Weird Curry question

Sarcastic Musician · Regular Member Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 77

I was playing on my Curry 3C. standard blank, and I wanted to see how a particular passage felt using my Curry 3BC. Bach blank. I reach into my case, pull out the 3BC. and switch mouthpieces. The passage feels more secure, and I feel like the sound is more round. I also feel less resistance from the mouthpiece. Exactly what I would expect switching between those two mouthpieces.

Then I looked at the mouthpiece: It was my Curry 3C. Bach blank. In back to back tests several months ago I swore I could feel a difference in rim size and resistance between the standard and Bach blank 3C. but I figured I was nuts.

Then I dig out the actual Curry 3BC. Bach blank. There's even less resistance and the sound is even more round. Also as I expected.

The two mouthpieces with Bach blanks (3C. and 3BC.) feel like the exact same rim diameter, but the standard Curry blank 3C. feels smaller.

Am I feeling the difference in the outer part of the rim?

Did the previous owner of the Bach blank 3C. have the throat opened?

Was the standard blank 3C. I have made incorrectly (extremely unlikely, since it's a Curry)?

Am I still nuts?

Should I stop thinking about it and just play? (Probably)

Rapier232 · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:43 pm Post subject:

I opened this expecting a post about Curry! D'oh! Oh yeah, it's a trumpet site, and this was posted in the mouthpiece section. Should have been a bit of a clue..............

In my defence, on my iPad I can't see which categorise the posts are in, unless I scroll across.
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MacMichael · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 646

As much as I love Curry dishes,
the hot discussions about these
marvellous and spicy mouthpieces
are nice too

Now to the OP´s confusion:

For one thing the BC. always come in Bach blank.
BC (no dot) and the dotted BC. do make a difference though.
But that is not really the question here.

For another thing, I cannot believe that there should
be any noticeable difference between a 3C. standard and Bach blank.
It might be the perception of the Sarcastic Musician, at least if they have the same cup I do not think there is any perceivable difference in the aforementioned Curry mouthpieces.
Except if the mouthpiece has got the Bach backbore also (which Mark
can make on custom order), because the gap might be slightly different.

Other than that I do not know how to spice up this thread.

brassjunky · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:24 am Post subject:

It's very believable to me that your two Curry 3C. mouthpieces do have slightly different rim contours and thus feel different to play. I think even the best mouthpiece manufacturer will not always produce identical specimens of the same model. The human lip can feel incredibly small differences in contour and shape. It only takes a very slight amount of over machining or buffing to produce a detectable difference.
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MacMichael · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 646

OK, here I stand corrected.
Now IF there are really ever-so-slight differences in the two 3C. Currys the OP possesses, the only question that remains is: so what?
Well, you could either live with this deviation or sell one of the mouthpieces...

RandyTX · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:03 am Post subject:

My money is on a placebo effect sort of thing going on here.

I have 5 or 6 different curry mouthpieces all with the "3." rim on them. Some for trumpet, with various cups and blanks, some cornet, some flugel, even a picc piece on a cornet shank. They were not all even ordered at the same time. They all feel identical to me at the rim.

Either you are much more sensitive to rim changes than most people, or it's your imagination.

Perhaps have a helper with no dog in the hunt help you do a blind test, where you play the two different 3C.'s without knowing which is which (have him try to trip you up by having you play on the same one twice at a few points in the testing, with a suitable cooling period in between so you can't tell from the temperature of the piece that it's just been played), etc.

razeontherock · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:58 am Post subject:

I think the 2 3C. rims can be identical but there can be other differences. Deviation between gap is likely, but I wouldn't think could account for what the OP experienced. Backbore def could! Are they supposed to be the same backbore?

Curious to see the results of the little experiment Randy devised ...

bagmangood · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:37 am Post subject:

Different blanks do make mouthpieces play differently, so it could be some of those differences making you think "this mouthpiece feels smaller," when it is actually the same size.

(But it could also just be a different size because of tolerances)
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a.kemp · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:21 am Post subject:

The Curry regular blank doesn't necessarily vibrate as freely as the Bach blank.

The extra mass on the curry blank tends to deaden the sound and make it feel thinner and nasally. So, not surprised that it felt much different. I would expect it to sound smaller.

It's nothing crazy heavy like a megatone....but, when you add mass to a mouthpiece, you usually have to open up the throat/backbore to counter the mass. But, I'm pretty sure that Curry uses the same throat and BB on his regular blanks compared to the bach blanks

Dale Proctor · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:13 am Post subject:

mattfrost · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:25 pm Post subject:

For what it's worth, I've had clients have me skeletonize Curry (and others, GR, etc.) Into Bach blanks because of the way they feel it changes the sound they hear behind the horn and out front. You might be surprised how much weight changes things.
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Locutus2k · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:55 am Post subject:

For what is worth: i used to play a Curry 3star, standard blank. Since i like the piece so much i had a 3 star from mpexpress in both heavy and blackjack blanks. Well, believe it or not they do feel different on the lips (rim and size).
The heavy one has the very same rim but feels (it is?) a bit smaller. The Blackjack i can swear is the exact size of the standard but the rim, i can swear this too, is different: larger and a bit less rounded.
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jadickson · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:02 am Post subject:

The Blackjack blank creates a slightly larger gap than the other blanks, which makes it feel different obviously.

jf_trumpet · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:07 am Post subject:

I have removed the weight at the top of the Curry blank shank before, to make it into a Bach-style blank. This removed some resistance in the blow, and balanced it better for me.

There could be a difference in gap too. Despite having only one Curry-made Bach piece, I had noticed it gapped less than any of the standard blank pieces I own. This could be an anomaly however and one example is not enough to say this definitively.

MacMichael · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 646

Why should the Blackjack shank create a larger gap?

The Curry BC. Bach mpc I have has both the Bach-styled cup as well as the Bach-sized shank, which is a bit shorter, thus a gap difference makes sense.
BTW, the best thing would be if Mark Curry could chime in...

Locutus2k · Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:34 am Post subject:

The BJ blank create a slight wider gap, that's true, i've verified myself with my many bj pieces vs the standard pieces.
A simple test: take a TF or TC piece that is shorter in both standard and BJ blank and add a Curry booster "lead" model. With the standard blank the piece with booster will not fit the trumpet, with blackjack blank it will.

Anyway my concern in my previous post (see above) was not about gap or similar: is just the rim shape and cup diameter that feel (are?) different in the 3 pieces i have (3 star in standard/BJ and heavy blank).
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Edwards X-13
Lawler TL5 Balanced 30th Anniversary (#2 of 5)
Lawler TL5 L bore
Bach NY Special edition 2008
Flugel Van Laar Oiram Ack
Mark Curry mouthpieces
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Sarcastic Musician · Regular Member Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 77

Thank you all for your informative comments concerning one of my many neuroses.

The Curry blank and Bach blank do play differently, but the weird part is that they feel different on the chops. As in: I put one up to my lips with out blowing, then the other, and they feel like they're different sizes.

Maybe the only way to know for sure is to buy another 3C. in a Bach blank. Just what everyone needs: an excuse to buy another mouthpiece!

razeontherock · Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:40 am Post subject:

Sample size needs to be at least 1200 to be valid

MacMichael · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 646

jadickson · Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:00 am Post subject: