Hey all, I have had my 1920 Buescher bass for about 6 months now. I've tried about 10 different mouthpieces, but I notice that the backbore of the "true" bass pieces is much larger than the cork on my neck. My tech said he would have to use a different kind of cork entirely to get a fit. Is this a typical issue for vintage bass saxophones? I know the Eppy basses have much larger neck diameters. I've also heard that simply putting a thicker cork on the neck can cause issues as it mess with the geometry of the cone shape of the instrument. It's a shame because I just got a new Zinner bass piece and I've used Teflon tape to enlarge the cork, I feel like that can't be good for the flow of air. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks!
1) True bass pieces probably have a bore (the part where it mates to the cork) that's a little larger diameter than baritone pieces. The cork currently on the horn probably was sanded down to fit a baritone mouthpiece that someone wanted to play on it.
2) If you want to use primarily a piece that has too big an ID for the cork, any competent repair person can change the cork to thicker cork in half an hour or so. There is no "special" cork; they just have to use sheet cork that's the right thickness to be too thick when installed so it can be sanded down to "just right".
3) Thickness of the cork has nothing to do with the "geometry of the cone shape of the instrument".
4) If a particular MP is working well with the cork wrapped with Teflon tape, it will work exactly the same way with new cork fitted to the ID of the MP.
5) If you think you may continue experimenting, you may not want to put new cork just yet, because you can always wrap something around a cork that's too small to use an MP whose ID is too big; but you can't just cram a too-small MP onto a cork that's too big. You risk bending or breaking something, or not pushing on far enough to get in tune because it feels like you're going to break something. My personal favorite for wrapping a neck cork is a gas receipt - why? Because I've generally got one in my wallet.
6) There is almost no "flow of air"; the velocity is very small, even at the smallest end of the horn.
Don't overthink this. I've gone years with a cork too small and wrapping it with something, with no effect at all. I generally would not have a neck cork replaced till the horn goes into the shop for something else.
'Don't overthink this. I've gone years with a cork too small and wrapping it with something, with no effect at all. I generally would not have a cork replaced till the horn goes into the shop for something else.'
Exactly. I'm in that bag right now with a new bari piece that's way too big for the cork. I do not recommend doing this, but I actually overlaid the existing cork with a new one, figuring If I really liked the mouthpiece I could tear it all off and do it right later. It works fine like but I actually trimmed it a little too much and still had to use a layer of Teflon tape.
Teflon tape? Not a gas receipt? But we all know that gas receipts - but only from Mobil - enhance the warmth of tone and permit you to achieve heights of improvisational fantasticness that no one could ever achieve with mere Teflon tape or a Shell receipt.
Thanks for the replies! I hate taking the beast the shop, so this info saves me time, money, and stress.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Sax on the Web Forum
3.3M posts
75.4K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to saxophone players and enthusiasts originally founded by Harri Rautiainen. Come join the discussion about collections, care, displays, models, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!