Posted by Jay Bertolet on August 01, 2002 at 21:16:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Duct Tape on Bell Wall posted by Jim G on August 01, 2002 at 19:25:13:
Soldered brass rods are as permanent as anything else that you solder together. Granted, it is a pretty big project when you're dealing with half round stock. That type of wire is deceptively heavy. Fortunately, it also isn't very expensive. It is also true that soldering this type of heavy wire to the bell does ruin the lacquer. That wasn't an issue in my case because I like my horns stripped anyway. As far as determining how much wire to use, I used common sense and some great consultation with a high quality brass repairman. For example, I was initially advised to solder wire on my horn in many places, including the leadpipe and main tuning slide. After consulting with the repairman, we decided that some of those places probably weren't going to yield much in the way of results. We used common sense to decide, from the recommendations I was given, which places to work on. The results were very satisfactory, I thought.
Trying this type of procedure out is certainly more expensive than, say, a belt. But as Rick pointed out, the results won't be the same with a belt as with metal rods. I'm not suggesting either is better or worse, just different. Do whatever works best for you.
My opinion for what it's worth...