One of the best finds from my latest trip to Japan is the emergence of carbon fibre cases for ukuleles. I had heard about these previously but only saw one last year in Tokyo at the end of my 2016 trip and had no space left in luggage to entertain a purchase. This year I rectified the situation and ordered a tenor from Ukulele Mania ahead of time to collect.
Most people will be aware of fibre glass cases and there are some quite respectable ones out there which offer good protection to instruments. For my guitars I always went down this route and have a number of Carlton cases as used by Martin Simpson. For ukuleles Crossrock make fiberglass cases but these are very different to Aranjuez carbon fibre cases which are made in China. Such cases will be familiar to violinists who want maximum protection but the lightest possible option for travel. The first thing that struck me about these carbon fibre ukulele cases is how well they are made and how they are literally half the weight of the lightest case I have come across to date. Of course this comes at a price and many uke players would be reluctant to make such an investment as these are not inexpensive to say the least.
On this trip I was travelling across most of Japan and had a tenor in a carbon fibre ukulele case and another uke in a standard respectable uke case. The carbon fibre uke case was a fraction of the weight and the difference was astonishing compared to the standard case. These are available in standard colours as well as what Aranjuez describe as the camouflage spec. At present these are incredibly rare and I can’t find any reference to any online and you certainly won’t find them in the UK. eEven in Tokyo I know of a couple of great stores that can get these items. There’s a specialised company in the USA making instrument cases with this material, but that is an even bigger ticket item. In the meantime, here is a photo of a tenor and concert sized case. I love them and hope that they become more available for musicians.
