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  • #1

    Stringed instrument cases

    Those of you who take your guitars and banjos into the field - what do you use to protect them? And please don't turn this into the discussion about whether soldiers carried instruments with them; that's been worked over already, I think.

    I'm guessing the most "correct" method is to use no case at all...just fashion a strap from a bit of rope and sling it over your shoulder. I'm not quite ready to do that, though, and the idea of schlepping a coffin case around (or two if you're a multi-instrumentalist) is also not appealing.

    Would a discreetly padded canvas or linen bag be inappropriate or anachronistic? I need to draw the line somewhere between "period correct" and "protecting my investments".
    Mark Ehrsam
    Susquehanna Travellers
    York, Pa.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Stringed instrument cases

    DITTO ON THE WORKED TO DEATH POST.
    Answer. Take a case, coffin style or box and dont carry it.
    Bribe or convince the local QM to carry on his wagon train/Estate car.
    Anther sugestion has been a fibreglass for ftting case in a hessian sack. The case never leaves the sack but the instrument does. Problem there is the form stays in the sack.
    Last edited by AZReenactor; 01-25-2009, 09:07 AM. Reason: Let's stick to period solutions rather than coolers under canvas type farbisms...
    [B][I]Christian Sprakes
    19th Regimental Musician and Bugler[FONT="Impact"][/FONT][/I][/B]

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    • #3
      Re: Stringed instrument cases

      As much as I enjoy period music, might I suggest that if you are looking for "reasonable" compromises to authenticity perhaps you'd be better off leaving the instrument at home. Authentic suggestions are welcome here, anything less and you might as well just bring along a boom box and play a tape.

      The coffin case seems likely to be the best option as I've not heard of period soft instrument cases, but perhaps someone has documentation that would make the notion viable at least.
      I need to draw the line somewhere between "period correct" and "protecting my investments".
      Last edited by AZReenactor; 01-25-2009, 09:07 AM.
      Troy Groves "AZReenactor"
      1st California Infantry Volunteers, Co. C

      So, you think that scrap in the East is rough, do you?
      Ever consider what it means to be captured by Apaches?

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Stringed instrument cases

        "As much as I enjoy period music, might I suggest that if you are looking for "reasonable" compromises to authenticity perhaps you'd be better off leaving the instrument at home. Authentic suggestions are welcome here, anything less and you might as well just bring along a boom box and play a tape."

        Interesting reply.

        This summer we had the good fortune of briefly meeting the 2nd SC String Band, who we have the highest regard for, at the Gettysburg Music Muster. I noticed they had a combination of soft and hard cases, several of which were of modern construction.

        So I will assume you would prefer to not have the 2nd SC-a band who have perfected their music to an art- play at your event because some of their instrument cases are not 100% "period correct".

        Shall we strip off our synthetic gut strings for the same reason?

        I am not seeking to justify the use of modern cases, but simply trying to find out what other string musicians use. If they say a wood coffin case is the only type used, then so be it.
        Mark Ehrsam
        Susquehanna Travellers
        York, Pa.

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        • #5
          Re: Stringed instrument cases

          You're just going to have to follow your concience. Would you take a coffin-case to Into The Piney Woods or Bummers? Probably not. As has already been mentioned, the documented way to do that is find a friendly teamster.

          At a less immersive event, a coffin case or some substitute is probably not going to get anyone's nose out of joint.
          [FONT="Book Antiqua"]Carl Anderton[/FONT]

          [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="2"]"A very good idea of the old style of playing may be formed by referring to the [I]Briggs Banjo Instructor."[/I][/SIZE][/FONT]
          [FONT="Palatino Linotype"][B]Albert Baur, Sgt., Co. A, 102nd Regiment, NY Volunteer Infantry.[/B][/FONT]

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          • #6
            Re: Stringed instrument cases

            The key is context. At the campaigner immersion type event this forum is committed to it would be inappropriate to have the 2nd SC String Band or any other group utilizing inauthentic cases for their instruments in the field. If it is a choice between having them at one of my events or keeping the event authentic, I'll be more than glad to forgo their performance.

            Now, for a stage performance at the typical three battles and a ball type event those modern cases would hardly be anachronistic next to the elephant ear vendor's booth or canvas equivalent of a trailer park and would be no less then what I expected for such an event.
            Troy Groves "AZReenactor"
            1st California Infantry Volunteers, Co. C

            So, you think that scrap in the East is rough, do you?
            Ever consider what it means to be captured by Apaches?

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Stringed instrument cases

              What about "fiddle sacks"? I've seen accounts in many areas of the country in the 19th and 20th centuries that talk about simply putting said instrument of choice in a bag and slinging it? Not what I want to do with my financial investment, but would it be correct?
              Bob Welch

              The Eagle and The Journal
              My blog, following one Illinois community from Lincoln's election through the end of the Civil War through the articles originally printed in its two newspapers.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Stringed instrument cases

                Originally posted by mehrsam View Post
                Those of you who take your guitars and banjos into the field - what do you use to protect them? ...Would a discreetly padded canvas or linen bag be inappropriate or anachronistic?
                A cloth bag of any period material is appropriate. I made one to bring my guitar into camp, a stubbed triangle in form, it loads from the large end, a flap with two ties. Just as with homemade shirts at that time, there is no approved pattern. Such bags would not have survived beyond the war so there's nothing specific left to go by - but generic tote bags of every description were common for many odd items.

                If you wanted more in the way of moisture resistance, an oil-cloth outer bag. If you want some dent protection, an inner bag made of carpet. For me just the cloth bag is enough, just keep bugs out and disguises the object a bit from tent-cruising opportunists.

                Dan Wykes
                Last edited by Danny; 01-25-2009, 01:35 PM.
                Danny Wykes

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                • #9
                  Re: Stringed instrument cases

                  Dan,

                  Thank you. That sounds like what I had in mind. Again, I appreciate your comments.
                  Mark Ehrsam
                  Susquehanna Travellers
                  York, Pa.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Stringed instrument cases

                    [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]For AZ Reenactor.
                    My comments withdrawn as an error in fact.

                    Jeff Christman
                    Last edited by Bagman; 01-26-2009, 08:16 AM. Reason: Omitted signature

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Stringed instrument cases

                      Troy....

                      Apologies for my last post....if your signature were any larger, it would have crushed me. I read your post several times and I didn't even see it. So sorry....

                      Best regards...

                      Jeff Christman

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                      • #12
                        Re: Stringed instrument cases

                        Like Dan Wykes I've found that I can protect my two banjos pretty well by wrapping them in fabric. For one I use a large piece of burlap, about the size of a large sack opened up. By wrapping it up and folding it just so I can tie it with a piece of twine and Its fairly well protected. I've been carrying them this way for a long time, you have to be careful, but I think I would be embarrassed to carry a modern case and besides they weight too much. The great thing about these simple banjo is that they are so light, you can tote them all over without a lot of strain. Even two at a time. Any case I made out of wood would also be too heavy. I also don't have a ton of money in these instruments, not that I want to replace either and besides they're nicely "relic'd". If I had just shelled out big bucks for a Hartell Ashborn I'd probably be thinking otherwise.

                        Dave Culgan

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