Carbon violin case versus wooden violin case

Nowadays, the violin case made of carbon enjoys a growing popularity among professional musicians. Previously, the violin case with a wooden shell was standard, both among enthusiasts and professional musicians. Below, we take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of these two different violin cases.

Carbon versus wood. Is there a winner?

The price range of both competitors is relatively equal in the market. Depending on the quality of the materials and the care of workmanship they have, the price is defined. The padding of both shells can be varied as desired. Equally different for both violin cases can be the equipment of carrying devices such as straps and handles.

In the core of the two violin cases lies the fundamental difference. In general, the musician was already very satisfied with his wooden core violin case, which fully met the requirements. The quality of these violin cases was unchallenged for centuries until the material "carbon" appeared and this proved to be particularly hard and very light in the industry. The term "carbon" refers to a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic that was initially used in the aerospace industry. Its greatest advantage: its extraordinary lightness.

Through this material, a weight saving of circa 1000gr has been achieved in the production of violin cases, which is a lot for a violin case. When the weight of a violin is about 450gr, the weight saving of 1000gr is a huge relief for the wearer of the instrument.

Without a doubt, the material carbon means a revolution for carrying the violin. The question remains: does the violin case made of carbon really only bring advantages compared to the one made of wood?

No. The wooden core of the violin case has certain advantages over the carbon one.

While in the past, the musician traditionally highly appreciated warm inner padding made of noble fabrics and textures, nowadays the carbon violin case represents a different new trend. Today's fashionable inner design concept of carbon violin case tends to be more sober and aims to evoke a spacious feeling. Here, you will now find a rather neutral black interior and plenty of space. For this reason, many a musician who was used to his "wooden velvet violin case" for many years finds the carbon violin case rather "cold and still". He is not entirely wrong to use the word "cold", because wood provides excellent protection against the outside temperatures, better than the pure material carbon. On the market, however, there are also violin cases with a specially developed thermoplastic shell such as the "Gewa violin case Air 2.1", which has very good insulating properties and extremely high  break resistance. This violin case is also worth mentioning because of its weight of 2kg.

The wooden core provides a natural "air conditioning". Wood stores moisture and releases it again as needed. This property is undoubtedly an excellent protection against dryness, especially in winter. This is where the wood core violin case clearly scores points.

It is worth mentioning that modern violin cases also reach a weight between 2 and 3 kilos. Very high-quality cases are made by traditional masters from Cremona, such as Riboni and Musafia.

Through the modern use of lightweight materials along with refined and exquisite construction techniques, Musafia has succeeded in building lightweight wooden kernetuis that simultaneously provide the instrument with a high level of safety.

In any case, for both carbon and wooden violin cases, the use of a hygrometer and a humidifier is essential. Better safe than sorry!

If you are looking for a double violin case to carry two violins or a violin and a viola, the scales will tilt in favor of the carbon double case. In this case, the lighter weight aspect will be clearly in favor of the carbon violin case. In the field of carbon violin cases, the company GEWA is the market leader.

In the end, everyone should think carefully about what the violin case will be worn for, how, when, and how often. So each individual will be able to make a good decision.