases. Besides case keys and interesting picks, a number of tuning aids including the tiny harmonica style pitch pipes. Also photos, hand written sheet music, and of course those interesting woven 'straps' that look more like something off a fancy curtain!
I had a nice A case for my 2AZ mandolin.The cat liked to sleep in it once in awhile.
After awhile I noticed a smell; could never get rid of that smell and bought another case. That earlier case went to the Good Will.
My case history is a bit more prosaic, but still ... It's a story. When I acquired my late, lamented F-12 back in the late 70s, it came without a case. I had the option to get one, but not the wherewithal - the instrument was all I could afford. It did fit nicely into my backpack, a soft rucksack (forest green) by Class 5 with a fabric-and-drawstring closure (royal purple) at the top that fit neatly around the headstock - but while that was fine for conveying it on bikes and hikes and the occasional tree-climb (a completely different story for later, elsewhere), it wasn't very promising for day-to-day use. I kept my eye out for a solution, and one day it alit on a shirt box - clearly intended for something elegant, as it was considerably longer than typical. It was just about perfect in its dimensions. I found some bits of styrofoam to glue into place so as to keep it from slipping around in there, and even a few wooden shims which I glued so they would fit snugly to the heel of the neck. By the time I learned that wood-on-wood is not a good approach, the damage was done - the shims had worked several grooves into the wood. Cosmetic damage, to be sure, but damage nevertheless.
This actually served me fairly well for a bit over a year. When I ended up back in New England, my luthier ordered a rectangular case, with godawful Day-Glo yellow-orange lining. I liked the shape and size, though, as it did not look like an instrument case, which seemed like a plus for anti-theft protection. It also served as furniture, depending on its attitude - a chair when on its side, a stool when on its end, a table when lying flat. And the black color lent itself to use as a hitchhiking sign, for which purpose I always carried a piece of chalk in the sundries pocket. I had plenty of fun over the years with making people guess what was inside - I think saxophone was the most common guess.
I was sad to see it go when the mandolin got stolen. I was also sad to lose the tortoise shell pick my local luthier had fashioned from a shell he'd found while beachcombing. Oh, and I was also sad to lose the mandolin even though, after thrirty years of plenty of playing, it had still not opened up. My search for it led me to joining the Café, where I soon learned it was not a very good instrument, being made while Gibson's quality was in a slump. Still, I very much liked the look - all futuristic ray-gun style, as compared to the plain A I'd started with. Thanks to Café members, I learned that the sound of that oval hole no-frills mandolin was much more in keeping with my personal preferences. I kept my eye on eBay for my F-12, and also an A model, one of which I did find after a few months, a 1917 plain A. It did not have an OHSC, but a serviceable one. My 1916 H-2 mandola, which I'd bought in the interim, does have one such, with a glorious purple lining, and the instrument rings from inside the case. I hope that's a good thing. Finally, I do have two of those rectangular cases - not sure why - with the same horrid orange lining.I don't know whose idea that was; certainly not Gibson's. These pictures do no do it justice - er, injustice. It seems my camera is rejecting that color, says "P.U!" to that hue.
BTW, I found a mandolin case at the local Salvation Army. And for all of three bucks. Glad to have it, as I'd been using only a gig bag for Molly, my main gigging mandolin, for a long time. All my other cases are black, even the gig bags, except this one, inexplicably medium brown. It's a pretty awful red inside, but I don't mind too much. Molly needed some care taken for her safety.
Oh, and speaking of gig bags - that's what I usually use for air travel. The slim profile it provides enables it to be stowed under the seat in front of me. I just have to alert my fellow travellers to its presence and implore them not to step on it. So far, though, so good.
Last edited by journeybear; Oct-11-2023 at 2:15pm. Reason: image uploading issues
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I'm with Scoot Stichenheimer on this one - The Collings case was the most significant case to debut in our (my) lifetime. I know - "it's not a flight case, why's it so expensive?"
This thing was made with a level of quality that I don't think I've ever seen before. It's light, it's strong and it's just flat out beautiful. And I did the same thing as Scott - when I found out they were going to stop making them, I bought every one that I could find. One of them still sits empty, like Scott's, giving me an excuse to buy a mandolin worthy of it. It's that good. Now if Hamlett will build me an oval hole with a virzi - I'll have something to toss in it.
