Leadpipe Choices

KingSilverSonic · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:13 am Post subject: Leadpipe Choices

Yesterday I made a trip to Charlies Brass Works with a couple of friends. I went specifically to try out some leadpipes for my 1957 Mt. Vernon that has some intonation issues. My goal was to preserve as much as possible the core, "focused" sound of the 37 bell. I did not want to go any brighter, and only a tad darker, if any at all. I am defining "dark" as a sound that is more diffuse and airy. Here is what I found so thought I would pass these observations along.

All of the leadpipes I tried out were the MTV 525 pipes by M&K Bending. Mike at M&K sent two sterling silver pipes to me that I brought along. The first leadpipe I tried out at Charlies was in bronze. It very much had a copper look to it as it has a high copper content. This leadpipe gave a broad, beautiful tone with lots of color, but a little more resistance than my current (25) pipe. I kept it as a "maybe," and played it during a second round. The second pipe was made out of yellow brass. Very nice and more on this one later. The third pipe tried was a sterling silver pipe that gave a broad sound with some resistance. A nice pipe but too dark for what I was wanting so I eliminated this one. I then tried another sterling silver pipe labeled as a "Z" pipe. Mike told me that "Z" stands for "Zip." Lots of beautiful overtones, not as dark, a little resistance but not bad so I sat this one aside for a second round. Charlie also had a MTV 525 yellow brass in silver plate that I tried but my horn is in raw brass so I also eliminated this one. There was another pipe that Charlie had that I think was based on a MTV 525 that had been heat treated at certain areas of the pipe but the resistance was a little more than I wanted so I eliminated this one. So, I had narrowed it down to the bronze, yellow brass and the "Z" sterling pipes. I was very impressed with the bronze pipe but a little too dark for what I was wanting. If any of you are wanting to darken your tone and get beautiful colors you might consider this pipe. This left the "Z" sterling and the yellow brass pipe. I went back and forth playing with GR 67 MX and GR 67 M mouthpieces. It was a difficult choice but finally settled on the yellow brass pipe. The sterling "Z" pipe was just ever so slightly darker than the yellow brass pipe and had a slight amount more resistance. Had I been looking for a slightly darker tone I would have chosen the "Z" sterling pipe. The yellow brass pipe was very free blowing, had a nice tone with a focused core, and lots of colors. Then there was this "resonance" that I felt on my lips when playing the yellow brass pipe that basically sealed the deal. I will point out that I did not play any "bad" pipes as they were all very nice. It just depends on what you are looking for in a sound. Also, I had my tuner and all pipes greatly improved my intonation issues. As an aside, Charlie discovered that the tubing that the bottom part of the tuning slide inserted into was apparently manufactured 1/2" short. The leadpipe is also 1/2" shorter than standard. Charlie is going to make a longer bottom nickel tubing so the tuning slide will match up with the leadpipe. He pointed out that there is a second piece of tubing inside the outer tubing and if the gap between this tube and the tuning slide is too great that this will cause slotting issues. My tuning slide had to be pulled out over 1" and I was cracking notes all over the place so this should fix this problem. He is also going to install new valve springs, do a valve allignment, and make a thumb hook for the first valve slide. BTW - as soon as I get it back I will post some pictures as Tom Green did a complete cosmetic overhaul on this horn and it is stunning.
_________________
Richard

Lawler C7
Burbank Benge C
Calicchio 1s/2
King Symphony 20 DB and Silver Sonic Cornet
Lawler flugelhorn
Member: Bugles Across America

JonathanM · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:30 am Post subject:

Richard: Great post, simply great. I've e-mailed Mike at M&K when I had a Xeno but wound up trading the horn instead.

While 'the mouthpiece safari' is a marvellous way to drop bucks and spend money (and honestly - we do all need to find what works best for us) it's beginning to become apparent that once you have a good horn that works for you the leadpipe and tuning slide options that are available today can be tweaked to our very personal wants and needs leaving us with a truly great, personalized horn.

Again, thanks; I enjoyed your post greatly.
_________________
Jonathan Milam
Trumpets: 18043B, 18043*, 18043 Sterling Silver +, 18037 SterlingSilver+, Benge 4x, Olds: '34 Symphony, '47 Super, '52 Recording
Flugle: Strad 182
Puje: American Belle
Cornet: Olds Recording & Super

trumpetera · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:45 pm Post subject:

WOW!!

4 year old thread, and exactly what I'm looking for! Searchengine to the fore!

I've confused Charlie with M/K for some reason, but I do own one of Charlie's pipes- a MtVernon 7, called MTV-MV.

Has anyone compared the MTV-MV and the MTV-525? Opinions?
_________________
Principal trumpet Gothenburg Opera Orchestra
Bach LT 37 Bb (Mr. Findleys old)
Bach Mt Vernon 1957 Bb
Bach NY ML 1943 vintage Bb
Very old YTR-6335
Bach/Malone/Lechner C
Malone-Bach 229 C
H.Ganter Bb
Schagerl Wienna (older model) C
Parker Natural

yourbrass · Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:53 pm Post subject:

The 50's vintage Bachs have some design issues.This thread is a good illustration. Change is good.

trumpetera · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:36 am Post subject:

Only thing is, that despite their issues they-at least the one I found-outplay every new Bach I've tried.
_________________
Principal trumpet Gothenburg Opera Orchestra
Bach LT 37 Bb (Mr. Findleys old)
Bach Mt Vernon 1957 Bb
Bach NY ML 1943 vintage Bb
Very old YTR-6335
Bach/Malone/Lechner C
Malone-Bach 229 C
H.Ganter Bb
Schagerl Wienna (older model) C
Parker Natural

miles71 · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:52 am Post subject:

Tom Green does amazing work, Mike at MK does amazing work. Its why I have them do stuff for me and the new Stage 1 horns as well.

TD

trumpetera · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:11 am Post subject:

Just ordered a MTV-525 pipe and a bottom pipe from Charlies Brassworks. Let's see how it works out!
_________________
Principal trumpet Gothenburg Opera Orchestra
Bach LT 37 Bb (Mr. Findleys old)
Bach Mt Vernon 1957 Bb
Bach NY ML 1943 vintage Bb
Very old YTR-6335
Bach/Malone/Lechner C
Malone-Bach 229 C
H.Ganter Bb
Schagerl Wienna (older model) C
Parker Natural