Harmon Mute not staying in bell

[jazztrumpetbill]

I have a raw brass horn and my harmon will not stay in the bell. The mute works fine in my other horns. I only have an issue with the raw brass bell. I know this topic has been talked about before but I can't find the thread.

Any ideas?

Thank you.
_________________
Bill

Bb Burbank Benge L
Bb Schilke B1
Olds Silverstar Flugel
King Silvertone Cornet

[codyb334]

Try licking the cork, or using a damp cloth to moisten the cork. It may create a tighter seal, or else just use your left hand to hold it in place if the mute will stay in decent enough.
_________________
-Cody
1970 Bach 37/7
1988 Yamaha 6340ST
Olds L12 Flugel
GR 67L
Monette Prana BL2 S3 XLT

[scatanas]

Do you have issues with other mutes when using that trumpet? Or is it just this one mute?
_________________
Martin Bohme Tumultus
Kanstul 1525

[cheiden]

I use a heavy JoRal Copper Bubble/Harmon and have done so with both Bach 72 and Bach 43 bells and as long as I wet the inside of the bell (hot breath) then mute stays fine. If I don't wet the bell then it's more than likely going to fall out. On gigs when there's no time to wet the bell I make sure to keep my hand on the mute the whole time to avoid embarrassment.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[jazztrumpetbill]

Thanks for the replies. I understand that wetting the bell helps and certainly holding the mute will keep it from falling out. The harmon is the only mute that is an issue. The cork has been replaced. In a previous forum, I read something about adding a rubber strip to the cork?
_________________
Bill

Bb Burbank Benge L
Bb Schilke B1
Olds Silverstar Flugel
King Silvertone Cornet

[LittleRusty]

Joral Bubble Mute

This thread has a suggestion by Tim Wendt to use inner tube from a bicycle tire to fix dropping issues.

[BGinNJ]

I have a similar problem, it may be the flare of the bell. My Harmon mute works fine in my lacquer Strad with a 37 bell, but it won't stay in my Carol (yellow brass) 72 bell. I'll try wetting the cork, see if that helps.

[wiemelen]

[a.kemp]

Tim gave me a piece of inner tube for my Harmon mute.

Works amazingly well!!!

[jazztrumpetbill]

Thanks for the posting by Tim Wendt. That was the thread that I could not locate.
_________________
Bill

Bb Burbank Benge L
Bb Schilke B1
Olds Silverstar Flugel
King Silvertone Cornet

[LittleRusty]

[ENINCA]

I use a heavy copper jo-ral bubble mute too and I did the inner-tube solution and it worksk amazingly well. I have a raw brass bell and the rubber tube sticks solid. I don't even bother to breathe in the bell anymore.
_________________
"Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins." -Dizzy Gillespie

[ENINCA]

This is the thread with the tube instructions and example pics...

http://wwww.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=120495&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
_________________
"Some days you get up and put the horn to your chops and it sounds pretty good and you win. Some days you try and nothing works and the horn wins. This goes on and on and then you die and the horn wins." -Dizzy Gillespie

[alex.bondar]

I have managed to keep my heavy copper jo-ral bubble mute in place by attaching few rubber bands to the inner edge of the cork (see image below).

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/NUbBYdrLqN4kPpw19[/img]

The small adjustable inner part of the mute was also too lose inside the mute's hole.
So, I have fixed it by wrapping its leading tube with few rotations of teflon tape (see image below):

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5Xhz6kxJAkeW3LS9[/img]
[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/GtokRoPgjaKq6A7r8[/img]
[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/ebdGvBB7M8dZvpRx9[/img]
_________________
Amateur trumpet player

[benlewis]

Two words:

Funky Foam!!!

Ben

[Croquethed]

I had the same problem with an X-13.

Solution: breathe on the inside of the bell 3-4 times. Problem solved.

[Crazy Finn]

Do you do the breathe in the bell trick? Almost none of my Harmons would stay in the bell if I did not.
_________________
LA Benge 3X Bb Trumpet
Selmer Radial Bb Trumpet
Yamaha 6335S Bb Trumpet
Besson 709 Bb Trumpet
Bach 184L Bb Cornet
Yamaha 731 Bb Flugelhorn

[Yammie]

I bought a couple sheets of cork/neoprene gasket material used in auto repair. If a mute won’t stick or if I need to replace corks, I use the old cork to make a pattern, then contact cement the new cork in place. I don’t have problems with mutes falling out after replacement, not even my heavy Ullven chrome-plated Bop harmon mute.

I tape the old corks to a file card to use as patterns. Each different brand of Harmon uses slightly different radii and I’m a mute geek 🤣
_________________
6340S, Connstellation 36B, 38B, 38A, and 28A, Couesnon flugel, Blackburn C, Kanstul/Besson 920 picc, and a HUGE pile of Messina Covers gig bags

[E_Smith]

If I'm playing jazz, I just hold the must on with the same hand positions as I would a plunger. Most of the stuff our ensemble plays just has quick harmon feature--not the whole chart. If it's in a jazz setting and it's not for an extended time, just hold it in--I don't think anyone cares (might be a different story given what your circumstances are).

As others have said, bell flares play a role too. The really long/compact bell of my Olds Studio can be cantankerous with my harmon as does my wider-flared King Legend.
_________________
-E
College Kid

UMI Silver Flair | Fullerton Olds Studio
King Legend 2070
1921 Conn 80A
Trumpeter, Pianist, Drummer

[DH]

I have a colleague who has taken the mute falling out as an art form. I don't believe he's EVER played a mute passage without the mute falling out and hitting the floor.

My Jo-Ral won't stick in either and I hope he read this thread and gets a bicycle tire and tries this!! Maybe I can use some left overf tubing