Posted by Mike Solms on December 13, 2001 at 08:55:02:
In Reply to: Re: Carbon Fiber Bell posted by Carbon - nice, Fibreglass - yuck on December 13, 2001 at 02:35:24:
I can't offer any scientific evidence here, just a bit of experience. Some years ago DEG offered what they called the "Caravelle Commuter" line of low brasses. They came with two bells, one brass and one fiberglass. The idea was that the student took the fiberglass bell home. The brass bell stayed at school and the student only had to carry the body of the instrument (in it's own, smaller case) back and forth. The fiberglass bells were ok for practicing, but they had a muddy sound with less projection than the brass ones.
There is less incentive for brass instrument manufacturers to experiment with alternative material than manufacturers of other instruments. Brass, unlike grenadilla and Brazilian rosewood, is not an endangered material. People who have had some success with alternative materials, like Ovation guitars, Luis and Clark 'cellos, and the Buffet "Greenline" clarinets, have found the process is more complicated than just making it out of fiberglass.