Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Projection


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Jay Bertolet on March 10, 1999 at 13:09:46:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Projection posted by Dave on March 10, 1999 at 11:48:34:

It is nice to know that there are other skeptics out there! I was taught, just like you Dave, that such fixes are generally hoaxes. If you look through my collection of tubas and mouthpieces you won't find such useless devices. I tested the R & S heavyweight mouthpiece I currently use by playing on an identical, non-heavywall, Conn Helleberg mouthpiece. I used the same tuba, in the same room, with other pairs of ears to help me evaluate. Also, the tests were blind in that the listeners couldn't see which mouthpiece I was using and I didn't tell them. The results were unanimous. The heavywall version of the Conn mouthpiece was far superior in sound quality to all who heard it and markedly so.

What I found really interesting was that before I switched to the R & S, I was a dyed in the wool Bach user. I had tried the funnel shaped cups of several manufacturers many times and had never felt good about any of them. I have been playing cup mouthpieces ever since I started playing, using a Bach 18 since college and a King 26 before that (if anyone has a King 26 in good condition for sale, I'd be interested). So, after the tests I did with the R & S, I decided to spring for a Bach 18 Megatone. I figured that if heavyweight mouthpieces were the next big thing, maybe I should try the heavyweight version of the mouthpiece I've been most comfortable with. I did the same test as before, this time with the 2 Bach's side by side. This time, the results were anything but conclusive. There was no consensus about either mouthpiece and one of the judges couldn't hear any difference at all between them. Right now, the Bach 18 Megatone is the closest thing I have to a paperweight.

As far as deadening the tuba, I'd be a lot more circumspect about that. I would never do anything to my Rudolf Meinl RM-10 simply because I don't feel it needs anything. Maybe the only reason I was willing to experiment with the Cervany is because it is not my primary tuba. Fortunately for me, the results were real and not some psychological illusion. I wonder how much an oscilloscope costs...


Follow Ups: