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Thread: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

  1. #51
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    First off, thanks to OP for the heads up. I'd been watching these over the last year or so, but now finally pulled the trigger, especially in light of the $125 Amex gift card offer on Amazon. At $105 all-in it glided right into no-brainer territory. Ordered the newer CRF1020 version in silver, without the strap on the peghead end, but received the older CRF1000 version with strap anyway. Aesthetically I think that strap looks hokey, but could see it being handy. TBD whether I slice it off or not. Other observations include: nice light weight at 5 pounds 2 ounces (compared with Calton at 9 pounds 6 ounces and Collings/TKL at 6 pounds 6 ounces); the smallish rubber feet just beg to get sheared off in real life; the rivets on the top part of one of the four latches could have been fitted better; it has a narrow footprint standing on its side feet and seems like it could get knocked over pretty easily; F-5 peghead clearance is safe so long as the neck channels and lid cushions keep the instrument centered; why a manufacturer would waste the resources to provide a zipper bag to hold the backpack straps is a head scratcher, but no harm no foul I guess. Upshot is it's a great around-town case, and because of it's relatively shallow depth also good for carry-on (so long as it doesn't get checked into baggage, which would not be pretty).

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  2. #52

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Me again. Doug, I guess I don't see why it wouldn't be pretty if you were forced to check this. I'm old and have live through the days when cases were either flimsy or heavy and still flimsy. With all the modern choices it seems to me this would have a pretty good chance against the airline goons. Calton would probably still win but you can buy nearly 3 of these for one of those. Even my old $65 Stew Mac would probably make it because of design and not price.
    I also think you highlighted a nice feature. It looks like to accommodate the flat latch to the curve of the case they used something like a nylon spacer to make it good and snug.

  3. #53
    Registered User Russ Jordan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Any experience here with Crossrock’s guitar cases?
    Russ Jordan

  4. #54
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Hilburn View Post
    Me again. Doug, I guess I don't see why it wouldn't be pretty if you were forced to check this.
    Maybe a question of degree. Might trust the Crossrock in baggage with a $1,000 mando, but if it were a $20K F5 I'd invest $1K in the new Calton with more peghead and scroll space, shear-proof latches, etc.

  5. #55
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Hilburn View Post
    Just realized it will do this. Probably best to be right there with it but could be nice when your standing in a line or something.
    Ok cool, you taught it to stand, but can you make it speak??

    just a joke folks!
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  6. #56

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Hilburn View Post
    Me again. Doug, I guess I don't see why it wouldn't be pretty if you were forced to check this. I'm old and have live through the days when cases were either flimsy or heavy and still flimsy. With all the modern choices it seems to me this would have a pretty good chance against the airline goons. Calton would probably still win but you can buy nearly 3 of these for one of those. Even my old $65 Stew Mac would probably make it because of design and not price.
    I also think you highlighted a nice feature. It looks like to accommodate the flat latch to the curve of the case they used something like a nylon spacer to make it good and snug.
    That is not a case I would check a mandolin in. There was a thread here about a year or two back about a $XX,XXX mandolin shipped cross country for fret work in a Calton and the instrument arrived with bad cracks in it. The owner deduced that the case was dropped from a height and the instrument shifting inside the case caused the damage since the case itself was undamaged. I like the double yoke for the neck but the extra space around the body would make me reticent about that case being out of my hands in transport.

  7. #57

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    I'm going to do one more and quit.
    I'll go ahead and blaspheme and say this is closer to what Calton offers than I think most realize. What Crossrock has done is to me very similar to what Northfield did. Do good design, oversee that it's done correctly but have it made in China to keep the cost down.
    As to the main complaints, I already said with it's supplied spacer the mandolin is very snug. I've shown a photo that there's ample peghead space. I looked at a Calton online and see what a shear proof latch is. Not seeing that as much of a concern.
    In their advertising they show someone standing on this case. I'm not going to do it but I think I could. I've put it on the floor and pressed hard on the top and it's like a rock.
    Also, I've never had a case I could put stickers on!

