"Snuggly enough" is the problem. Unless the horn is directly coupled at all points within the case than this information is sadly not true. The horn must be truly coupled - all points receiving equal contact and pressure. I'm sure you're familiar with the principle of physics which states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It is merely transferred or transformed. If the padding and the case are coupled (by means of glue/stitching/whatever), then the single point of failure is the horn. If the bell is held loosely but the body is firm, then there is a point of weakness. An impact will allow the bell to move and not the body possibly causing soldering joint breaks or other stresses.
I've seen this to be true in fact. On a college road trip to a concert on the road, the truck carrying the instruments had to stop short for a dear in the road. Needless to say, many of the cases came sliding forward rather quickly. Of the instruments damaged were 2 saxes (both in hard cases) and handful of trumpets and 1 of the horns. All of these were in hard cases and all showed signs of impact with the case. All of the instruments that were in gig bags were fine with not even a scratch. Of course, the converse is true as well - in a gig bag, to be most effective, the padding must be quite thick and dense but pliable. Sadly, there is no perfect case, that is for sure. Kindly, Jeremy -----Original Message----- From: jerryol...@aol.com [mailto:jerryol...@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 5:55 PM To: horn@music.memphis.edu Subject: Re: [Hornlist] "Dent" bags In a message dated 2/1/2009 3:29:29 P.M. Central Standard Time, jer...@sublymerecords.com writes: The difficulty with gig bags is designing on that will provide enough rigidity as to not allow a quick, pointed attack to the case without causing that initial damage yet still the flexibility to allow the horn to work itself into the padding when hit. Hi Jeremy, This is contrary to information that has been posted in the past on this subject. If the horn and case are moving and the case stops, the horn will stop with the case if it is held snuggly in the case. Otherwise, the horn will keep going until it hits something with the weight of the horn pushing against whatever hits first .... bell rim, bell tail, leadpipe receiver, or ?? ..... been there, done that, paid the repair person and bought the T-shirt. IMHO, the most protection a horn can get is in a hard case that firmly holds the corpus of the horn by the valve cluster with plenty of clearance around the flare. If the valve cluster is "clamped" between firm foam pads it will be less likely to move and put pressure on the weaker bits and pieces as mentioned above. That being said ..... I have a good quality Reunion Blues "dent" bag that I use to haul around a Holton natural horn. The horn is light and shifts very little in the bag. I keep a close eye on it. Anyone agree/disagree?? Regards, Jerry in Kansas City **************Know Your Numbers: Get tips and tools to help you improve your credit score. (http://www.walletpop.com/credit/credit-reports?ncid=emlcntuswall00000002) _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/jeremy%40sublymerecords.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
