Dual-bore Slides

[paulyg]

I recently got a .525/.547 dual-bore slide from Edwards as part of their blow-out sale.

I thought it was going to be an interesting backup slide that might see some use for pops concerts and lighter rep. Nope. It's won me over. Takes a small-shank mouthpiece, in this case a Mount Vernon 3 I got from my local music store.

I've played it on a couple gigs and during our university's symphony rehearsal of Tchaik 4. I've received more complements on my sound in the past 24 hours than I have received in my life- this thing works. The sound isn't small at all- it's just golden (if I say so myself). I'm not pushing to create fffs, and ppps just shimmer.

It's really crushed the last vestiges of the "bigger is better" myth for me. Bigger is just different.

Why don't more people use these on tenor? Plenty of bass players uses dual-bore slides of varying dimensions. I'd never even been in a position to try a setup like this.

[Matt K]

I switched myself a little over a year ago. Had a Yamaha 645 upper slide put on a 8820 lower slide + crook. Installed a Shires leadpipe receiver and tenon. Thought I'd sell it but I use it for most of my large bore playing. Really awesome setup; totally agree! I don't know if the Edwards slides take them, but if they do, you should try a large shank receiver. Makes a huge difference. Being able to play both small and large shank opens a great amount of possibilities. I believe the Conn threads fit the Edwards slides... I have a Conn X that I quite like that was like $40. Was going to use it just to try out large shank recievers on it and it's what I primarily use now!

[elmsandr]

Get a large shank leadpipe and you have the ultimate stealth horn. People that listen with their eyes may see the small shank mouthpiece, but from the sound out the bell it will be nearly impossible to tell.

If it works for Ralph Sauer, it can't be too bad.
Andy

[bimmerman]

I know I mentioned this to another member here, but for others' reference, the slide does not accept large shank .547 leadpipes without modification. Probably unsurprising.

I do not know whether a Shires/Conn large-shank .525 specific pipe will fit with suitable threads, only that the .547 Edwards pipes only fit in the receiver when cut to about 3" in length. But, since the mouthpiece end of a .547 pipe does fit, I would expect a large-shank .525 pipe to work. Just gotta find one, as Edwards doesn't make one.

I really like my .525/547 Edwards slide. It made that horn a true do-anything-that's-legit-y horn. I have .525, the .525 duo, and a .547 tenor crook slide. The duo really is the sweet spot for most of what I play.

[Matt K]

I know I mentioned this to another member here, but for others' reference, the slide does not accept large shank .547 leadpipes without modification. Probably unsurprising.

I do not know whether a Shires/Conn large-shank .525 specific pipe will fit with suitable threads, only that the .547 Edwards pipes only fit in the receiver when cut to about 3" in length. But, since the mouthpiece end of a .547 pipe does fit, I would expect a large-shank .525 pipe to work. Just gotta find one, as Edwards doesn't make one.

I really like my .525/547 Edwards slide. It made that horn a true do-anything-that's-legit-y horn.

Yeah, you can't fit 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound sack! Although the difference between 547 and 525 is nominal so its possible getting it buffed down to fit might work but given the range of options for the 525 horns, it's not worth that effort.

The reason I said "if" is that some medium bore slides don't have enough size at the receiver end for large shank mouthpieces (like the Bach 36). If the collar is the same as the large bore, it shouldn't be a problem. Especially if you use an instrument innovations adapter.

The other large shank options are... possibly Rath? But definitely Shires. You'd be looking for the "MT" series. Note that the Ralph Sauer leadpipe 'proper' in the sense that it is stamped RS is actually a 547 pipe; that is because the Shires convention is to not label any 547 pipes other than the taper but 525 pipes are M (small shank 525) or MT (large shank 525). There are also M and MT RS pipes; so if you buy one make sure its the right size. I made that mistake a few weeks ago. Fortunately Horn Guys was cool about returning it; they didn't even know that it came in the 525 options.

[bimmerman]

Yea. I had an extra .547 pipe so I chopped it to fit the .525. Totally does fit and screw in, also totally unusable as a leadpipe (for me)-- it's shorter than a stock LT16M pipe by the time the OD of the pipe matches the ID of a .525 tube.

I wonder if Brassark would do large shank .525s....

[Matt K]

Yea. I had an extra .547 pipe so I chopped it to fit the .525. Totally does fit and screw in, also totally unusable as a leadpipe (for me)-- it's shorter than a stock LT16M pipe by the time the OD of the pipe matches the ID of a .525 tube.

I wonder if Brassark would do large shank .525s....

Well there's obviously two ways to do it. The first is to do what you did, which is reduce the length. The problem with that is you're taking out basically all if not all of the taper, which normally occurs a little later in the pipe if I'm remembering correctly.

The other way is to make it thinner. .547 - .525 = .022" which is not a lot of material. Granted, there isn't a lot of material to begin with. That would maintain the taper.

Of course, as I mentioned, you can get a stock pipe with that size so it's probably better to go that route regardless. I would be really surprised if Brassark couldn't do a large shank receiver I'm just not aware of them ever making one. I will say that I thought about having them make me their MV 36 pipe with a large shank until I got the Conn X. I might eventually experiment more... maybe... but it plays so well for me that I hardly see any reason to. It makes sense though, my horn is a Shires bell section setup sort of like a Conn 88... 2RVET7 bell, rotor section so it would make sense that a pipe designed for a similar horn would work as well as it does.

[CornyBone]

I honestly can't praise dual-bore slides enough. I mentioned in another post that I switched to a dual bore from a straight large bore last summer, and it's been night-and-day for me with playing. I love it to pieces and will never part with it. I personally prefer small shank on it, especially with 5- 6 1/2 sized mouthpieces. But I think it really just comes down to personal preference.

[PhilE]

Shires make a 0.525 lead pipe that takes a large shank mpc as does Brad Close.

[Jimkinkella]

Dual bore slides are awesome, most leadpipes that accept large bore mouthpieces are not.
The Conn is mediocre at best, I don’t recommend it.
I haven’t tried the Brass Medic / Brassark, but Brad does make great stuff.
For me the change to a similar but different mouthpiece, usually with the same backbore is kind of refreshing.
I will be talking to Brad and Noah about trying that pipe though, could be interesting...

[Tbarh]

Keep the 525 leadpipe (if its good enough for Ralph Sauer....), and if You have a genuine V. Bach 3 Mount Vernon its a no-brainer..

[LOJZ]

Hello to all in this thread.I would also give my opinion about leadpipes for SL2547 slide for my CONN 88HCL.
I tested H and T for small shank mouthpiece but found out,that X-large bore mpc option works better for me,but probably there is possibly better leadpipe on the market. I mean,X works nice,but comparing to playing with .547 slide,it is large bore slide more open and easier to play.
Share your opinions,which leadpipe would give me kind of same result on my 2547 slide.
THANKS

[ChadA]

I use a Conn SL2547 with the large shank X leadpipe very frequently. I love it. I have a second X leadpipe that’s been cut down a bit and is more open, but I prefer they stock pipe. I tried one of the Shires MT pipes in that slide (might’ve been the RS). I liked the way it played but it didn’t really fit properly and would have been very difficult to make fit.

On bass I use a 562/578 dual bore slide. I’ve played concerts where both horns were needed, meaning I had four different bores going,