Cronkhite Bag Review and Comments

[pjanda1]

Hi All,

After about 25 years of dreaming, I took possession this morning of a leather Cronkhite bag, specifically, the pretty brown large tenor one pictured on the HornGuy’s site. I have no stake or interest and ordered off the website just like everyone else. Given some grumbling I’ve seen, after an extended examination, I want to share some extended thoughts.

No gig bag is terrifically practical. I get that back in the day, there weren’t great options for cases that were light and easy to carry. I’ve biked and walked many miles with a trombone, and from what I can tell, when these were designed, they were about the only option to do that comfortably.

While there are now many choices for light and carryable cases, practicality isn’t everything. How often does society NEED a live trombone player in the first place? Synths have been pretty good for awhile. But for we luddites who stick to making noise with our lips, pretty tools can help inspire pretty sounds. It isn’t like the extra effort folks put into turning the exterior shape of mouthpieces or braces probably has a measurable effect. And a thick epoxy lacquer to keep things shiny … well, maybe best to not go down that rabbit hole.

Music aside, many of us like things that have some aesthetic appeal or character and can accept some tradeoffs. I’ve thrown many a fit and many a wrench in the vicinity of a Jeep. I don’t anticipate trading mine for a newer Rav4. Nor do I expect to eschew my mechanical watch for a quartz, despite the latter having every conceivable practical advantage.

Other concerns I’ve seen about these remind me of a sign I first saw at our small town welding shop: High Quality, Low Price, Fast Delivery--Pick Any Two. And in terms of price and quality, this bag is remarkable. Have you priced a decent MUSA leather wallet? Or even something mass produced overseas?

This leather is really lovely. I have leather goods that are made of stuff that is better still, but it doesn’t take many Horween Chromexcel wallets or Mexican-made sneakers to equal the price of this bag. This is real stuff that will look good for decades, and equally importantly, hold its stiff structure in a way that greatly aids in instrument protection. You can pay less for a “genuine” leather imported bag that doesn’t have the grain and is painted with plastic. Those leathers aren’t much stiffer than fabric, and once that crappy coating comes off (maybe in mere months), it’ll look like trash for the remainder of its days.

The rest of the build quality is extraordinary. The stitching looks great. The foam is very dense. Every part appears carefully designed of high quality stuff that suggests it will last for the rest of my life. My first ProTec fell apart after about 5 years. This Cronkhite bag should last forever. I wish my normal over-the-shoulder briefcase had the same grippy stuff on the strap so it wasn’t always sliding off the shoulder of my winter coat as I bike to the office. I also wish it had the same rugged reinforcements. And, this briefcase cost as much, but at 1/6 the size.

This trombone bag is very much a luxury item at a very much not luxury price. They should probably be charging twice as much. I sincerely doubt anybody is getting rich off these, and it is somewhat baffling anybody can pay the rent selling them for these prices--through great dealers like Steve Ferguson, no less. I compared it to my wife’s old San Francisco Reunion Blues alto sax bag. In terms of stitching and details, this new Cronkhite is better. The value here is incredible, and my hat is off to Glenn Cronkhite and now Steve Kriesel for not only keeping these designs going, but improving them.

I know this is a nontrivial amount of money for most, but something has to give. Unlike a mass produced briefcase, a trombone bag maker can’t make up for a slim margin on volume. Maybe for now, the trade off for the consumer is the amount of time and effort necessary to get your hands on one. I was lucky HornGuys had this in stock. But I’d rather be forced to wait impatiently than forced to get something less pretty and good.

I have a ProTec Ipac, too. It is cheap, decently easy to carry, protective, holds all my instruments, and holds all kinds of crap in that big pouch. But I anticipate it will come out only when absolutely necessary--like for the irreplaceable 1934 Conn bass, or when I need to pile a trombone in the Jeep with a bunch of other stuff that might shift around and crush it. For any other use, any risk is more than offset by the decades of warm fuzzies I anticipate feeling as I handle this gorgeous bag.

Paul

[pjanda1]

Note: I have an old Cronkhite mouthpiece pouch in chocolate brown. I don't know for a fact that Cronkhite pouches and bags were historically the same leather, but I'm assuming they may have been. The old chocolate brown is very ... well ... brown. The new bag with the color variations, and especially the red-ish tinge, is MUCH nicer looking to my eye.

Paul

[MStarke]

I have one Cronkhite alto trombone bag and two Reunion Blues (bass/tenor, basically the same building principle as the Cronkhite). All in black Cordura.

All are fine, the Cronkhite however definitely looks better and may also be a little bit more protective.
Still I am struggling with getting another Cronkhite (for small tenor...) because they are so expensive and do not cover all use cases as they are still only gigbags.

What I really like about this type of cases:
- The slide seems really well protected (for a gigbag) as it is in its own slide container AND inside the overall bag
- They look great
- They have space inside for some smaller/not dangerous accessories in separate pouches
- I tend to use some extra space to pack e.g. an additional shirt etc. Adds protection and reduces other luggage

[dukesboneman]

I have a Gard Leather Bag for my small tenor and really love it.
And it didn`t break the Bank

https://www.wwbw.com/Gard-Mid-Suspensio ... 02002.wwbw

[Trombastic]

I ordered a Flugabone Bag - Leather, British Tan Leather from Glenn Cronkhite back in 2017 for my FE & Olds Marching Trombone, and it’s a beauty. It’s held up very well for me still to this day and looks great when over the shoulder.

Late last year I ordered their Artist Series case, The Blue Logan™ - Small Straight Tenor Trombone Bag. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ll update this post when it does. I tend to wear mostly blue outfits in my performances, so I’m looking forward to this new addition. It generally takes 8-12 weeks for the cases to arrive after ordering, and I’m currently in week 13, so it should be any day now. Cost wise, it’s roughly twice the price as my Flugabone bag, but as it’s a larger instrument with a rare color treatment, so that seems fine.

-Brandon

[Driswood]

I have a Gard Leather Bag for my small tenor and really love it.
And it didn`t break the Bank

https://www.wwbw.com/Gard-Mid-Suspensio ... 02002.wwbw