The Homemade Soft Trumpet Case

When my son was in college in the early 90's, soft-sided gig bags were all the rage for trumpet players.  Naturally, he wanted one, so I went to a music store to price them.  I came home angry.  These folks wanted $80 or $90 for a soft, slight case that wouldn't do anything to protect a trumpet!  By jingos, I'd make him one myself.

The result is shown above.  My son Lawrence still proudly uses it.  As you can see, I used the fake leather available in most sewing stores and added plenty of pockets inside and out, plus fancy initials.

I lined the inside with the padded quilted material sold for linings and used commercial webbing and D rings for the strap.  Then I attached satin ribbon to the raw opening and set in a heavy duty zipper.  When I had to pay to repair another dinged valve casing, I slit open the lining and stuffed in a whole bag of polyester toy stuffing, then sewed up the slit.  Since then, there has been no more damage while the trumpet is in its case.

Lawrence has received many compliments on his gig bag and is sure I could make them to please other musicians.  I think this is quite true for trumpets, but I would hesitate to protect a woodwind or stringed instrument in this fashion.

If anyone is interested in such a case, email me at norma_druid@yahoo.com or peaypatch@gmail.com