Through some national suppliers I have access to a good range of violin cases, also viola and cello cases. What violin case suits you best depending on your and your child needs. Student violin cases these days tend to be styrene based., poly carbobonate are more popular and I keep a small range of each as well as some other styles..like from GEWA (which I use personally)
Poly-styrene violin cases
They are highly protective of the instrument and withstand well the daily scuffs and bumps from a child. They don’t tend to last as long as the more expensive cases but do just find for the few years you have a fractional instrument. A big advantage of them is they are really light so not to heavy for a child to carry and insulte them (the violin) well from typical Brisbane’s hot weather. Should you instrument suffer very serious shock you shold consider these cases sacrifical (they will crumble/crack) as they protect the instrument …and shopuld be replaced.
Hidersine make some nice styrene cases that are a step up from the entry level, including extra bow spinners, hydrogemeter. A tougher exterior and red piping – that all the cool kids like! They come in both the arrow and oblong shapes. Prices start around $50- $150
Poly-carbonate violin cases
The next level up in cases are polycarbonate violin cases. These are next level tough! And within which they suspend the violin floating on some cushions. I have these for my sons, over time the outsides get a bit dinged up , but on the inside they are as good as new. One of the things i like about them are the non traditional colours, not that I am into funky colours, but it helps my kids not leave them behind in a music room, or take the wrong black case by accident. These are around ~$270 each
Cello cases
I also keep a stock of soft cello cases. Whilst these are way less protective that yje solid hard form cello cases they are orders of magnitude lower then them. In a strange way those these case can actually be more protective. You see just like footballer and football helmets, if you believe you have an instdestructable case you tend to take less care of it. Give a child a soft case and they are more likely to look after it …well for the right child anyways. So if you drive your child to school and pick them up its a great solution…taking public transport or flying a lot with your instrument (such as professional players) hard cases are probably the way to go. These vary in price dependiong on padding, but around $50
