Posted by Mary Ann, (French) horn player on December 21, 2000 at 10:29:33:
In Reply to: Re: attached bell posted by Eve on December 21, 2000 at 09:15:27:
There is much controversy in the horn world about cutting the bell. My horn is a cut bell model, and I would not have it any other way. The added weight of the screw ring does not seem to affect the tone, based on before-and-after comments from people who have had their bells cut. But a horn bell is a lot smaller than a tuba bell, and therefore the screw ring on a tuba is quite a bit bigger, albeit still in proportion to the horn size. I love my cut bell horn because of the ease of transporting it on the airlines. And I leave the bell screwed on and use a fixed-bell gig bag the rest of the time.
The availablility of the higher priced horns with cut bells, and the popularity of same, indicates that the pros do not find any degradation in sound from a cut bell. There are many who say the sound is better with the added weight, just as some with heavy mouthpieces say the sound is better.