The Hoffee Carbon Fiber mandolin case, Anybody got one?

[f5loar]

Since the used Mark Leaf mandolin case ended close to $1200 with shipping tonight on ebay I would like to read comments about the 2nd most expensive mandolin case being made today. The Hoffee with a cover is around $920 from Janet Davis. Can anyone who has one make comments on why you would pay that much for a mandolin case that barely has enough room to carry your strings?
http://www.janetdavismusic.com/hoffe...olin_case.html

[pjlama]

I gotta say that's one beautiful case. Didn't Eastman make a carbon fiber case for a short time that looked a lot like that? I have a an Eastman fiberglass that's awesome except for the lack of storage.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From pjlama - "I have a an Eastman fiberglass that's awesome except for the lack of storage.". I agree,they're a stunning looking case but the lack of a decent bits & pieces compartment lets them down. I had a look at one about 15 months or so ago & was disappointed by the lack of storage space.
As i've posted on here so many times,i don't really understand folk's constant fascination with CF cases. As an experienced CF design & manufacturing engineer,CF on it's own isn't a very good material for an 'impact resistant' case for anything.That's the reason it really needs to be combined with high impact resistant Kevlar. For a well designed case made from Carbon/Kevlar,you'd be talking BIG bucks & there's still no guarantee that your Mandolin would be any safer than it would be in say,a Hiscox PBS case.
CF's big fault is that if it's banged hard,it will de-laminate. You can't see the damage as it's internal to the lay-up,but in the damaged area,the CF will have all the impact strength of wet cardboard. Check out the CF bicycle frame websites & take heed of the warnings about 'impact damage'. The same applies to any CF composite item - if it's impacted hard,it's waste !
Ivan

[AlexanderL]

I have a Hoffee guitar case for my '46 Gibson Southern Jumbo and I love it! And Jeff Hoffee is a great guy to deal with. Send him an e-mail if you have any questions...

Alex

[Mandobar]

I have a Hoffee mandolin case on order and have asked about a mandola case for my Collings. The Hoffee's are certainly lighter, at least the guitar cases that I have seen.

[f5loar]

Wow, low impact resistance does not sound good for a high end travel case like this one. Can anyone else comment on that aspect of the material? I've seen the Eastman too and they look super but lack that storage space.

[AlexanderL]

Check out these videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/JeffHoffee

I'm no scientist, but they seem pretty durable to me...

Alex

[Brian Court]

Check out my thread - My Hoffee Case with my Roberts Octave Mandolin - It's a great case, super strong and super light - I'm very happy with it

[Mandobar]

Mr. Hoffee is an engineer, which means it's probably over-engineered…….which is a good thing.

[evanreilly]

I have an Eastman Carbon Fiber case. Light as a feather. I use a Colorado Case cover with a big pocket for all the 'stuff'. Case cover also protects the case, as it should.

[f5loar]

It seems we have quite a few of the Eastman Carbon cases but not too many Hoffee owners out there. While I understand Eastman no longer makes the Carbon case how much did it cost back when it was made?

[Mike Bunting]

When did Eastman make a carbon fibre case?

[pjlama]

See below, dupe post.

[pjlama]

When did Eastman make a carbon fibre case?

It was just in the last couple years, they retailed for $750, street was $550 or so. I'd love to find a used one.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I had a good look at an Eastman CF Violin case a couple of years back,shortly after i posted a note on the 'Cafe about how nice it would be if Eastman made a similar CF Mandolin case. After viewing the Violin case,i changed my mind. It was pretty flimsy to say the least (IMHO).Not on the same planet as a Calton FG case,it certainly wouldn't have filled me with any confidence in the safety of a Mandolin. I haven't seen an Eastman CF case,but hopefully they were more substantial that their Violin cases,
Ivan

[AlexanderL]

Here's my guitar case. The headstock support is very good!

[evanreilly]

My understanding is that Eastman made a trial run of a dozen CF cases made with the same forms as their fiberglass models. I think only dealers received them, tho there is some trickle-down, obviously.
I like mine because is a very light-weight carry case. I wouldn't consider it for a flight case tho; the Price-Nelson gets the call when bomb-proof is called for.

