Of shanks and men (now covered in the FAQ)

[ken k]

I forget.... (yes)

k;-)k

[Michael Bush]

Euro v. American Shanks

[MikeW]

OK, just a refresher for guys like me who can't remember what day it is. European shanks are larger than American shanks aren't they?

Perfectly correct. Except when they're smaller.

The American standard size is 0.519" in diamaeter at the tip (according to Bach)
(many other people say 0.520)

The Euro standard is 0.530 or 0.538, or 0.540 depending on who you ask

But there is a small Euro (known in America as the Eb size) which is only 0.490

[pecktime]

Needs a better title:

"shanks for the memories" or, "The Shawshank Redemption" perhaps?

[tbonesullivan]

The better question is usually "what shank size works best with my tuba"? Manufacturers could always put a little stamp on the end to let people know, but that would probably be too easy.

The trombone world has this as well, with Large, Small, and Remington shanks. There are also some leadpipe designs that are meant to have the mouthpiece farther into the receiver.

[MikeW]

The better question is usually "what shank size works best with my tuba"? Manufacturers could always put a little stamp on the end to let people know, but that would probably be too easy.

The trombone world has this as well, with Large, Small, and Remington shanks. There are also some leadpipe designs that are meant to have the mouthpiece farther into the receiver.

There used to be a table on the Kelly mouthpiece website that lists the sizes of the receiver openings expected by Kelly mouthpieces. Can't actually remember how you get to it tho, so it may not still be there...

Found it..http://www.kellymouthpieces.com/shanks/index.asp
(it's cunningly hidden behind a red link that says "Click here to view Shank Specifications")