Posted by Jay Bertolet on August 06, 1999 at 08:13:17:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Custom Mouthpieces posted by Doug Elliott on August 05, 1999 at 12:03:35:
When you say "it's not practical to completely smooth the transitions", do you mean for all tubas or do you mean it is prohibitively expensive on even one tuba? Fortunately for me, I have well made instruments that don't have any appreciable dents and certainly not "last week's lunch". I have considered having my instruments checked for misaligned tubes and solder blobs but I tend to think, after 2 overhauls by highly qualified repair technicians, that I probably don't have any of those problems. I apologize for being unclear, what I meant by my statement "at least 3 of my tubas don't have traditional receivers" was that they are European style. That is to say, as it has been explained to me, that there is no actual receiver at the end of the leadpipe. The manufacturer simply puts a ferrule type cuff over the end of the leadpipe as reinforcement. The mouthpiece actually plugs directly into the leadpipe. It is with this connection which I am currently trying to explore options.
I understand your assertion about it being impractical to go through a tuba and perfectly align all the connections. I'm not looking to do anything so extensive to my instruments. But I was taught that disruptions in the expansion, such as dents or misaligned fittings, are more severe in their effect when they are located earlier in the tuba. So the area at the mouthpiece and leadpipe is where disruptions could have the most damaging effect and that is why I'm trying to concentrate on that area. The only real problem I see in my own situation is the thickness of the mouthpiece shank and the "step" that is created when it ends. How difficult would it be to fashion a mouthpiece that would fit exactly the right amount into the European style non-receiver that I have such that the end of the mouthpiece would be perfectly aligned with the beginning of the leadpipe venturi point? Also, how difficult would it be to gradually taper the thickness of the shank of said mouthpiece such that the end of the shank would have an exceptionally thin thickness? Now, I understand that such a mouthpiece would be fragile in the extreme! But, since I'm not in the habit of dropping my mouthpieces, I feel somewhat confident that I could use such a mouthpiece long term without damaging it. Furthermore, once the dimensions were established, you could make copies of the shank as replacements in the event of damage. As I understand it, you do make 3 piece mouthpieces with interchangable shanks, cups, and rims so replacing damaged shanks shouldn't be such a terrible expense.
Thanks for your thoughtful postings and insightful discussion!