Hurdy-Gurdy Cases & Humidity

Bags & Cases

How to pick a case for your hurdy-gurdy

Picking a bag for a hurdy-gurdy is tough – every maker makes their gurdies in different sizes. The best thing you can do is talk to the maker about what cases they recommend. If this isn’t possible, talking to other players with the same or similar sized instruments is a good bet.

Below we have listed a collection of cases found by the community to be useful for hurdy-gurdies. If you have any recommendations you think should be on this list, please contact us!

Bag & Case list

  • A Case: Amazing carbon fiber custom cases.
  • Cases by Pierre Rousseau: Custom aluminium cases – light design for easy movement.
  • Drehleiertaschen: A variety of soft and hard cases made specifically for gurdies of all sizes and shapes.
  • Kingham MTM Cases: Fully custom bags – requires scale drawing.
  • Luxbag: Custom semi-rigid bags made specifically for hurdy-gurdies. The site features a number of other hard cases that may be useful.
  • Pelican Cases: Extremely strong cases of all sizes. Comes with pull-away foam to custom fit your hurdy-gurdy.
  • PGM Couesnon: Simple plastic case made specifically for gurdies.
  • Pro Arte “Pro bag”: Sells the “pro bag” – good for standard lutebacks – not on their website, but they sell it for 60 euro if you email them. Pictures here and here.
  • Protec Euphonium Gig Bag: A good inexpensive soft case option for tenor gurdies.
  • Rouillard Cases: Full custom flight cases – advertised for air travel.

Often times a euphonium or tenor sax/horn case can work great – add in some foam or remove the crank if there is no protection for the crank. Always check inner dimensions.

Humidity systems

Keeping proper humidity is important for your instrument, especially in more extreme environments. Improper humidity can lead to improper instrument performance or wood cracking.

Putting a hygrometer/thermometer in your case will help you keep track of the conditions of the instrument. You can find combo thermo-hygrometers online easily. There are also app-based devices such as the Govee system.
  • Boveda Two way humidity system – gelatin packs that add or remove humidity inside the case to regulate to a specific humidity level.
  • D’Addario Two way humidity system – gelatin packs that add or remove humidity inside the case to regulate to a specific humidity level.