Posted by David on July 02, 2002 at 15:00:22:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: question for st pete players(kinda long) posted by Lew on July 02, 2002 at 13:30:25:
I played a Cerveny "piggy" for years, bore size .835" and never had a problem. The taper of the leadpipe has much to do with response. Finding the correct mouthpiece will often correct the difficulties as well.
A person can put all the blame on a manufacturer, but many times slight modifications to the periferal equipment will solve the problems. Example: for the 1st 17 years of playing, I used a Meinl Weston model 30, CC, 4 valve. It had a terrible low register (stuffy) and some notes were just not there (Ab top line staff and the high F# above middle C) except for exceptional lipping/buzzing. The open notes were all very inconsistent as well with some being very sharp and some very flat. A nightmare it would seem. I switched mouthpieces several times and each time the problems got better. It took finding the right mouthpiece to correct most of the problems. By the way, I used that "terrible" horn all the way through undergraduate school, graduate school (and a grad assistantship at the University of Michigan), and used it to get a college job, and also did a good bit of freelancing with it.
I truly believe we have it really good now with all the good instruments and mouthpieces at our disposal. Practically everybody can find his/her perfect match now. We just have to continue to remember that "perfect" to one player is the absolute worst to someone else. I like this saying, "You are entitled to your own stupid opinion, and we will still be friends." If we take that approach then we can flush out all opinions and never again resort to name calling.