I have a vintage Almont sterling piece in my collection and its super cool, but wayyyyyy to small for me to play for real, so I've never really gotten to know what a sterling piece is like. Having a solid sterling piece in your normal size, that's a whole new ballgame! It's difficult to describe sound and characteristics in words, but the best way I can explain my first reaction was that I could really "feel" the notes vibrating and responding in my chops. There was a depth to the sound and physical connection that I wasn't prepared for… the sound was smooth and full and brilliant and dense all at the same time. Upper register felt extremely solid and flexible and the low range wide and full but the middle register so focused and direct. This will be my career mouthpiece (until we go make a solid gold one!
)Full story and photos up on the journal/blog portion: www.brassark.com/journal
Here's a quick synopsis:
Melting the sterling at 1750 degrees
Rough casting of the underpart
Cutting the taper into the shank
Threads for the rim
Hand Carving the outer shape
Cutting the cup
Final piece!