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  9. #58
    Registered User Glassweb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Caltons are great cases, Airloom and Recurve cases are great cases, Hoffee cases are great cases, Pegasus are great cases, Ameritage are great cases, TKLs are great cases, Gators and Travelites are great cases, Crossrocks are great cases. Needs, budgets and tastes in design will lead us all to different choices.

    Mandolinists finally have the choices they've been waiting for. Hooray for us!

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  11. #59
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Freeman View Post
    Maybe a question of degree. Might trust the Crossrock in baggage with a $1,000 mando, but if it were a $20K F5 I'd invest $1K in the new Calton with more peghead and scroll space, shear-proof latches, etc.
    If I knew in advance that my $5,000 mandolin would go into airline baggage and not carry-on, I would never use any of the higher-end fiberglass or carbon fiber cases. Not even my Pegasus, which is a very strong case. I'd get a big Anvil ATA case with plenty of foam cushioning. Maybe a large enough Pelican case would work, although I trust ATA-style cases more.

  12. #60
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    I bought this ABS A-style. 4 latches. Very solid and secure, but there was no extra pad to take up extra space, but the mandolin does not seem to shift around inside. It came with 2 straps. This one is advertised as A style. My Eastman F style does not fit.
    . https://www.amazon.com/Crossrock-CRA.../dp/B074WPM2M7

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  13. #61
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    If I knew in advance that my $5,000 mandolin would go into airline baggage and not carry-on, I would never use any of the higher-end fiberglass or carbon fiber cases. Not even my Pegasus, which is a very strong case. I'd get a big Anvil ATA case with plenty of foam cushioning. Maybe a large enough Pelican case would work, although I trust ATA-style cases more.
    Are you sure their cushioning is better than Calton/Pegasus etc? I haven't seen a case I would trust in this regard. No matter how bombproof the exterior is it is always the interior fit that allows the neck/ headstock to be broken whether there is generous space around headstock or not, hard impact will cause whiplash that breaks necks unless the whole instrument is fully immobilized ALL AROUND. The only way to get that is a FULLY customised interior. That's why I always ship in a fully cushioned styrofoam/ plywood crate made to embrace the instrument perfectly. Short of fork lift piercing or driving over it, the instrument will survive in that.
    Adrian

  14. #62
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    I have both the Crossrock fiberglass case and the Superior A model fiberglass case and both of them bow in if I stand on them, but both offer very good protection at a light weight.

    On headstock whiplash - I would think the case would have to have a fairly stiff, not cushiony "ramp" on which the headstock rests and some padding in the top that holds the headstock to that ramp to prevent whiplash. I see people putting socks or bubble wrap under the headstock and I can't believe that does much if any good. What is the consensus on whiplash prevention?
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  15. #63
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    I like this with added wedge above headstock to fill the space completely.
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  17. #64

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Think about what Bill Monroe's mandolin must have gone through over the years in what by todays standards was not a great case. In 1980 I flew with my first mandolin in a really bad faux Loar case and they made me check it after I was nearly being thrown off the plane and it was fine. In the 70's there is a very famous black top mandolin owned by a very famous player that once fell out of a van onto an interstate which was retrieved by a trucker who CB'ed ahead to have the band intercepted.
    The point is you can't be 100% safe but for most of us in normal day to day transport there isn't likely going to be a problem.
    I shipped 30 or so mandolins in well padded boxes in either in the Stew-Mac case or a GWW (Ameritage) rectangular case with no particular precautions other than a de-tune as far away as Ireland and they all survived. Not sure what my point is other than instruments have never had a better chance than they do now.

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  19. #65
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    “ Think about what Bill Monroe's mandolin must have gone through over the years in what by todays standards was not a great case.”

    Including being backed over by a car in that case! If I remember correctly, the mandolin survived the backing over ok.

