''Neither rain, sleet or snow''... Nor humidity, Nor cold, Nor ice, Nor sleet, Nor, even the toss of an airline luggage handler will keep these cases from performing the duty of protecting your drums! It's no wonder, considering that Protechtor Cases' one piece roto-molded design adds more corner strength, more water resistance and more overall durability than fiber cases. Other features such as full flat bottom design (to accomodate RIMS mounting systems), along with custom depths and a variety of color options all help to make Protechtor Cases the practical choice over all of the other cases available. And they're so confident in these cases that they offer a Limited LIFE TIME GUARANTEE against cracking.

Case Manufacturing

      XL’s Protechtor cases are made by a process called rotational molding, which takes a powdered plastic, melts it, and molds it into the exact shape of the case. Says founder and president Neal Graham, ''Rotational molding was first used to create holding tanks for the recreational vehicle industry, but it’s also perfect for products like our cases. In the last few years, vulcanized fiber--which is what people have traditionally used for making drum cases--has increased greatly in cost. We can now produce a superior product for less money than what fiber cases cost.''

      Protechtor cases are made of a high-density polyethylene--the same as that used for the slides and toys in McDonalds’ outdoor playlands. ''That equipment is weather-resistant and unbreakable,'' says Neal, ''everything that you’d want a drum case to be.''

      How do Protechtor cases relate to other plastic cases on the market? ''If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we should feel very flattered,'' Neal responds, ''because there are other companies now offering cases following the methods that we established. Yamaha is one; the Hardcase line from the U.K. is another.''

      ''There are also some major companies who make cases by vacuum forming,'' Neal continues. ''That process takes a flat sheet of plastic, heats it up, and sucks it into a form. Now, if you want something to get brittle, the thing to do is to heat it up and then re-form it. This fact contributed to the public’s idea that plastic cases would break. In fact, the biggest problem we had in developing the market for our cases was overcoming that misconception. To combat that problem we have always offered a lifetime warranty against cracking. But we could probably count on our fingers and toes the number of cases that we’ve actually had to replace, because the durability of plastic products made by the rotational-molding process is incredible. Impact resistance is among the highest in the industry. And since the process tends to push more plastic into the corners of the molds than onto the sidewalls, you get an extremely durable, resilient corner. Also, because the material was created originally for the agriculture and RV industries, it’s great for temperatures from 60 [degrees] below zero to 200 [degrees] above. It even lends itself to being drilled or reinforced with metal plates or brackets for transportation or lifting. With some of the thinner plastic stuff, as soon as you drill a hole and put a bracket into it, forget about it.''

      Protechtor cases are not light, but Neal explains that their weight comes as a result of the density of the material--which is also where some of its durability comes from. ''It’s also waterproof,'' he adds, ''and it’s resilient, so it inherently absorbs the shock of a drop or whatever else might occur in transport. Carl Allen, for example, still has a set of cases from the early ‘80s that probably have logged a million air miles.''

      Most drummers would think of ATA-style cases when it comes to heavy-duty traveling. But Neal suggests that ''ATA cases are so bulky that they often take more abuse getting on and off an airplane than individually packed drums do. Imagine trying to shove that big case down a ramp and onto an airplane. But drums packed in our cases get treated more like pieces of luggage. As a result, most of our endorsers who do a lot of traveling have had great success with low breakage rates and no cracking of the cases.''

      ''Of course, drums get a lot of wear-and-tear getting in and out of any vehicle,'' Neal says, ''whether it be a 747, an eighteen-wheeler, or a pickup truck. For example, our cases are very popular among drummers on country & western tours out of Nashville, who have to stick everything on a bus. The cases hold up real well and are easy to get in and out of the venue.''

Case Models

      Owing to the requirements of the molding process, Protechtor cases aren’t available for every existing drum size. ''Traditional fiber cases can be individually made simply by changing how much material is cut, bent, and riveted together,'' Neal explains. ''And one of our plastic-case competitors basically makes lids and bottoms and then fabricates a piece of material in between--which can be adjusted to whatever depth is required. On the other hand, almost every one of the sizes that we offer requires an individual mold. We can trim the height of some cases--our 12''-diameter mold can make 8x12’s and 9x12’s, for example. And we can sometimes add some height. When companies like DW starting promoting 18''-deep bass drums, we didn’t have enough depth in our mold to be able to build an 18''-deep bass drum case. So we added some collars on to get that additional size. We try to adapt to the market, and we probably have as extensive a line of molded cases as anybody. As we see a need for something new, we invest in the tooling for it. We are also beginning to actually form and manufacture our own molds here as well--which will give us the flexibility to do more new-product development at a lower cost.''

      Recent developments include a new conga case with reinforced tubular corners. The outside dimension is a tumba size, while a cone on the inside is a quinto size. ''That way,'' says Neal, ''no matter what the size of the drum is, it’s being held firmly either by the outside or the inside of the case. We also mold the shape of the head on the top so that when the case is put together you are essentially holding the conga between the top and the bottom. It’s not really knocking around against the side of the case at all; it’s being secured in the air space in the middle. We are very excited about the potential of that case.''

      Combination cases are also a specialty in the Protechtor line. ''We have a 6''/8'' combination case,'' says Neal, ''and a 10''/12''. Obviously the most popular rack-tom sizes are 12'' and 13'', so that will be the next combination we add. Eventually, we’ll do all of them.''

Coloring

      XL offers cases in blue, green, yellow, red, purple, and orange stock colors; custom colors are also available. But what color does XL sell the most of? ''Black, definitely,'' says Neal with a smile. ''It may be a holdover in drummers’ minds from the days when black vulcanized fiber was all there was. But black is also simpler for a dealer to sell, because it’s easier to inventory. Dealers who are successfully selling colored cases are higher-volume dealers. They’re getting inventory flow on a constant basis, and a lot of orders they’re placing with us are special orders for customers who walk up to the counter and ask for a set of colored cases--which we then make accordingly. Even though we do make stock sizes, we are very much oriented toward accommodating individual customers’ needs. Our dealers, in turn, are very good at communicating those needs to us. As a result we feel that our customer satisfaction can be very high.''

As featured in the February 1997 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine, used with permission of Modern Drummer Publications, Inc., http://www.moderndrummer.com