Sadly, live music in my area is still on hold. The last gig I still had scheduled for 2020 just got postponed, to be rescheduled for next year. NAMM 2021 has been cancelled, though some of the workshops will still happen online. Hopefully once live events are safe again audience will still be ready to come to them! I fear that one of my regular gigs may go away for good - a local Senior Center with a large dance hall that had all ages ballroom dancing, which is pretty popular here. One of the regular dancers died of COVID-19 shortly after the last dance I played there. Hopefully there will be a vaccine, and people will actually get it when it’s available! It really makes me angry how many people without any scientific knowledge or training are deciding that they know better. I wear a mask for others, because I touch gross things on a daily basis. I practice good hygiene for me, because I don’t want to get sick with the regular flu, let alone this! I also practice good hygiene for my husband, who is immune compromised.

Well, all of the current Bach 184s we get in stock are built for long shank, come with a long shank, and will not accept a short shank. It always annoys the crap out of me when we get Bach and Yamaha shipments in at the same time, because I have to have a ridiculous kit of mpcs on me to play test. All of the Bach 184s that I have worked on up to this point have taken a long shank. Can’t remember what the Mt Vernons I worked on took, but everything that’s crossed my path 70s to present has been long shank.

Bach cornets are built for long shank

@Dale-Proctor said in Spit Building up in MP:

@flugelgirl said in Spit Building up in MP:

Generally, short or long shank will change intonation on a horn, depending on which shank it was built for. While it’s possible to use a long shank on some horns meant for a short, it’s not optimal. Horns built for a long shank will not accept a short. In general, most cornets built before 1950 take a short shank, with a few exceptions. Not sure about the condensation in yours, but if they accept a short shank, they probably should be using one. As far as car products on horns, it may not be wise to be breathing that in.... I know I wouldn’t! I would worry less about what it’s doing to the horn than what it might be doing to you.

I think the discussion is centered around modern short-shank mouthpieces like those made by Denis Wick and others (mainly for brass band use), which work just fine in modern cornets.

I dunno about that - he plays some old ones, if I remember right, and has a King Master similar in age to mine. It takes a short shank to play it’s best. Lots of modern short shanks play great on those older cornets - finished up a Selmer Bundy (from the days before Bundy was a student model), and it plays fabulously with a modern Dennis wick.

@Dr-GO my triple even came with a laptop sleeve, though I’ve never used it! I regularly keep trumpet/flugel/stand packed up in it, but sometimes use the third spot for picc, cornet or whatever extra horn I need that day.

Generally, short or long shank will change intonation on a horn, depending on which shank it was built for. While it’s possible to use a long shank on some horns meant for a short, it’s not optimal. Horns built for a long shank will not accept a short. In general, most cornets built before 1950 take a short shank, with a few exceptions. Not sure about the condensation in yours, but if they accept a short shank, they probably should be using one. As far as car products on horns, it may not be wise to be breathing that in.... I know I wouldn’t! I would worry less about what it’s doing to the horn than what it might be doing to you.

I love my Torpedo cases - I have several singles plus a triple I use for my flugel. I find the pockets on them can hold plenty of extras, but I use a separate bag for mutes. My mutes are expensive, and I don’t like to pack them so tightly together, as is needed for the supplied mute bag. The cases aren’t cheap, but they are very protective and hold up very well. My oldest one is 11yrs old and shows very little wear, though it has traveled extensively!

We’re all different. I sound the same on a 1.5 as on a 3, but have to work a whole lot harder for it. That makes it an easy choice for me. Also, you have to consider the job that you’re doing - playing in a commercial setting has different needs than an orchestral setting. Different equipment for different jobs, and different faces! This is one of the many reasons I did not want to live in the orchestral world where people are so focused on one specific horn/mouthpiece combination for no real reason other than “insert famous player here” used it. When I was growing up, there were several choices of teachers I could have studied with - the orchestral teacher would not accept you in his studio unless you bought a large bore Bach and a 1C mouthpiece. The jazz and commercial teachers didn’t care what equipment you showed up with as long as it worked and you sounded good on it. That made the choice easy for me as a kid since I couldn’t afford new equipment! It ended up being a great choice since I excelled in the genre and loved the music.
For all the amateurs out there, play what is most comfortable for you and work with it. Strive for your best possible sound, and don’t worry about it too much. Tailor your equipment around the job that YOU are doing, and it will take you farther than playing what works for someone else’s job.

Never clean silver with bleach - it will eat the plating! Saw another tech’s photo of a bucket of brass mouthpieces that a school band director thought they would clean with bleach - they ended up looking like they’d spent years at the bottom of the ocean....it was bad. No way to fix that aside from replating - cheaper just to replace.

@Kehaulani Though I have not found it to react adversely, I ALWAYS recommend cleaning out old products before applying a new brand.