Bending brass..

[itai]

...Has any actual effect on the instrument (i.e intonation, blowing etc')?
For example, bending a mouthpipe 30 degrees as a modification..
Also I have seen people change slides of the same length with different tubings, any specifics on this matter?

[Dan Schultz]

...Has any actual effect on the instrument (i.e intonation, blowing etc')?
For example, bending a mouthpipe 30 degrees as a modification..
Also I have seen people change slides of the same length with different tubings, any specifics on this matter?

Anything and everything one does to a horn will change the characteristics of the horn. Some changes might be subtle and some might be dramatic.

In the industry... they used to call this prototyping. One can guess based on experience. But.... there's no real way to know the outcome until you make the changes.

[arminhachmer]

In the industry... they used to call this prototyping. One can guess based on experience. But.... there's no real way to know the outcome until you make the changes.[/quote]

Hey Dan, i think i understand your answer. Kinda. Maybe.
Now that you are in 'private practice' could that be called 'proto-tinker-typing' ?

[Dan Schultz]

In the industry... they used to call this prototyping. One can guess based on experience. But.... there's no real way to know the outcome until you make the changes.

Hey Dan, i think i understand your answer. Kinda. Maybe.
Now that you are in 'private practice' could that be called 'proto-tinker-typing' ?
[/quote]

Pretty much, Armin!

[dwerden]

I'm not sure of all the possible side effects, but it seems like basic logic would apply at least. If you bend the leadpipe, for example, and create an extra turn/curve it did not have, that would be more likely to affect things. But if you expertly bend the pipe so you just change the degree of curve, the effect would be less noticeable, I think. But changing it by as much as 30 degrees would make me hesitate a little. Think about all the effort manufacturers put into making curves more gradual, and try not to disrupt that concept much.

I know an endorser of the Adams euphonium, which I also play, who had his leadpipe's curve modified considerably (at the factory). It makes the body of the horn "point out" at a greater angle than standard. But this was only modifying the degree of curve, and at that it was lessening it, so I assume his results would be very good.

I would also think an inexperienced technician might do the bending less artfully, which could change the roundness of the bore. So I'd want a pretty good techie doing the work... or I'd want to feel like I really know what I'm doing before attempting it myself.