Who is making bags/cases/rolls these days?

[DrPhill]

Nice work there!

Thanks - close up it has defects, but it is functional, and very good protection. Alright for a first attempt.

[Big_e]

Would a drumstick case work as a case for whistles? My newbie whistle collecton is starting to grow and I was thinking of just buying one of these drumstick cases, http://www.guitarcenter.com/Zildjian-Su ... 1135986.gc . Any idea if these would work?
Ernest

[Steve Bliven]

Would a drumstick case work as a case for whistles?

Works for me. Just did some minor stitching to create separate pockets to keep the whistles from banging together. Won't handle anything much lower than an A whistle however.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Feadoggie]

Would a drumstick case work as a case for whistles? My newbie whistle collecton is starting to grow and I was thinking of just buying one of these drumstick cases, ... Any idea if these would work?

If you followed the second link I gave in my first post in this thread you would have seen a couple drum stick bags full of whistles. And there is another one shown in this thread. Yes they work. I have several including one similar to that which you linked to (of course usually filed with drum sticks). What they do not do without modification is to protect individual whistles since there are no dedicated pockets for each whistle. But you can use a variety of methods to mitigate that issue if it matters to you. Check out the link above.

Drum stick bags come in a variety of shapes and sizes too. And there can be deals if you shop around so they are very cost effective (less than $10 if you luck out). EBay is full of them. Just measure the inside length of the bag to determine the longest whistle a particular bag will hold. My favorite is a Ritter stick bag (follow my link) which will hold a huge amount of whistles including fully assembled low F's. Larger whistles have to be broken down, no prob. It is very well padded and cost less than $20US.

Flute case covers can work too and are available at similar prices to a stick bag. I prefer the stick bag.

Feadoggie

[ecohawk]

I can vouch for both the Burke roll and Goldie whistle bag. The Goldie bag will handle full sized low C whistles while the Burke will handle up to an alto\low G in one piece. The Burke roll has 12 slots but will hold depending on body width, up to 25 or so whistles.

I though I'd try one of the Heritage bags sold on eBay but think I'll wait to see if I can do better. If I don't find something better soon, I'll get another from Burke or Goldie.

I've reached out to Kate Lozier of Tuffbags based on Feadoggies excellent roll bag in the picture above. I have a bag she made for me several years ago that holds four whistles up to Alto A with no trouble and it is excellent. Kate said she remembered Feadoggie's bag style and would consider making them again but she's not making anything new until late April. I am going to ask her how many advance orders it would take to insure that. Maybe we could do a group buy. I'd take two or three myself.

Good topic. Looking forward to more ideas.

ecohawk

[Peter Duggan]

Yep, mine were made from towelling after my partial mock-ups with safety pins and old towels (all I had to hand!) suggested that the material had some merits for the job, but edged across the pocket tops and round the outsides with acrylic tape. While we'd originally planned to sew the diagonals (or separate 'ends' like your bag shown above) to suit complete whistle 'sets', further testing led us to leave the larger bag at three discrete lengths (several pockets each at low D, low F and A length) and the smaller one (for smaller whistles) at a single length for increased versatility (the point being that you're not 'losing' a slightly shorter whistle in a slightly overlength pocket, but can't put a longer one in a shorter pocket!). And we've left off straps or ties for the time being, with separate (non-fixed) straps currently suiting me fine.

Will try to get some photos and measurements up soon.

OK, here we go...

The plans are as originally drawn (all measurements in millimetres), with black dimensions still to scale but amendments as actually made up in red (we had to make them slightly narrower overall because the towels we bought off eBay weren't quite as advertised!). The 55mm channels are for low D, Eb and E whistles, with 50mm for Fs and Gs and 45mm for anything smaller. You need to make the top flap twice the length of whistle you want sticking out (2 x 60mm to the dotted lines in this case) + whatever depth of overlap you want the flap to have (we'd planned for 100mm, but made the large roll's slightly deeper and the small roll's much deeper so it could take As and Bbs as well as the Cs and smaller I'd originally intended). The wider side channels (80mm and 90mm instead of the 100mm originally planned) were included partly to give extra coverage when rolled, but also allow for instruments (eg flutes, recorders etc.) that don't fit comfortably into the regular 'whistle' channels. The dotted diagonal and 'stepped' horizontal lines are what I'd originally envisaged stitching to take the channels progressively down to Bb length on the large roll and high E length (via D and Eb) on the small one, but practical testing led us to leave the large roll at 4 full-length (520mm) channels, 4 x 430mm for Fs and Gs and 4 x 340mm for As and Bbs, with the smaller one left full-length at 280mm throughout (and, no, that's not my whole whistle collection you see in the photos!).

Don't know how long the towelling will last, but it's easy to work with, kind to whistles, protective enough to stop them bashing each other up and can always go through the washing machine if needed (NB I put the towels through twice to allow for shrinkage before we started measuring and cutting). Also can't say I'd have bought black towels for the bathroom (no goths here!), but liked them for this job and my friend and colleague Jan Hamilton did a great job of making them up for me (thanks, Jan!)...

[Feadoggie]

Very nice, Peter!

[Peter Duggan]

Very nice, Peter!

Aye, thanks (and thanks again to Jan)! And it's interesting to see your bags and links above again because I'd discovered all of these for myself when we were considering and making mine last autumn.

Might just add some further comments as follows:

1. The channels for the various keys had to take those Overton/Chieftain bores (spot the three Bernard Overtons on display?) and tuning slides comfortably without leaving the narrower whistles 'rattling' around, so Jan sewed up a whole range of widths in a couple of old hand towels (still in use as extras!) for me to test before drawing up my plans and procuring the materials for the final job.
2. While we knew that some similar designs have tapered flaps to stop those awkward edges spilling out when rolled, we decided to stick with square simplicity when the towelling's soft enough to bundle up a bit as you go.
3. Towels come in a huge range of weights and you want good, heavyweight towelling for this.

[DrPhill]

Nice work there!

Thanks - close up it has defects, but it is functional, and very good protection. Alright for a first attempt.

The second attempt is better:

[ecohawk]

Nice case there DrPhill.

But you've got that old tarnished instrument in it. Why don't I buy that one from you for $50 or so, I'll even pay shipping! Then you can buy a bright shiny new whistle that will do justice to that case.

Just trying to help.

ecohawk

P.S. I'm getting out the sewing machine right now to try out Peter's plans. Thanks for that sir.

[DrPhill]

Nice case there DrPhill.

But you've got that old tarnished instrument in it. Why don't I buy that one from you for $50 or so, I'll even pay shipping! Then you can buy a bright shiny new whistle that will do justice to that case.

Just trying to help.

ecohawk

P.S. I'm getting out the sewing machine right now to try out Peter's plans. Thanks for that sir.

Thank you for the offer, Ecohawk, but it would not feel right selling the whistle to you for $50. Just some old whistle I got cheap second hand - but it plays alright, I guess, if you like that sort of thing.

[cboody]

Well, if you want less than $50.00 I'd be happy to offer something. Certainly I'd be willing to offer postage to take the old thing off your hands.

[DrPhill]

I have been amazed by the generosity of spirit shown by some members of this board. A true reflection of the calibre of the members of C&F.

I know it is just an old, tarnished second-hand copy of a Generation whistle, but it suits me, my style and maybe my current skill level. So I will keep it a while longer.......

But thanks anyway......