Has anyone tried this?

[schalltrichterauf]

Has anyone tried the Bob Reeves "A" adaptor for Schilke piccolos? It fits between the Bb leadpipe receiver and the mouthpiece, dropping the pitch to A.
http://www.bobreeves.com/products/accessories/adapters.htm

Does it work? How does it play? How is its intonation? Sound? Would you use it rather than a separate A-piccolo leadpipe?

Many thanks...
_________________
David

Horns: Bach CL 239 w/Melk pipe, Schagerl C Hörsdorf Heavy, Bach Bb 72/43, L.A. Benge 3X, Melk/Bach E-flat/D w/239 bells, Schilke P5-4 picc, Chinese trumpet with scary-faced bell.
Teachers: Alvin Lowrey, Irving Sarin, Robert Nagel

[Don Herman rev2]

Yes, it works. Plays OK, but you must remember to pull out all of your slides to maintain the right pitch relationships when changing to A. The one I tried was on a friend's picc and might not have been a Reeves but the concept is the same (the adapter looked identical). For whatever reason his picc didn't come with an A pipe (he bought it used).

I would rather have the A pipe (my picc has lead pipe and slides for A, Bb, and G) as an adapter is one more thing to fool with (and drop, lose, you name it). I did try his adapter in my picc, but liked just using the eadpipe that came with it. I did not find it better than using an A pipe. For that matter, I tend to use the Bb pipe and pull it out instead of the A pipe on my picc (the A pipe is an A/G pipe on my Kanstul and in A there's not much of the leadpipe sticking out for tuning). Again, I liked that better than using the adapter. It could well be I did not spend enough time with it, but for me it fell into the category of "if it doesn't help right away and what I have works, why bother?"

FWIW, my friend bought an A pipe from Schilke, then one from Blackburn, and stuck with the Blackburn. He said the adapter was nice and fairly cheap but he got tired of messing with it and the picc played better with an A pipe in it.

At $40 (vs. $190 for a new Blackburn pipe) you could try it and see how you like it.
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"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music" - Aldous Huxley

[schalltrichterauf]

Thanks Don, I appreciate your insights. I have a pair of Osmun pipes but like the Bb better than the A, so I also usually just pull out the Bb slide for playing in A. I'm wondering if the adaptor will make the blow and intonation a little more consistent.

I just ordered one, so I'll find out soon -
_________________
David

Horns: Bach CL 239 w/Melk pipe, Schagerl C Hörsdorf Heavy, Bach Bb 72/43, L.A. Benge 3X, Melk/Bach E-flat/D w/239 bells, Schilke P5-4 picc, Chinese trumpet with scary-faced bell.
Teachers: Alvin Lowrey, Irving Sarin, Robert Nagel

[Christian K. Peters]

Hello David,
I picked up one of those goodies on ebay last year. Or maybe two years ago... I really didn't think that it was much different than pulling out the pipe to A. I ended up by buying a Schilke A pipe and have been really happy with that purchase. Now the real use that I found for the adapter was on my old high-pitch C cornet. I put that onto the removable lead pipe and now I pull just a little bit!
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Christian K. Peters
Schilke Loyalist since 1976