calton i cant decide

[drewgrass]

ok so i bought a instrument last month that turns out to be worth alot more than what i paid for it. i thought it was a varnished fern prototype (at a good deal) and it turns out it is a master model prototype.(derrington signed) although i payed a bit for it i think its as close to winning the lottery as i will ever get. i can get a new calton for $450.00. but i am not playing out but a couple times a month. im having it appraised (by big joe and i have already spoke to him about it) and getting it insured. i have a travelite case,and if i were to travel with it there is no way in hell i would check it. it will stay in my sight wherever i go. so what would you do. i know i should do it. but $450 is still alot of cash.

[jim_n_virginia]

You'll only need the Calton if you travel. Just for regular running around a TKL works just fine. Sometimes I think a Calton is more status symbol.

They are nice and add super protection but they are not essentiall unless like I said you do some hard traveling OR ... if you just want one.

I've wanted one for years but I am too cheap to pay $450. bucks for a case. LOL!

I'll tell you what you might want and that is insurance. Instrument insurance is cheap and it covers EVERYTHING from theft, fire, heat damage to accidents.

I got mine through Heritage Insurance and it sure gives me piece of mind.

Clarion is another instrument insurance company I have heard good things about.

[Tripp Johnson]

Get a Calton, they are worth it.

[Rick Schmidlin]

My Calton is a great bed for my mandlin during all the weather changes and rarly travels. My Travel lite is the around down and travel case.

[Leigh Coates]

I use my Calton all time. My mandolin is safe in there - just in case something unexpected and awful happens in the car. A nd like Tone Monster said, it's impervious to the atmosphere in there.

Besides, Caltons are just going to keep getting more and more expensive, and one day mine will seem like a real deal to me,...

[Michael Lewis]

A new Calton for $450? That is a great deal if you can get it.

[RustyPickup]

You are asking about getting a Calton case that's only five or ten percent of the cost of your (almost!) priceless instrument? I am not sure what there is to think about. I am hardly the proverbial traveling professional, but the Calton has saved me on more than one occasion (both through my own stupidity, and that of others). Insurance is a good idea, but I think I'd get the case first. (And congratulations on a nice mandolin!)

[drewgrass]

Well I can get it for that plus shipping. So $465-475 range still a good deal. My biggest fear is tornados I live in caddo county oklahoma we have more tornadic actvity than anyplace in the world. (I know my mandolin should be the least of my worries) but I got the drill down mandolin in one hand two year old daughter in the other run to the shelter

[Ray(T)]

If this is an instrument you're going to keep for ever, the price of a case is going to look minimal in 30 years time. I paid next to nothing for my first Calton guitar case in 1976 and its still going strong.
Ray

[mandolirius]

A new Calton for $450? That is a great deal if you can get it.

Indeed! Let me know if you decide to pass

[Tim2723]

My problem has always been that the damage happens when the mandolin is outside the case. Those $30 MF specials work just fine the rest of the time.

I can just picture the Munchkins in Oz finding your tornado-tossed mandolin.

It fell very far,
It fell on it's face,
And Calton they said was the name on the case,
And Calton they said was the name on the case.

[Tom Sanderson]

I've used a Calton case for years. I used to travel a lot for work, and it was great for that. These days my Mando mostly sits on an instrument stand in my livingroom. but I still use a Calton whenever I take it out. Nothing but the best for my baby. I think you should buy one.

[Mandobar]

two year old plus master model equals calton.

my grandson likes to sit on my cases........so, i only leave the calton and pegasus cases out

[Dale Ludewig]

Michael is right. That's a good deal. Especially if you don't have to wait many months to get one. I have both a Calton and a Pegasus. They're both worth the money if you have a valuable instrument and have saved damage several times. Like walking down some ice covered steps one night and slipped and the mandolin went flying. It was in the Calton. No damage. Money well spent.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm a Calton fan as well and that price is a little more than I paid a few years ago.

[AlanN]

And one here (albeit the suitcase-sized one). I paid a few clams more. Nothing finer...or heavier.

[Gary Hedrick]

If I am going to take a really good mandolin out then i prefer a Calfon. Too many bad things can happen not to have one for a mandolin such as what you have.
I have also used a Pag caae with a Small Dog cover for my Loar (when I owned it)...but now I have Calton's. $450 or so is a good price. Consider it an investment to go along with your instrument.

[Gary Hedrick]

Oh and Alan, nothing heavier is the Mark Leaf double mandolin case I used to own....now that is why my right arm is 6 inches longer than my left.....Whew....

[AlanN]

Wow Gary, a double shot of Mark Leaf.

That's one for the record books, almost as rare the double fern case we saw here.

[sgarrity]

Get the Calton. Your peace of mind is worth more than $450. I'm a former Okie so I understand completely!

[papawhisky]

Here is a consideration. When I fly from OKC, I usually have to take a commuter flight to Dallas or Atlanta or...
The overhead compartments in these aircraft always (so far) accomodated a TKL case, so I get to take the mando with me. A Calton will often not fit, meaning it has to be checked. In this case (pun intended), you add protection, but then have to separate from your instrument. Possibly putting it in the hands of airline baggage handlers, known for the 10 foot baggage toss, and 2 foot dead drop.

In the car, I figure if it is in the case, the mandolin is protected by the case, and the car. In fact, it has better protection than I have. Not sure about my mando, but I'll certainly end up in a Calton some day...

A lot of folks swear by the Caltons, and I have no doubt that they will protect from a greater impact than a TKL case, but I have never had an instrument damaged inside a TKL case (or similar).

[Scotti Adams]

If I had the jack..it would be a Calton..hands down.

[sgarrity]

Here is a consideration. When I fly from OKC, I usually have to take a commuter flight to Dallas or Atlanta or...
The overhead compartments in these aircraft always (so far) accomodated a TKL case, so I get to take the mando with me. A Calton will often not fit, meaning it has to be checked.

Have you actually tried to put a Calton in the overhead and had it not fit? I've flown a lot of commuter jets, out of both OKC and Va Beach, and never had an issue with my Calton fitting in the overhead. YMMV

[Mike Bunting]

My Calton has always fit in the overhead, in both the major jets and the small cropdusters that fly from Minnie to L'ville. I've had it for 15 years and a couple of mandos. A great investment and they are no heavier than any good plywood case.

[drewgrass]

Well I think I'll go ahead and get it. Thanks for all your replies