[f5loar]

case tho; the Price-Nelson gets the call when bomb-proof is called for.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
Bomb proof sounds like a good idea for the world we live in today. I'm still at a loss over why the CF cases cost so much more than fiberglass. A premium, sure, but double the price or more sounds ridculous. For the price difference you would think there would be a few flakes of platnium in there for added strength.

[Mandobar]

a calton mando case new is almost 600 (although i've not heard good things about the new ones). where is double the price?

[mandobassman]

I'm with f5loar on this. I just don't understand paying $600 or $700, or more. for a mandolin case that has virtually no storage. Protection is important, of course, but there's no reason why some storage space can't be included. My Golden Gate case for my A model Breedlove has no storage, but it was $45. I would like to get Breedlove's mandolin case. Nicely made with a large storage area. Why the Eastman's and Hoffee and similar cases don't have any storage is beyond me.

Price case


Breedlove case


Both have decent storage. The price storage area next to the neck area can be opened without moving the mandolin.

[almeriastrings]

You can buy the Calton mandolin case for £246 in the UK. That's roughly $380 at today's exchange rate.

The $700 Hoffee is £449 using the same rate.

Neither would include shipping or taxes to import, of course if you live in the US and want the Calton or are in the UK and want the Hoffee. I see Hoffee has just released a teardrop shaped case. Looks kind of like a Calton....

CF looks nice, and is light. However, like everything, it also has disadvantages as Ivan says.

[Ivan Kelsall]

F5 - The high cost of a CF case over a FG case is composed of several things. Firstly,the cost of the actual CF material is much higher that FG, CF being approx. 6 times as expensive per equivalent thickness & sheet size. Also,CF is very abrasive when it comes to cutting /drilling it,& requires very hard,sharp & expensive cutting tools to cut or drill it cleanly. Even the specialised drills & cutting tools need frequent re-sharpening or replacement & this adds to the cost over a period of time. Pre-impregnated CF cloth (with the resin already in the cloth) can be used for such items.A CF lay-up using such material requires being placed in a vacuum bag,& all the air being pumped out of it to consolidate the lay-up into a single matrix. The resin in the layers flows together prior to the whole thing being cured in an oven. If a 'wet' lay-up is used ie. dry CF fabric & liquid resin,then it can be cold cured without the requirement to vac-bag it & place it in an oven. The big problem with wet lay-ups it that it's a very messy procedure,but the resin being liquid, flows together naturally (with a bit of encouragement).
The exact same procedures can be & are used with FG.The big differences being the material & tooling costs,
Ivan

[f5loar]

Maybe I should have said "almost double" as it seems not everyone pays the same price for a Calton but right now the only source for the Hoffee I see is Janet Davis at $798 with shipping in USA. I paid $385 for my Custom colored Calton and it even has my name engraved on the tag. Bottom line from what is said here is the CF case is expensive to make and process. Heck they even want an extra $100 if you want the exterior color in anything but grey/black. While I can understand Cadillac charging an extra $1500 for the fancy Pearl Diamond White color I don't get a $100 color change on a little ole mandolin case. I'm still waiting for the "ultimate" mandolin case to be built at a fair price for consumers and I dont' think this particular CF shape case fits the bill.
It also seems these high end case are hard to get. Can you even get a Calton case today? How long a wait on a Price or a Pegasas? Forget waiting on a custom Loar style Paganoni case. I guess I'll pull out and dust off my old 70's 8 ply Plywood/vinyl covered "Buck Rough Rider" rectangular box style case. It got the job done with plenty of storage and protection for less then $200.

[AlexanderL]

I didn't want to bring this up, but read the warning on the top here: http://www.caltoncases.co.uk/

Then read this thread:
http://collingsforum.com/eve/forums/...2350021636/p/1

This is just one of many examples of how the guy who used to have the rights to use the Calton name and molds in Canada has been doing business. Check other forums if you want more. I don't want you to end up in a situation like this.

Keith Calton in the UK seems to be a great guy, but his list and waiting time is longer than a lot of luthiers'.

I ordered my case directly from Jeff Hoffee - http://www.carbonfibercases.com/ - he is quick and delivers a great product. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I must point out that my case is a guitar case. It's lighter than a similiar Calton, but I bet it is just as safe. I live in Norway and have no connection to Hoffee. Happy customer, that's all.

Alex

[AlexanderL]

BTW, did you see this?
http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pub...s_001444.shtml

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