Violin case recommendations?

A number of my violinist friends have bought BAM cases. One of my cello cases is an original BAM Hightech. 2 of my violin cases are Musafias and they are great.

I usually recommend Bobelock cases, but I don't know how well they handle your extreme conditions (I have a couple of them too). They are certainly less expensive than the other brands I have suggested.

They can also add insulation ('tropicalization'), which should buy you a little time in the sunshine or while your car's air conditioner gets up to speed.

Another tweak that might help: Boveda has 2-way humidity controllers. No idea how they work for your level of dampness, but supposedly they will soak up or emit moisture to get to a specific target of relative humidity. Most people in North America are urged to aim at 50%, but you might get more practically useful results if you got a 60% option. Anyway, just open one or two and put them in the case next to or under the scroll.

I’m still open if there are still other ideas, reviews and such !

I've always been very happy with my Negri. After 4 years of use they look and work like new. They're beautifully made, not so opulent as the Musafia but more understated. Without detail knowledge about the technical construction and durability over decades, I'd guess that they're not far behind in quality. If you're used to the usage of a shoulder rest, the Venezia model offers a perfect storage solution.
Living in a region where it tends to get a bit too dry especially during winter, I use a one-way humidifyer pack. I think the Boveda bags are great, but not available in my region.

No matter what you'll be deciding for, you could always carry an old blanket in the back of your car, to store the case underneath. For shorter periods of time it will save your instrument from excess heat there, especially from rapid changes.

I could not be happier with the case I purchased and the customer service through out the transaction was top notch.

If ordering from this list makes a case from them within your budget this is a option I would encourage looking in to.

Inside a black color composite shell violin case in those conditions things happen. Assuming you start at 70°F with an outside of temp of 85°F, in 10 minutes of exposure to sunlight the temperature inside the case is 92°F, after 20 minutes it's 110°F, and after 30 minutes it's 121°F.

Perhaps even more interesting, is that starting from 50% relative humidity, in those conditions the RH spiked to 78% after only 10 minutes (probably more owing to the unavoidable inertia of the humidity probe itself). One of the reasons for that is the air-tight shell.

These are test results using a case of similar materials and construction to the one you mentioned.

Two things concur to increase the RH value so quickly, and they are related. One is that the air inside an air-tight case will try to expand when heated, and being that it cannot because it's trapped inside,it goes under pressure. The increase of pressure increases the dew point, which increases the RH.

The other factor is that the increase in heat will cause the air to absorb all the humidity it can from its surroundings: the cloth lining, the padding, the humidifier, the violin. That's why after the RH spikes it gradually starts to come down again even when the air temp continues to increase (although it will level out at a greater value than at the start of the test), as all the available absorbable humidity has been drawn out.

The reason I say that the two causes are linked is because if your case is not air tight, then the air inside will not go under compression, and also the air itself will be able to absorb humidity from the outside of the case. So the increase in RH will be a lot less in a non-air-tight case, as will also be less the increase in interior air temp.

When the case comes back I'll take some photos, possibly even make a quick video. But I'm fairly happy with it.

As for scratches, think of them as battle scars ;)

Since she regularly comes along to medieval camps in hot humid sydney, i bought a musafia case from his discount page. I had waterproofing and tropicalisation added and they have been wonderful.

The case is solid enough that I don't flip out when someone decides to strip off their armour near her in the great hall (usually the coolest spot), and the tropicalisation does a great job of keeping the internal temperature several degrees cooler than the summer outside, and seems to be remarkably consistent about humidity, especially when moving between air con and outdoor climates.

My case has been lugged about regularly by bicycle in rain and on super hot days and still arrived at orchestra rehearsal pretty much the same as when I left home. After a small cycling accident, my case was unmarked and my violin was still in tune.

There is a small amount of rust on a couple of screws which Mr musafia contacted me about the last time I mentioned it, but it doesn't seem worth the cost or the carbon emissions to send it to the other side of the world for such a tiny repair. It happened nearly straight away and hasn't gotten any worse in more than ten years.

The downside is weight - this was before he began making the levisimma range. When my back was at it's worst I used a light foam case, which taught me why a good case is important. On more than one occasion, even with it's own down sleeping bag, I found that my pegs had all popped on cold nights camping.

And there was that terrifying terrifying morning when I out my fiddle to play for dancers and the fingerboard fell off! The glue had melted during the very hot night. All I could do was gaffer tape her together (yes I know, but there were about 200 dancers in the bush for 2 days and I was the only fiddler at that particular workshop) and sob to the luthier when I got back to sydney (she was fine and the luthier didn't even yell at me about the emergency repair).

She's been in the musafia case ever since.

Moral of the story - get a good case even if it means you have to ask someone else to carry it for you!

Maurizio Riboni, T.A. Timms, and Luis Negri all make superlative cases, and I've heard that Wiseman cases are very good too, although I'm not familiar with them. Bobelock is a great value for the money. Styles are different, so it can be for the most part a matter of personal taste.

But my suggestion is that if you really care about your violin, stay away from the multinationals and buy a case from someone who is proud enough about the product to put his own name on it.