    My brother backed over a nice guitar that was housed in one of those Stewmac cases—total loss!

  20. #66
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by liestman View Post
    On headstock whiplash - I would think the case would have to have a fairly stiff, not cushiony "ramp" on which the headstock rests and some padding in the top that holds the headstock to that ramp to prevent whiplash. I see people putting socks or bubble wrap under the headstock and I can't believe that does much if any good. What is the consensus on whiplash prevention?
    Larrivee guitars ship from the factory with crumpled brown packing paper wrapped loosely around the peghead, which works surprisingly well. The idea is to have the peghead insulated by a not too dense material that will keep it from hitting a denser cushioning material or hard internal surface. A mando transported in the Crossrock fiberglass case would benefit from something along those lines. I'm finding that an F5 fits loosely enough in the case, even with the extra padded strip, that it wobbles around when closed. It’s definitely a one-size-fits-all approach, but still a very nifty case.

  21. #67
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by HoGo View Post
    Are you sure their cushioning is better than Calton/Pegasus etc? I haven't seen a case I would trust in this regard. No matter how bombproof the exterior is it is always the interior fit that allows the neck/ headstock to be broken whether there is generous space around headstock or not, hard impact will cause whiplash that breaks necks unless the whole instrument is fully immobilized ALL AROUND. The only way to get that is a FULLY customised interior. That's why I always ship in a fully cushioned styrofoam/ plywood crate made to embrace the instrument perfectly. Short of fork lift piercing or driving over it, the instrument will survive in that.
    Yes, I'm sure an Anvil ATA grade case is better than my Pegasus case as checked baggage on a flight, which is what I was referring to. Not shipping via Fedex or another carrier.

    If I had to ship my mandolin, I'd use my Pegasus case inside a larger two-ply cardboard box with plenty of padding between the outer box and the case. Airline baggage is a different story. An outer cardboard box isn't practical due to size/extra surcharge, and you need something that the baggage gorillas can't easily destroy.

    So I'm talking about a custom ATA case like this, sized for a mandolin with LOTS of extra room around it. Anvil makes off-the-shelf ATA guitar cases but not for mandolin, so it would have to be custom:

    https://www.calzoneandanvil.com/ata/

    With a custom interior I'd cut a foam interior from one of these materials to completely surround the mandolin:

    https://www.calzoneandanvil.com/die-cut-foam/

    In a former life as a commercial photographer, I've used this kind of ATA case for checking photo gear on international flights, and with the proper fit of foam around the gear, it works.

    One of the reasons it works is that the cases are so damned heavy that they're not easy to just throw around. That's one reason a fiberglass mandolin case alone is at risk when checked as airline baggage; it's too easy to throw onto the luggage cart or drop while handling. You can't easily throw or drop a heavy Anvil ATA case, and if you do, there is lots of shock-absorbing foam surrounding the instrument.

    OTOH, you wouldn't want to carry your mandolin to a jam or gig in an ATA case due to the size and weight. Unless it was being transported by roadies. And then it would be a good idea.

  22. #68

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    I've seen a baggage guy lifting and slamming every piece of luggage onto the conveyor when just placing it would be much easier on him.
    But I bet a lot of damage comes from falls from conveyors either at the plane or in handling facilities. There's some good Youtubes.

