POLL ADDED !!! TWO prototype Sellmansberger mouthpieces...PRODUCTION MODEL PICS: PAGE 2

[bloke]

I will do some polite cage rattling tomorrow, but I really haven't given them enough time yet to get this done. I know everyone would like to have their mouthpieces, and I would actually like to have my own shop made copies of my prototypes as well.

[bloke]

Things are moving, but not at lightning speed.

They will leave for the plater in about a week.
I'm counting on at least a week for ROUND-TRIP plating shipping, a WEEK or TWO at the plating place, probably a small amount (but very little time) for plating clean-up, packing, shipping to me, and then shipping to those of you who purchased them.

If anyone sees anyone asking about their orders on the tuba/euphonium page on fb, please let me know.

[bloke]

I'm thinking I might have a tracking number. We'll see in a day or two.

[bloke]

' hoping to see these VERY soon...fingers crossed for early in the week (??)...' don't like having people's money without having yet delivered a product or service...

I REALLY appreciate the business, and hope everyone ends up being happy with what they (sticking their necks out) bought.
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The (what I refer to as "cimbasso") shallow/small-throated mouthpiece is something that I doubt is very similar to anything that too many people have owned/used. I've received questions such as "Is is a bari-tuba" (etc.) No...LOL...It's more of a shallow/small-throated tuba mouthpiece.
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For the Hb-II fans, I hope some/most/all of you like this interpretation of that style of mouthpiece.

[bloke]

Looking forward to it, @bloke!

[bloke]

These are being checked over and mailed out today.
Mrs bloke left to go to the post office to pick up enough of those Priority Mail mailing thingies.
I will be emailing pictures of tracking numbers.

[bloke]

yup...I failed to get all the mailing labels typed up.

(A band director - 1-1/2 hours away...3-hr. r/t - offered to COME GET their repairs - which weren't finished, and that - sorry, folks - was TOO GOOD of an offer to pass up, so I set the mouthpieces aside and finished repairing their instruments.)

I will type up mailing labels in the morning. Their repairs were VERY challenging - destroyed euphonia - and I'm mentally/physically exhausted...I can type stupid posts, but I'm afraid of making mistakes - tonight - on mailing labels.)

[bloke]

This is a bit of an epic (OK...but only 1-day) deal...

> two types of mouthpieces - each in two shank sizes
> mailing labels and paid receipts
> mouthpiece pouches
> "thanks-for-your-business" tuba-fitting pencil holders
> USPS Priority mailing envelopes

[bloke]

I assumed that those of you who ordered two or three diverse mouthpieces own two or three tubas, so those people will be receiving two or three pencil holders.

Unless you've got something like an Olds O-99 or 5J, I chose a diameter of pencil holder that should clip on snugly (hopefully, won't slip off) but shouldn't dent your slide tubing.

They are billed as 20mm, fwiw.

the one that gets the prize for the longest trip ahead: to New Zealand




Once dropped off at the post office tomorrow morning, the pricing officially goes up to $200/mpc. on these (so I can hopefully begin making a little bit of money off of these models... )
Set-up, prototypes, mailing back-and-forth, and - well - this was a BUNCH of administrative labor and such - NOT TO MENTION the TIME I spent developing (ok...and testing/altering/etc.) the PROTOTYPES on my own crappy lathe...This was more of a labor of love/fun/curiosity, on my part...

...but (remember, the deal is "no returns") if you don't like 'em, base your used/resale price on a $200 retail price, not $150.

I hope ALL of you REALLY like what you bought !!!

Just to review:

> Sellmansberg II (standard shank or euro shank - improved rim and back-bore over other Hb-II style mouthpieces)

> Shallowberger (standard shank or small [approx. bass trombone] shank - remarkably shallow with a small throat - ideal for cimbasso, but fine for F tubas, very small "old school" small-bore E-flat tubas, or whatever)

Please talk 'em up, if you like 'em.

Thank-you! ' lots of work, and some fun, too.

[BuddyRogersMusic]

I am really looking forward to receiving my two and to put them through their paces. Thanks for all the labor in the project.

[bloke]

If I had only gone in-person to the machine shop the first time, the first machine shop prototypes could/would have been dialed in at that end of that day...and a good bit of time could have been saved...

...lesson learned.

The most complex parts - with the first samples - were duplicated perfectly, but the simplest details (which matter just as much) were not.

[arpthark]

They forgot to drill the big hole at the end, eh?

[bloke]

They forgot to drill the big hole at the end, eh?

not too far off, but (obviously) only minor stuff...

- overall lengths slightly off
- exit bores not quit right
- shank sizes nearly right (correct tapers), but just a hair large

...stuff like that.

The FIRST shop sample "Helleberg II" thing played really pretty good...but different from the one that I made.
(I would have had to label it as "good, but not for me".)
The FIRST shop sample shallow bowl cup one missed the mark more noticeably - playing-wise - but physically was closer to the one that made.

The SECOND pair of both - which the shop made - were great.
(All it took was me sending back their samples - along with my prototypes, and them examining them side-by-side.)

The only goof-up on the (small shank) shallow bowl mouthpiece - in the final version - was that they engraved an "L" on the shank - rather than a "£", but I decided to let that slide, as it "had no effect on the playability" (just as with ugly dents in used tubas).

It's a really good shop. They do fine work with turning brass.

[bloke]

Noting that I didn't order the Shallowberger, but the one comment above did make me think…

I do think this might be an interesting option for people that own, intact and unmodified, “Monster” Eb tubas from a century or more ago. The cup depth and bore sound to be something close to the (usually in awful condition) mouthpieces that were paired with those things, but with a diameter and rim that would make a person want to use it to actually play.

It’s quite likely that a lot of the weirdness of those old Eb tubas might be less weird with a shallower mouthpiece with a more sensible throat and bore.

[bloke]

I think both of us have messed around with mouthpieces like that in those instruments. I don't know what you have discovered, but I believe I've discovered that it doesn't really fix the goofy partials, but it makes them easier to move.

Some of today's really large F tubas seem to me to be about the same thing as those 90 to 100 year old monster E-flats: too big for how short they are, thus: out of tune. (A bunch of other models of f tubas are just out of tune because they are out of tune... it's really difficult to find one that doesn't have a mile-high-sharp second space C, as an example.)
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Circling back around to your topic of the really old E-flat tubas, some of the few that I have found that are usable are the really small ones made by Conn - with a 5/8 in bore. Even the King instruments of that era - with that same really small bore size - seem to be wretched. (I'm guessing that Bill Bell's F was a cut down version of some of that ancient King E-flat tooling (and particularly - with four valves - it continues to amaze me as to what he was able to do with it on that 1950s Vaughan Williams concerto recording.)

bloke "a typical bloke stream of consciousness/non sequitur post"

[bloke]

The first one arrived (adjacent state) SUNDAY post office delivery...!?!?

[cktuba]

Mine should be here Monday. I can't wait to give it a whirl!

[arpthark]

I just felt like dropping $150 on the pencil holder. Y'all can have the mouthpiece.

[bloke]

I am really looking forward to receiving my two and to put them through their paces. Thanks for all the labor in the project.

I'm thinking yours was just delivered a few minutes ago...

[BuddyRogersMusic]

Indeed! My son texted me that they had arrived. What stinks is that I'm at work on the other side of the city. Will have to contain my enthusiasm for a few more hours.