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wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:09 pm
by ttf_davdud101
So here's something I thought of today - I don't play way too much bass, but when I do, I use my Kelly 1.5g.
But this mouthpiece IMO seems to break up a little quickly and seems to be too "vibrant" to get a good core-ful bass sound on a tenor.

So my idea is to use some sort of very hard wood on a lathe to make something similar to basically what's found on the thick side of a Megatone, or one of those KGU Brass Boosters.

But I wanna see whether anyone has exprience with KGUBrass Booster, for example, or Megatones, particularly to let me know whether this kind of build would even has anything close to the desired effects. Image

wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:30 pm
by ttf_BGuttman
I did something like this using some bearing ends (a piece of hardware).

I found it did nothing to or for my upper range but made the trigger notes a little fuller (no effect on the straight horn range).  Then I had an accident and my tenor was laid up for a year.  I bought a substitute but my bearing ends didn't fit.  Guess what?  I still had that fuller trigger range.

I never tried this trick with a Kelly or any other plastic mouthpiece.  I don't think wood would do the trick -- not enough mass.  You'd need a horse collar of wood to make a difference.

Quick and dirty test: if you have plumber's solder wire, try putting a couple of wraps around the shank of your mouthpiece and see if it helps.  If it does, go ahead and make something else.  You don't necessarily need the bearing caps I used.  A friend of mine used a pack of 6 or so fender washers (1/2 inch hole and 1 inch outside diameter).

wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:34 pm
by ttf_robcat2075
If it's about more mass you could gob a bunch of clay on it. That would be denser than wood.

But I am doubtful more mass is significant.

wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:53 pm
by ttf_davdud101
I'll give some of these tips a try, thanks guys.

Does it matter where the mass is placed - e.g. around the shank vs. surrounding the cup

wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 5:38 pm
by ttf_bonesmarsh
1/2" brass collars for repairing 1/2" hose are less than $3 at Home Depot. Use sandpaper to shim down the collar of the Kelly to let the brass thingy slide on..apply with epoxy.


Works great and cheap.

Wraps of solder or wire will not work.

wood carve a "mouthpece deadener" for a Kelly?

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 5:38 pm
by ttf_bonesmarsh
1/2" brass collars for repairing 1/2" hose are less than $3 at Home Depot. Use sandpaper to shim down the collar of the Kelly to let the brass thingy slide on..apply with epoxy.


Works great and cheap.

Wraps of solder or wire will not work.