Dear all, As announced some months ago on the lutenet, I have been inquiring after having flight cases made for lutes and theorboes. Now that I have succeeded in having such a case made, have picked it up and travelled with it, I thought I would pass on my findings to my fellow pluckers.
I had been in contact with one of the major musical flight case manufacturers in Europe, Alan Stevenson, who does all the cases for the LSO, Berliner Phil, etc and even that James Bond movie with the "cello-sled" chase scene. See: www.stevensoncases.co.uk Although he had considered to make cases at my insistence for lute instruments, he ultimatly decided against it simply because he felt there was not the market to warrant his investment in research. He *would* technically make me a case, but a one-off (i.e. not a mould-derived) venture that would cost zillions. So not really practical. Very kindly, he decided to speak with one of his colleagues and came up with the following solution. He knew another firm that makes cases for Formula 1 racing components - hyper- expensive and delicate car parts that have to get shipped around the globe safely. See: www.quentorcases.com With Alan's specialist knowledge of music cases, he helped to design a theorbo case with Quentor that is even stronger than his own (made of lightweight aluminium), and "reasonably" priced. My case cost 685 GBP, whereas the equivalent "about-town" lightweight case by Kingham would be about 450 GBP. Now that I have received the Quentor case, I can say that the drawbacks are that it is heavy (with my HUGE Schelle - 196cm long, 208cm in case - it weighs 25.64 kg) and big, since the instrument floats inside the case, with a 4-7cm perimeter of air and foam between it and the interior wall (this takes up lots of room). The advantages are more or less absolute safety of instrument (including heat and water resistance), being able to have the theorbo you want and not the one British Airways lets you have, moveable interior padding that can be reconfigured to fit any long-necked lute, and that the whole thing is on wheels so that it can be rolled around. I ultimately did decide to get a Kingham case too for my theorbo, simply because the Quentor case is tricky to get around and unnecessary for everyday life, getting on the metro, rehearsals, local gigs, etc. But that said, you *can* get around with the Quentor on tour. And for smaller lutes, I think I will probably go for Quentor in future, since they would be completely manageable for about town *and* safe on aeroplanes. A 10c lute case from them would probably only weigh about 6kg and have wheels to boot. This is twice a Kingham's weight, but totally manageable and actually safe. Regarding Kingham cases (and perhaps other such manufacturers), I should point out that I am *not* in any way trying to say that such cases are not good. I own several Kinghams, and am very impressed with their workmanship and professionalism. Kingham cases do *excellently* what they were designed to do - namely, be "about town" cases. But they are *not* designed for air travel, and every musician I know who has put such a case in the hold of an aeroplane has lost a lute. This is a price I am not willing to pay. Nor am I willing to lose work when a patron doesn't wish to buy a second seat for my lute. Indeed, it is for this very reason that I have yet to see Japan - and I am rather miffed about that! There has been recent talk on the lutnet of the fibreglass reinforcement that Kingham offers. I have just been to Kingham personally, and have seen the compound, how they apply it, and have discussed air travel with Steve. Although the fibreglass *is* good reinforcement, and although I have it on several of my cases, it does *not* make a Kingham-type case fit for air travel - nor is it designed to do so. Only the joints are covered in fibreglass, but critical areas such as over the soundboard are no more protected - although they can use a thicker piece of plywood than normal. This is however insufficient to survive the airlines. The fibreglass provides better wear and tear, and more protection should something press into the case. It does not mean the case can be thrown, walked on, dropped from the plane's hold down 6m to the tarmac at Heathrow airport, or fall off a moving baggage lorry. These things happen!!! My rule is that a Kingham-type case is great when the instrument is with me; when the instrument is not, it goes in the Quentor. For those intereted, the man at Quentor to talk to is Gavin Stagg, and his contact information is availale on the website listed above. Anyway, I hope this may help some of you decide how to travel with your lutes! I can't tell you all how many times over the last several months I wished I had played the piccolo! As ever, Benjamin To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
