Posted by Patrick Sheridan on July 08, 2000 at 10:08:11:
In Reply to: Re: Walter Nirschl 5/4 posted by Steve Marcus on July 08, 2000 at 00:10:44:
Steve is right on the money! There are two models - full size (give it the quarter designation you like) and the York copy. 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 14/4...marketing designations which are easier to categorize than comparing bore and bell size.
Besides sizes of bell, bugle and bore - the main difference between the two instruments is that the York copy is completely hand made in terms of the bell, bottom bend, 1st branch, 2nd branch, and 3rd branch, leadpipe whereas the full size instrument (WN-15) in the bottom bend and bows the parts are blown in a dye. As the techies in the group will tell you, completely hand made versus dye blown makes a huge difference in terms of tone and response. The reason that the large (by volume) instrument manufacturers don't make many (if any) hand made instruments is time/cost issues. 10 hours to make a bottow bend by hand versus 30 seconds in a dye.
All the best,
Pat