Posted by Rick Denney on August 26, 2002 at 11:48:30:
In Reply to: Doug Elliott Mouthpeice questions posted by Ryan on August 25, 2002 at 18:27:24:
If I'm remembering the digging around in the literature that Ken Sloan and I did when I visited him a few months ago, we figured that increasing the cup size without increasing the throat would change intonation tendencies, and usually to the sharper end. So, reducing your cup with the same throat might make the horn tend a bit flatter--that doesn't surprise me.
Instead of decreasing the cup size, try increasing the throat size. You might surprise yourself.
For me, with a T cup, the 4 shank didn't sound as good as the 5, and the 6 was better still. But the 7 started to have intonation problems--the upper range when sharper. Thus, I would suggest trying a larger shank before giving up on the T cup.
An R-4 combination is approximately similar to a Conn Helleberg.
But Doug can give you the best advice. Don't use email--he doesn't work that way. Call and leave a message--he will eventually call you back. Work with him and don't be a pest and he will do his best, which is better than just about anybody else. But if you can't wait, you might try a 5 or a 6 shank on your current T cup (and on your R cup) and see what effect it has. Maybe the R-5 or R-6 is the answer for you.
When I visited Doug, I came away with the notion that the rim should fit the face, the cup should produce the sound concept that you want, and the backbore should be as big as possible without screwing up the intonation.
And don't consider that there may be other causes of general flatness. That you should discuss with your teacher.
Rick "whose impression of Dough Elliott is merely a snapshop and therefore suggests waiting for the original" Denney