Posted by John Swensen on January 03, 2000 at 15:56:11:
In Reply to: Mouthpieces posted by Joe S. on January 02, 2000 at 23:45:59:
About a year ago I cut the rim off a Conn Helleberg, threaded the cup, and started making different rims for it, varying the diameter, rim profile, bite, etc.
As I measure it, a normal Helleberg has an inside diameter of 1.30", and I have made rims ranging from 1.34" down to 1.28" inches. After playing around with the larger rims (1.32-1.34"), I switched to a 1.28" rim for, essentially, the first time during a lesson, and was amazed at how much better my focus and overall sound was. Switching back to larger rims since then has always resulted in a loss of focus and sound quality.
For a while I played around with the inside bite, softening it from the relatively sharp Helleberg bite. Although more comfortable, particularly when I played with too much mouthpiece pressure, the more rounded bites seemed to slow down and fuzz my articulation too much to be worth it to me.
I also made a few rims that were "scooped", better matching the contour of my teeth. The scooped rims certainly sealed with less effort than normal rims, but the extra contact pressure at the corners slowed down the articulation to an extreme degree (like an eighth note late at a quarter=120). It was fun, polishing the scooped rims on the lathe, however.
Although it is on my list of projects, I have not, yet, made an adjustable-depth cup to
try that, nor have I played around with throats, backbores, or shank diameters, yet.