Calton Case

[Lane Pryce]

Just curious what kind of interior space is in the Calton F? Will they accomodate a tuner(intellitouch),strings,picks,rag and a folded up piece of music? Lp

[jmkatcher]

I've got the other stuff in my Calton, and a few folded sheets would probably fit too. I keep my music in a binder and just carry it along so I've never tried to fit in inside as well.

[JD Cowles]

i've got a tuner, spare set of strings, bag of picks, and a small leatherman in my calton. the rest of the peripherals end up in my bike messenger bag.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif
jd

[Pete Martin]

Just make sure there is room for your headstock or yours may get broken off like a number of others have.

[Lane Pryce]

Pete I got the low down on the infamous Gilchrist incident and I would feel comfortable putting a Gil(if I owned one)in a Calton case! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif Lp

[Mandobar]

actually how many scrolls have been broken in a calton?

[Ken Waltham]

I've said this before, but, I don't think there's a better case on the planet than a Calton.
I've shipped 2 Loars to Australia, and many other valuble instruments in them, and have never had a problem.
They are the benchmark in protective case design, IMHO.
I have heard these stories, but have never had them substantiated. If they were true, my guess is they may be F5's with a little different peghead design, ie wider, perhaps?

[Salty Dog]

The intellitouch tuner will fit in the Calton storage compartment along with other small items.

[R. Kane]

Will an F-2 or F-4, with their shorter neck lengths, fit in a Calton? In a Travelite, the neck support bulkhead puts pressure on the lower headstock and the lowest tuners.

[Pete Martin]

I have a Calton deluxe. #I have a 1980 Gilchrist F5. #Had it locked in the case, picked it up, it slipped out of my hand, dropped 6" onto a thickly padded carpeted floor and broke the heastock scroll. #I personally know of 4 other mandolins this happend to, one a Gilchrist, one a Loar.

I'm not saying this will happen with yours, just make sure your headstock is protected. #Mine was pushed through the padding against the rivot that holds the top hinge. #I didn't notice this construction flaw until too late.

Currently I own a Pegasus case. #A much better design and built case than the Calton, way more protection. #Unfortunately with exchange rates and shipping, a lot more money.

All Calton would have had to do is make the case 1" wider in the headstock area. #I must also say the people I've had communication with at Calton are complete jerks, so I will do my best to be a jerk back. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Mandobar]

richard, i'd try the case before you buy it for an F2 or an F4. I have my F2 in a tkl square archtopped case. since i don't travel with the F2 much this seems to protect it well.

i have two calton F cases. one fits an F5 style mandolin better at the headstock. the other seems a bit tight. my favorite F5 case is a cedar creek shaped case that i purchased from peter mix last week. they sell these at elderly also but they say collings on them i believe.

[Harry H]

I have a Calton deluxe. #I have a 1980 Gilchrist F5. #Had it locked in the case, picked it up, it slipped out of my hand, dropped 6" onto a thickly padded carpeted floor and broke the heastock scroll. #I personally know of 4 other mandolins this happend to, one a Gilchrist, one a Loar.

I'm not saying this will happen with yours, just make sure your headstock is protected. #Mine was pushed through the padding against the rivot that holds the top hinge. #I didn't notice this construction flaw until too late.

Currently I own a Pegasus case. #A much better design and built case than the Calton, way more protection. #Unfortunately with exchange rates and shipping, a lot more money.

All Calton would have had to do is make the case 1" wider in the headstock area. #I must also say the people I've had communication with at Calton are complete jerks, so I will do my best to be a jerk back. #:p

petimar (Pete Martin),

I agree with you 1000%. #Quite simply, Calton mando cases have a problem area and it's important that Mando owners know about it.

The area where the headstock scroll lays in a Calton case
is incredibly close to the top hinge.

What all the nice people who own Caltons and F-style mandos
DON"T SEE is that the
INTERIOR METAL AREA of the TOP HINGE is
DEEP, SUBSTANTIAL and in VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY
to the HEADSTOCK SCROLL.

As well, Calton cases are heavy. They also flex a little when they
take an impact (I would imagine they are designed to do just that).

Here's how it happens:
The heavy case drops (or receives some sort of impact), flexes slightly, causing the interior part of the top hinge to move and come into contact with the headstock scroll.

Guess what? Metal wins out over wood every time;
the headstock scroll snaps!

Does this happen all the time? No, or everybody would already
know about it. Can it happen? Yup, absolutely!!

