Hi AKCEuph -- I just saw this! Thanks for the review, very cool to see these. Yeah...that scratch should have never happened, much less gone out the door. I talked to Chris about it. My hunch is something like that gets missed on one in 500 bags or even fewer, but sorry about that. And for sure, there is a wait and these are pricey, but it truly will never break. The difference between the other brand you mentioned getting a ding is from the foam density -- the amount of cushioning it can offer against one pound of weight = 2.2-2.6. Most furniture is 1.8 or less, and most gig bags are sub 1.4 range. So our .75 or 1" foam is providing double the protection. Plus, HR Foam = High Resilience, so ours will still provide cushioning in 10-15-20 years because the cells don't break down. The lower density is often used by competitors because -- you guessed it -- it's cheaper, requiring less iso- and poly-ol chemicals to produce. So you're getting leather that's $6-7/sf, made in te USA labor, really expensive foam, really expensive components at EVERY step of the way. But check back in 5-10-15 years -- cats who bought the other brand will be on their 5th bag, have several unnecessary dings, and end up spending more money than they would have buying ours up front. It's a highly valuable investment that saves money and dings. Trust me -- I've been in this biz for 25 years. --Steve
Love the bags! The leather scratches super easily, I'm looking at their Badlands "pre-worn" finish to avoid those big obvious scratches 😅 they're super high quality, just a small team doing these bags by hand
The scratches and customer service is a bummer but they are nice bags still. I can't ever seem to pull the trigger on a bag that expensive, I always end up buying other gear.
Thanks for the detailed review! Just pulled the trigger and ordered a Cronkhite bag for my Shires Q40 euphonium!
Hi AKCEuph -- I just saw this! Thanks for the review, very cool to see these. Yeah...that scratch should have never happened, much less gone out the door. I talked to Chris about it. My hunch is something like that gets missed on one in 500 bags or even fewer, but sorry about that. And for sure, there is a wait and these are pricey, but it truly will never break. The difference between the other brand you mentioned getting a ding is from the foam density -- the amount of cushioning it can offer against one pound of weight = 2.2-2.6. Most furniture is 1.8 or less, and most gig bags are sub 1.4 range. So our .75 or 1" foam is providing double the protection. Plus, HR Foam = High Resilience, so ours will still provide cushioning in 10-15-20 years because the cells don't break down. The lower density is often used by competitors because -- you guessed it -- it's cheaper, requiring less iso- and poly-ol chemicals to produce. So you're getting leather that's $6-7/sf, made in te USA labor, really expensive foam, really expensive components at EVERY step of the way. But check back in 5-10-15 years -- cats who bought the other brand will be on their 5th bag, have several unnecessary dings, and end up spending more money than they would have buying ours up front. It's a highly valuable investment that saves money and dings. Trust me -- I've been in this biz for 25 years. --Steve
Love the bags! The leather scratches super easily, I'm looking at their Badlands "pre-worn" finish to avoid those big obvious scratches 😅 they're super high quality, just a small team doing these bags by hand
The scratches and customer service is a bummer but they are nice bags still. I can't ever seem to pull the trigger on a bag that expensive, I always end up buying other gear.
haha, it was mostly just time for a bag upgrade. I have so many events internationally that I pulled the trigger on something.