Shortening Leadpipes

[tkelley216]

Does shortening a leadpipe throw off the taper in a way that would make it unplayable?

I tend to like shorter leadpipes and have a short sterling silver pipe in an Edwards T-302. However, I like the sound and response of brass leadpipes but find all three stock t302 leadpipes to be too long/tight for the horn (which is on the lighter, warmer side).

If I brought one of the stock brass leadpipes to a tech and had them slowly shorten the leadpipe until I find a length that I like, would that throw off the taper or anything else? Would it be better just to order a different leadpipe than risk ruining a perfectly good one that's just not to my tastes?

[Matt K]

I would personally just order a pipe in the length that you want, but brass pipes aren't as expensive, so you're less likely to end up with an expensive paperweight. Well, it may still be an expensive paperweight, but much less than an expensive paperweight.

Interestingly, normally extra length makes the sound more "centered" and shorter pipes make them more "open." The way you describe it, they are too light/warm. The problem with all of this, of course, is that putting words to the sensation that you feel when playing on an already subjective layer of what something sounds like is very tricky. For example, I typically also don't associate lighter and warmer, I normally associate lighter with brighter and darker with warmer. Is that "right?"

If I wanted more "zing", or a "brighter" sound I might even suggest trying a nickel pipe. But sometimes those are described as lighter or less flexible. If I wanted darker, I'd probably go for a shorter pipe or a bigger taper.

Something to consider is that as you change something, other things change. So if you say, "I like X about A but I like Y about B," you might really just be describing the inherent differences between them, rather than articulating an actual realistic "goldilocks" possibility. Every choice has tradeoffs! The sound and response of the brass pipes is probably largely because they are longer, though the sterling also makes a big difference. Hard to say exactly what ratio.

A couple of things to consider: The Brassark 32H pipe works well with the Edwards/Getzen's I've put them in. The copper pipe I have is excellent at balancing between being too bright and having a wide tonal palette. They do sell a 508 variant, and I have tried it on several horns and found it to be a very good "universal" pipe.

Something else, typically sterling pipes are longer than brass pipes. Yours being shorter is going to probably make it sound very dark/warm whatever adjective you put on it. Something that's the same length or longer might be good, albeit expensive.

If you want to try brass pipes and ar looking for more open, obviously go for a higher # taper, and a shorter cut. Just be prepared that this might make it play more like your sterling pipe. If you aren't married to them anyway, and are okay with potentially losing them, there's nothing inherently wrong with cutting but you may end up making a paperweight out of them. Crazy4tbone here has a fairly extensive collection of stock pipes that he's modified that way that almost universally play better than their stock counterpart. I tried a bunch of them a few years ago. If you don't want to destroy your Edwards/Getzen pipes, you may want to consider ordering some stock pipes and modifying them, though this depends on your overall budget, how much you value your time, etc. There are a zillion variables here and chances are, something close to stock/already exists, has had R&D time put into it, etc. is the direction I try to go with personally, unless I have a very good idea of exactly what I want.

[tkelley216]

Thanks Matt! Just to clarify- I would describe the horn as lighter and warmer, not necessarily the leadpipes. I like the more open sound and response I get from the shorter silver pipe, but I like the overtones and color that brass leadpipes have. My large bore is a Getzen 4147IB (which has a shorter brass stock leadpipe in it) and the T302 I picked out at the factory was what played and sounded the most similar to the Getzen (9176CF, rose tuning slide, yellow neckpipe, T508-1 handslide, no counterweight).

I'll consider getting a new pipe like the brassark 32h. My question was more about whether leadpipes are drawn and tapered to specific lengths or if they are just cut from a longer, gradually tapered tube (in which case shortening them shouldn't have that much of an impact).

[ghmerrill]

I have several lead pipes of different materials (MK and Brass Ark) that I shortened (about 3/8") for use on my Schiller (Chinese) 7B clone because they worked noticeably better that way, particularly in opening the double valve low register. After a LOT of experimentation with the Getzen 1052 I acquired about 6 months ago, I've settled on the (unmodified) brass Getzen #2 pipe that came with it because the slotting and Intonation is so much better with it (not a problem I'd seen on the other horn with the shortened lead pipes) and the timbre seems better. I think there are several critical variables at work here from horn to horn, but don't pretend to know what those actually are.

[brassmedic]

Leadpipes usually have a cylindrical portion at the end; the taper doesn't continue all the way. A good tech could measure the OD and determine how much could be cut off. You would be reducing the length of the part that actually forms the airtight seal inside the slide tube, but still should be OK if it's not overdone. Also, if you want to discuss making a custom pipe, I make the 32 pipe that you mentioned, so feel free to contact me.