Does Bullet-Brace-Style hand support bend the cross brace?

[sirisobhakya]

It just occurred to me yesterday that my horn is indeed heavy and my left hand gets tired quite quickly (around 10 min of continuous practicing). I may need a hand support.

A Neotech won’t fit my horn without modification, so I am interested in Bullet-Brace-Style handrest. Since my horn is a YBL-830, I should be able to order the handrest part of the 835 and install it without much problem.

However, I am worried that the crossbrace might not be able to withstand the weight of the horn, since it is just a hollow tube and the acting area of the force is quite small. I am also not quite sure whether the crossbrace of the 830 and 835 are the same or it is modified to be thicker, since it comes as the same part as the cork barrel and the cork barrel is changed on the 835.

Am I too paranoid? Please help chime in.

[muschem]

I use ax handles on my large tenors and bass. I don't have experience with the particular model you reference, but I'd be very surprised if just the weight of the horn acting on a brace clamp was sufficient to bend the tube. If you really try hard, you might be able to deform the tube with too much clamp pressure (i.e. over-tightening the clamp screws). If it is a concern, another option would be to replace the trigger assembly saddle with one from Instrument Innovations that has a through-hole integrated to accept an ax handle. That eliminates the need to fit a separate clamp on the brace. But, unless the valve section needed some work anyway, I wouldn't personally go out of my way to retrofit something like that.

[Burgerbob]

Those braces on xenos are especially soft. I use a strap when I play one

[AtomicClock]

I am also not quite sure whether the crossbrace of the 830 and 835 are the same or it is modified to be thicker, since it comes as the same part as the cork barrel and the cork barrel is changed on the 835.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Cork barrels are on slide sections. Support braces get mounted to bell sections. So any crossbrace attached to the cork barrels is irrelevant.

[AtomicClock]

... another option would be to replace the trigger assembly saddle with one from Instrument Innovations that has a through-hole integrated to accept an ax handle. That eliminates the need to fit a separate clamp on the brace. But, unless the valve section needed some work anyway, I wouldn't personally go out of my way to retrofit something like that.

Looks like this (replacing the trigger assembly saddle) is necessary even with the parts from the 835.

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical ... tures.html

[Kdanielsen]

Bullet Brace style hand braces can definitely crush the tubing, but even if that's not happening I think having something clamped on changes the way the horn feels to play in a bad way. Maybe having a more stable grip offsets this enough to make a difference for some people. I used to use these type braces but don't anymore because, on all my horns, it makes them play worse.

[Wilco]

Bullet Brace style hand braces can definitely crush the tubing, but even if that's not happening I think having something clamped on changes the way the horn feels to play in a bad way. Maybe having a more stable grip offsets this enough to make a difference for some people. I used to use these type braces but don't anymore because, on all my horns, it makes them play worse.

Exactly! Strap works fine too! Might be nicer to hold as well

[mbtrombone]

I have both the bullet brace and the ax handle for four of my horns. The first one (a bullet brace) would slip a lot when I first got it, and I over tightened it and it did crush the brace a little bit. The horn plays fine with them, I just don't over tighten them anymore. The ax handle one seems to fit much better and is for the particular brace diameter you have. I would recommend getting a cheap set of calipers from Amazon, measuring the brace, and then ordering the closest one from Instrument Innovations. I find the ability of playing the horn and moving the valves very freely to be far more important than if the brace has an effect on the sound.