Gunga......Gunga.....Gu-Lunga
Some years ago I saw an ebay auction for vintage string packets. I ended up with about 2 dozen of the wax paper "The Gibson" strings from approx 1905-1915. I'm down to just a handful now, since nearly every time I meet someone with a vintage case I like to give them a packet to put under the peghead.
My own vintage F2 case has a bit more personality, I suppose that might have been more interesting to see vs my much more practical description of the Pegasus!
My particular F2 also has a fair bit of personality, particularly the pungent odor it came to me with. A joke nickname of "Mongo" after the film "blazing saddles" sort of stuck after a few encounters with friends. It took several months of activated charcoal "odor eaters" from shoes stuck down the soundhole to de-stink this mandolin enough to stop my eyes watering! He still lives on a wall hanging cradle to prevent his lingering stank from gathering momentum again.
The original case that came with this F2 smelled just as bad. It was like someone had left a wool sweater in a cave, or like opening the cellar in a huanted house. It was also barely holding together. I swapped with a friend who wanted to restore it for a still-rough-but-serviceable vintage case with red lining (pictured).
When I got that case, the handle was missing.. but strangely enough the handle (you can see it here) was the only spare part I had. I had helped a fellow in London sell an early F4 that came with a tooled leather case that had seen action in world war 1. He told me that his father (a British soldier) had traded food to an American soldier in the trenches for it! It was a gorgeous orange F4 circa 1912. The case was completley shot save the handle, it crumbled to the touch and was past saving. When I met the owner of that F4 in london, he arrived carrying the mandolin and case in 2 plastic garbage bags!
This is a typical Teens F2/F4 case, the fancier model with silk velvet lining instead of the more common purple flannel. I have some very light shoulder straps that attach to the D-rings for the case handle, so this case is usually over my shoulder. I've had to re-glue the lining in a few spots too. It's got just the right amount of wear really, it shows it's age and construction but nothing is falling apart.
You'll notice there is a big "bald spot" in the velvet on the lid over the pickguard. This is quite common in old gibson cases that were stored with the mandolin inside for years. The pickguard is a celluloid material that can give off some caustic gasses that accumulate in years of storage and do some damage to the case.
My own road-weary but well loved blackface 1913 F2 came to Vermont from Texas in this funky hand-made wood and metal case. The mando was wrapped in an old, yellowed, hand-embroidered pillow case. I just know there's a story there, but the original seller in Texas (a music shop) claimed not to know anything about it's provenance.
This is cool to see, as I've been wondering what the original case for one of these would look like. My mando currently lives in a serviceable but decidedly pedestrian budget imported rectangular foam case.
Last edited by Sue Rieter; Oct-12-2023 at 9:23am.
"To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar
Case histories.
Great stuff. And of course Dawg was smart enough to buy D.A.'s one of a kind mandolin without having confirmation before hand! It couldn't be in better hands!
I'm just beginning to go down the case rabbit hole. Within the past couple of years I've upgraded my gig bag to reunion blues, my Kelly now lives in a fiberglass Crossrock (with which I'm really pleased), and I've got a Sorensen CF/Kevlar on order that's coming with a Hoffee.
The only funny case story I have though is with a guitar case. My first "real" guitar was a Guild D-40 got cheaply as a factory blem because they were having some lacquer issues. It came in a TKL/Guild case. I don't know if it was the lacquer issue or something to do with the case glue, but the guitar smelled like wintermint Skoal. The first time I showed it off to my brother he started turning a little green around the gills about 2 minutes into playing it. He apparently got sick sneaking some snuff with a friend when he was 14 or 15 and the guitar's smell set off that memory. Fortunately the scent has mellowed substantially through the years...
Chuck
I have a few old cases lying around but this old Pegasus bought used 10 or 12 years ago is the one that carries all my F5's when Im on the road.
Last edited by Mandolin Cafe; Oct-12-2023 at 4:11pm. Reason: aligning images
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