New developments
Calton Cases in the UK has seen two major changes in the past couple of years, the first invisible and the second obvious.
Having listened to customer's comments relating to the weight of the reinforced case, in 2008 I went back to basics. I changed the laminating and inter-laminate structure of the shell and the result is a case that is virtually the same weight as the standard version and the compression strength is comparable with the old reinforced case. The other good thing about this - we didn’t raise the price! We can still reinforce cases if requested but this has become a rare occurrence.
After observing that some extensively used 20 year old cases were wearing at the edges due to being thrown around at airports, I decided to research for better protective ‘domes’. I’d always kept my eye on the ball and tried various options in rubber, plastic and metal, settling finally on a shallow angle metal dome which I had made for me in Sweden. I was never really happy with this and in 2006 started testing various alternative shapes and materials. I eventually designed a round dome and corner ‘buffer’ in a semi flexible rubber/plastic polymer which was abrasion resistant and because of the low side angle was difficult to knock off. Another great benefit is shock absorbsion. I extensively tested these against other products and polymer mixes and what we have now is by far the best.
New Case
There has been a need for a new model between the Jumbo and Super Jumbo for the benefit of guitars like Gibson's J200 and I took this opportunity to introduce recessed catches, making them less vulnerable plus I used a wider edge radii. The new case has been in use for some time now and has proven its worth.
Destruction test rig for new dome and corner buffers
