Re: Re: Re: Re: Side Loading, Gig Bag Problems?


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Posted by Rick Denney on January 11, 2001 at 15:38:25:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Side Loading, Gig Bag Problems? posted by Bill on January 11, 2001 at 15:12:34:

I did try this. But the potential for disaster seemed even greater.

Firstly, this method precludes the use of the bell bag that Altieri bags use to enclose the bell. I suppose you could put the bell bag on, and then set the horn on the bell, but it would be particularly unstable.

Then you pull the bag down over the horn, but you can't snug it down on the horn fully, because the bag is too stiff from the padding to gather around the bell. So you have to bear-hug the whole horn around the middle to turn it upright, then grasp the edges of the bag and lift so the horn will settle into the bag. It's as much work and as unwieldy as lowering the horn into the bag, and the bag is not designed to be handled that way.

I have another problem with Altieri bags, too, though it is only marginally related to the concept. The cloth handles are attached at only two points, which allows the bag to rotate in the yaw direction without much control unless you are holding the front of the horn with your other hand. On several occasions, gusts that frequently accompany opening an exterior door to a building would spin the horn just as I'm passing through, which makes it easy to catch the bell on the side of the door frame. You know what that means.

The Reunion Blues bag, by virtue of having to work around the zipper, suspends the handle from four points, and this keeps the horn from spinning on the handle to a much greater extent. Granted, this feature could be added to Altieri bags.

I've owned two Altieri bags, one that I bought and another that came with a horn. I thought both were well made. But I've come to hate top-loading bags. In both situations, I sold the Altieri bag in favor of a Reunion Blues bag. But I know several people who go the other way.

Rick "side-loader" Denney


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