Re: Leadpipe Materials


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Posted by Tabor on April 17, 2003 at 13:24:09:

In Reply to: Leadpipe Materials posted by Chuck(G) on April 17, 2003 at 12:50:54:



Having been to Taylor Music's repair shop a few times (they sell a ton of rebuilt, remanufactured, overhauled horns) I happened to have a conversation on materials. The repairperson told me that often the difference in metal quality is because some instrument companies used recycled brass or a lower quality of metal. He told me that you can see the difference on the insides of horns. The horns which corrode to a greenish color, he said, have a higher quality of brass than those which turn pink. Any thoughts on this?

When I was studying voice as a masters student at Akron, my roommate was a polymer engineer and a chemist. I spoke with him about many things and had a chance to feel many high-performance polymers and polymer products. While some of them have amazing characteristics, they often are also much like run of the mill plastics in density. It would be an interesting experiment, however.

I have often wondered what it is like to play a G-50 tuba with a carbon fiber bell as opposed to one with a regular bell. Perhaps some of you guys who know could fill me in. I wonder if the sensation is more or less like a fiberglass sousaphone. For sure, it is lighter, and that was beneficial to Chuck Dallenbach, as he is a smaller guy who does all that running around on stage for his gig. I also wonder if it wouldn't be easier to make tuba bells (and other large tubing) from carbon fiber or a similar material. If it could make a NEW BAT with a 26 inch bell a production possibility again without sounding horrible, I'd be all for it.

Some other bell materials which might be interesting:

Wood
copper
composites

no "Freedom fries" or "oppression burgers" for me, please -Tabor



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