Everybody who owns a Calton should:
1) open their case,
2) put their thumb down on (in) the area of the case that's shaped to fit #the headstock scroll, and
3) push sideways against the foam padding of the case until you feel the back of the top hinge.
Once you do that, you'll realize how close all that metal is to your
headstock scroll. All that's between your scroll and the metal of the hinge is a very tiny bit of easily compressible foam padding.
It's not a very good feeling.

Before the flaming begins, I'm not trying to knock the Calton Company. Calton cases are great in a lot of ways. I own one,
I may buy another, I just want people to know what they are
getting into.

[Every design has pros and cons. Pete likes the Pegasus cases.
I do too, but I also noticed that the latches 'stick up' from the bottom case half; I could see scratching your mando if you're not careful (okay, I mean if you're drunk!). The Price cases seem way cool, but weigh a ton]

The problem is, I also own a F-style mando and I don't want
the headstock scroll to break.

Nobody does this stuff on purpose, it's always an accident.
For example, yesterday, I came home and my darling wife had moved my Calton case (mando inside). 'Mi Amor' had stood the
case on it's bottom, leaned it over backwards and balanced
the 'angled' top of the case against a pile of old violin cases.
The whole thing was about as steady as a pile of cards.
A heated discussion ensued......

The 'expensive' fix for Calton is to make a new mold and
have a wider, safer case like Mr. Martin suggested.
The 'cheap' fix would be. in my uninformed opinion, to move
the upper top hinge a half-inch or so further away from the
headstock scroll area. Perhaps the Calton folks could figure
out a way to do that (for a fee) to the existing cases, so
some Loar owner won't be mad when his headstock scroll breaks
and sue them for the difference in the value between a mint and a
repaired instrument (say 20%, or $25, 000 US).

Thanks for reading, folks. I'm not trying to step on toes, I'm
just trying to protect mandolins.

[Greg H.]

Harry,

Whether Calton has already followed your suggestion or, there are just some differences in mandolin headstock design I find that the hinge is attached about 3/4 of an inch below my headstock scroll. My Rattlesnake was done to the specs of Tony Williamson's Loar so mine is probably pretty close to the Gibson standard that Calton is using for its design.

[Harry H]

Harry,

Whether Calton has already followed your suggestion or, there are just some differences in mandolin headstock design I find that the hinge is attached about 3/4 of an inch below my headstock scroll. My Rattlesnake was done to the specs of Tony Williamson's Loar so mine is probably pretty close to the Gibson standard that Calton is using for its design.

Greg H.,

Thanks for the info!

Here's what I can tell you about my case:
The serial no. is 4413. I bought it new in '96 or '97.
The molded body of the case is a little over 29 1/2" long.
The hinges are on 20" centers, that is, they are 20" apart from
the center of one to the center of the other.
The 'upper' top hinge is attached in the area 2 1/2" to 3 1/4" down from the top of the case.

Sadly, this is exactly the area of the case where my headstock scroll rests, so I'm one slip away from the Big Ouch!
Also, FWIW, my mando's headstock is 3 3/4" wide from side to side. I don't know if this is a standard (Loar standard?)
measurement or not. #I also don't know what the width dimensions
are (were) on Pete Martin's #(now) broken headstock scroll.

Greg, if you get the chance, I sure would appreciate it if you could
measure the distance between the hinge 'centers' on your case.
The serial no. could be a help, too.

Maybe, if at some point in their production of cases, Calton has fixed the problem, people could find out how new a case they have to buy to protect their instruments (you know, "don't buy a case
before no. 6217 if you're using it for an F-type", etc.).

Again, thanks for the response.

[Greg H.]

Harry,

I think Calton has done something here, as mine is 18" from center to center. The serial number on mine is 9035 (I bought it somewhere around 2001/2002). It appears my headstock is actually wider than yours as mine is 4" at its widest point. That said, it seems that the hinge is still around 2 3/4-4" from the end of the case so that positioning doesn't seem to have changed much.

To be honest here I haven't compared my Rattlesnake to Tony's loar so I'm not sure if the specs match completely (though they were advertised to be following those specs). Nor do I know if Calton was actually building their cases specifically for Loar specs. My peghead fits into the case rather snugly so I can't feel 100% certain that nothing could happen, but at least the hinge bold is not in a place where it would impact the peghead. Anyway, for 100% certainty I'd need to find a used Leaf case (and then hit the weight room) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif