banjoy - Posted - 10/26/2013:  12:04:38

[OP EDITED for a few timeline and grammatical corrections]

I used to be a dealer for Calton Cases when the Canadian operation was run by Al Williams. Some folks may be aware that when Al sold his Canadian operation the new owner took that operation into a straight nose dive, causing great harm to the Calton brand. Keith Calton pulled the plug on that shady operator which put considerable pressure on Keith, and Keith continued making his cases from his base location in the United Kingdom. All this began sometime in 2007 or 2008 as I recall.

What is not well known is that the Canadian operation continued to make cases under the Calton name, essentially stealing the patents, trademarks, molds, and processes and Calton name without permission of Keith Calton. At least one dealer I personally know of here in the US knew this and continued to sell these bootleg Caltons knowing full well the cases were made without permission but still using the Calton name. Shame on him. He knows who he is and so does Keith Calton. Keith went through considerable personal expense to bring legal action against the Canadian fraudster and thief and put a stop to this.

You can google "Calton Case problems" to see for yourself the extensive damage done to the Calton brand by this idiot up in Canada, who had renamed the brand as "Workhorse Cases" sometime in late 2011 after Keith finally pulled the plug on him after hundreds of unresolved complaints. The Canadian operator continued to supply bootleg cases illegally under the Calton label anyway, while continuing the lousy service and self-inflicted crash-and-burn.

It seems Keith has been able to shut that operation down through the Canadian legal system, finally.

Keith Calton recently announced that he has entered a new agreement with an Austin Texas based individual to take over operations and manufacture authentic Calton Cases in the United States. What this means is that *authentic* Caltons will be available, once again, and made in the USA. Kudos to Keith Calton for his fortitude and tenacity in not letting his good name to continue being drug through the mud the way it was.

From Keith Calton's website:

Edited by - banjoy on 10/28/2013 04:01:09

eagleisland - Posted - 10/26/2013:  12:34:37

This is good news, on a whole bunch of levels.

banjoy - Posted - 10/26/2013:  12:38:28

To buyers in the United States, there will no longer be Value Added Taxes on imports. So Caltons will remain competitively priced in the marketplace within the USA.

I agree, eagleisland, this is great news! Spread the word!

kmwaters - Posted - 10/26/2013:  14:57:27

Interesting information and story Frank.  Also interesting that he has decided to make Austin the one and only site.  The company can only get better with these decisions.  Thanks for the info.

banjoy - Posted - 10/26/2013:  16:34:51

I should clarify, that Austin-made Caltons are available right now in limited supply. The entire operations will transfer by October 2014 but USA made Caltons can be had now.

Calton Cases at Elderly Instruments

At this time, Elderly Instruments is the only Authorized Dealer I will recommend.

Edited by - banjoy on 10/26/2013 16:36:31

Kstevensmd - Posted - 10/26/2013:  18:07:39

Good news indeed, thanks for the informative post!

Ebanjo - Posted - 10/27/2013:  05:20:36

Are the prices going to come down any? $950 for a banjo case is a little steep for me.
Eric Ellis

banjoy - Posted - 10/27/2013:  05:32:59

Hey Eric--

Good question. For disclosure, I have no current affiliation with Calton cases and have no pony in this race any more, other than helping spread the word.

Calton cases, Hoffee Cases and Price Cases are all comparable in price, durability and reputation. It appears that as of this moment, Price Cases are a slightly better deal ($795 - $845 plus shipping), with Hoffee and Calton both standing at $950 for a banjo case. I can only assume that handmade products like these command these prices which reflect the labor and materials involved and what the market will bear.

The three brands just mentioned are all top-shelf product and the case itself holds value. I sold my custom-made 5-year old Calton for $800 last year, a few hours after posting it for sale. I wish I still had it, but I needed the buck$ lol. Same with the Price case I had, I had no problem getting near retail price for my used Price case.

Edited by - banjoy on 10/27/2013 05:34:21

Ebanjo - Posted - 10/27/2013:  14:00:43

That's why I bought a Guardian a couple of years ago.
Eric Ellis

1935tb-11 - Posted - 10/27/2013:  15:34:08

yeah i am glad they are coming back over here,, but 900 for a case is a bit steep for me too,,, i may have a different point of view if i made my living picking and traveling everywhere.... but  for a weekend picker like myself,,its alot to shell out.

terry m

Chris Quinn - Posted - 10/27/2013:  16:53:56

For the record, I have had my Calton, from the Al Williams era, for 22 years. Still the best flight case I have ever owned.

palmettopicker - Posted - 10/27/2013:  18:10:56

How will we be able to know the authentic/authorized ones from the bogus ones?

banjoy - Posted - 10/27/2013:  19:12:06

quote:

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Originally posted by palmettopicker

How will we be able to know the authentic/authorized ones from the bogus ones?

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It would be nearly impossible to tell for sure. Since the operator in Canada acquired the Calton franchise legitimately, he actually produced Calton Cases for several years. Keith Calton pulled the plug, I believe, in early or mid-2011 so any cases manufactured after that timeframe under the Calton label are bootleg. And, any case bearing the label "Workhorse Cases" was only re-branded Caltons, openly ripping off Keith Calton. For a brief time, this shady operator made cases under both labels. The Workhorse Cases were made openly, and the Calton cases were made under the radar and shipped to a few dealers who could care less and knew what was going on. I will not name these dealers but I know who one is without any doubt. That dealer I communicated directly with during that time and he told me flat out he could give a damn in an email to me. Talk about brand loyalty. I forwarded that correspondence to Keith at the time as further proof of the bootlegging going on.

Of course, any Calton Case made in the U.K. came directly from Keith himself so there are no issues with those cases at all.

Any case made after the company changed name to Workhorse cases — no matter what label it bore — was ripping off Keith Calton. Even before Keith pulled the plug he had not received any payments from the new Canadian franchisee in quite a while already, and google tells you the rest of the story regarding quality and non-existent service. Cases under both labels used Calton's molds,  processes, and patents without his permission or input, and by then quality control had gone down the tubes up in Canada. Googling the issue you will find that any custom cases (custom fit mostly) were hit and miss. Almost all bootleg cases would be stock colors and fits.

Since all Calton cases bear serial numbers, and if you acquired your case in late 2011 or anytime since then, you may wish to email Keith Calton to ask that question. Most reputable dealers simply stopped selling or listing Caltons when the ongoing problems exploded, but it's also true that many authorized dealers had legitimate old store stock to sell. So it all hinges around the date it was made.

I think the real question for a Calton case owner is whether it dates from Al Williams days at the helm, or after. If you have a case bearing the Calton name, and it's a good case for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much. The bootlegging timeframe was not very long, maybe 18 months or so just guessing. Workhorse Cases did not last long and appears to be shut down. Keith had told me the Canadian legal process was expensive and time consuming as he had to cross international boundaries to pursue the matter. He told me he would vigorously pursue it, and clearly, he did. I got an email from Keith Calton today because I gave him a link to this thread. He tells me he has secured the trademark and tradename for his brand now in three countries (U.K., Canada and the US) and is working now to regain his domain name, which was obtained by the Canadian operator but, as with Keith's name, was dragged through the mud for far too long. For a couple of years if you googled Calton Cases you ended up at Workhorse Cases. Talk about ripoffs!

In any event, Calton Cases are back again in North America. These never were inexpensive cases and have always commanded premium prices, even used. There's a reason for that.

The Guardian Cases are made in China and imported by The Music Link which also imports Recording King and many other brands. It's essentially a knock off of Caltons, and in the price range, is not a bad deal actually. I used to sell those cases as well. But they ain't Caltons, Hoffee or Price Cases, which are quite a few notches up in quality, fit and finish. And of course, price. And, Hoffee and Calton cases can be custom made for color or fit.

Edited by - banjoy on 10/27/2013 19:23:46

TB-2 - Posted - 10/27/2013:  21:41:27

The ones pictured at Elderly have the new design, like the case I got directly from Keith Calton shipped from the UK this February. They have a rounder edge profile and improved bumpers. If the quality from Austin is the same (which I expect!) these will be great cases. Mine is 11.5 lbs, one pound lighter than my old Al Williams-era Calton deluxe. This is good news!

banjoy - Posted - 10/28/2013:  03:41:02

LOL it appears Elderly Instruments has caught wind of this thread. I notice the price of the banjo case dropped from $950 to $825 in the last day or two. It also seems some of the other models dropped a little in price.

I see nothing but good coming from all this. If the volume made can go up, prices can drop a little, I believe... my hunch is that when the Austin operation is fully up and going and the North American dealer network resurrected (it's there, but been dormant a few years) I think you'll see some very cool stuff coming from Calton.

Anyone who owns an Al Williams era Calton, should treasure that case. I regret having to sell mine. Al was a great guy to work with and is responsible for representing the brand in North America for decades. What he built over decades, was destroyed in only a few years.

Gary Price will tell you that Al helped him when he was developing his line of cases, one case company helping another. There's plenty of room in the market for all three brands (Calton, Hoffee and Price) and they're all fantastic cases. And, each bears the name of the maker. Even though I'm not a dealer for Calton (or any case maker anymore, I also used to sell Gary Price's cases, wonderful stuff) I still remain loyal to the brand.

Jim Britton - Posted - 10/28/2013:  14:21:04

I have used the same Calton cases for guitar and banjo for nearly 20 years. Not one bad hinge, not one bad piece of hardware, not one bad handle, not one complaint here! These cases have been in and out of car trunks, vans, buses, and planes. I can't say the same about the other cases I have. The price is high BUT it will be the last case you buy.

-JB

scaggs7 - Posted - 10/28/2013:  15:35:52

I've had a Mark Leaf. case for 20yrs and a Calton case for 15yrs and no problems with of them 

Bill Rogers - Posted - 10/30/2013:  11:02:25

Gryphon in Palo Alto, also a store with an impeccable reputation, stocks the new Caltons too.

quote:

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Originally posted by banjoy

 

I should clarify, that Austin-made Caltons are available right now in limited supply. The entire operations will transfer by October 2014 but USA made Caltons can be had now.

Calton Cases at Elderly Instruments

At this time, Elderly Instruments is the only Authorized Dealer I will recommend.

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