  23. #69
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by HoGo View Post
    Are you sure their cushioning is better than Calton/Pegasus etc? I haven't seen a case I would trust in this regard. No matter how bombproof the exterior is it is always the interior fit that allows the neck/ headstock to be broken whether there is generous space around headstock or not, hard impact will cause whiplash that breaks necks unless the whole instrument is fully immobilized ALL AROUND. The only way to get that is a FULLY customised interior. That's why I always ship in a fully cushioned styrofoam/ plywood crate made to embrace the instrument perfectly. Short of fork lift piercing or driving over it, the instrument will survive in that.
    There's such a thing as overkill. For years I used a simple (but highly effective) Gator styro-core case to carry my Lloyd Loar F5 and post-Loar Fern in. I also shipped my Loar in the same case to have some work done down in CA more than once. I even dropped it (with Loar inside) down a flight of stairs when I was fleeing a fire. Not only did the case survive, but the instrument had nary a scratch. There are as many stories/experiences as there are players and in the end we all have to be responsible for the preservation of our instruments. I recently received a mandolin in the mail from a well-known dealer that was packaged terribly and rested in a mediocre case and yet it arrived in perfect shape. Would I have packed it that way? No way! So a case itself, while important, is only half the deal... it is really up to us to make the "better" choices when it comes to the care of our instruments. I don't know if a Crossrock is as bulletproof as a Calton but guess what... I'm not really all that interested in finding out. Play 'em, put 'em in a case and treat them as if they are your best friend. Works for me...

    One last thing... my current F5 fits snugly and securely inside my new Crossrock case without the use of the included padding strip. And no, it's not a Big Mon. Nor do I use an armrest or toneguard. That said, my other mandolin, a 2-point mandolin, does require the extra padded strip to make a snug fit. It works perfectly.

  24. #70

    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Glass, I don't know if it was you but someone brought a Loar from back east to Bakersfield or maybe it was Symposium in a Stew-Mac. Also another Loar owner painted a Stew-Mac white. If I'm remembering correctly that is. Or maybe that was a Dude owner.
    Last edited by Jim Hilburn; May-11-2021 at 1:11pm.

  25. #71
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Hilburn View Post
    Glass, I don't know if it was you but someone brought a Loar from back east to Bakersfield or maybe it was Symposium in a Stew-Mac. Also another Loar owner painted a Stew-Mac white. If I'm remembering correctly that is.
    Hi Jim... that wasn't me... I live up here in WA state and, until recently, was still using a good 'ole Gator case. No longer a Loar owner...

  26. #72
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    What I've shown is how I ship newly made mandolin from EU to US. It takes me hour or so to make the box and also keeps the shipping cost down as volume is quite low.
    I personally prefer Travelite for carrying mandolin around festivals or gigs.
    Adrian

  27. #73
    Registered User Louise NM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    Every violin case on the market, no matter how cheap or expensive, has a strap to hold the neck in place. It usually closes with velcro. Keeps the instrument from shifting in the case if the fit is a little loose, keeps it from moving if the case is upside down, and if, God forbid, a latch fails or you pick up an unlatched case, there's an excellent chance the strap will keep the violin from crashing to the floor. I don't understand why this isn't standard on mandolin cases. I think Bobelock may have them in their mandolin cases, but otherwise I've never seen them in mando world.

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  28. #74
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    The violin cases mostly don't have the cushion above the neck reas that keeps the neck in place so this velcro is all tha holds it in place. The velcro wears quite fast and just stops working after season or two. Not the best design IMO, but probably traditional in violin world. Mandolin cases generally have the cushion that presses against the neck.
    Adrian

  29. #75
    Fatally Flawed Bill Kammerzell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Crossrock Mandolin Cases

    The Crossrock ABS cases sell for considerably less. New, about one-half the price at around $115.00 each. I found one (An ABS Crossrock) at Amazon warehouse for $63.00. Open Box. I've gotten other cases at Amazon Warehouse open box for even less. For instance a TKL for $40.00.
    Anyway, my Open Box Crossrock ABS case for $63.00 arrived the other day in a huge, heavy box. I was puzzled? I drug it into the house. Literally. I opened the large box. Inside were 4 smaller boxes. One was empty. We'll call that the "Open Box." The other 3 had a brand-new, Crossrock ABS case in each of them. Someone made a mistake. I passed one along when I sold a used mandolin. Then I used the other two for a $100.00 credit towards a new mandolin I purchased. Though I briefly considered sending two back initially, I also considered that Jeff Bezos is a multi-billionaire and I probably pay more taxes in a year than he does.
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