any experiences with one of these contraptions???

[JCradler]

http://www.vansevers.com/pocket_info.html

Friend of mine told me about this one. I'll hold my opinion back until others chime in.

[Adam C.]

[tjonp]

Sounds pretty bogus to me.

[DonShirer]

I quote from his home page:

There are many things we don't know about audio and many of the things
we "think we know" are wrong.

I assume he is using the "royal" we.

Don S.

[Mudman]

Saw one at the ITF last year. A friend of mine dragged me into a classroom for some blind experimentation. He tried it, making various adjustments to the positioning of the wood dowels, and I also tried it. I couldn't hear any difference in sound production with or without the Pocket Rocket. My friend may have convinced himself that it changed his sound, but it was all psychological.

Bottom line: snake oil.

[Tom Holtz]

Looks good, John. Order seven for the section. We're going to smoke the D&B next parade season with these attached to the sousaphones.



PUT... THE MOUSE... DOWN...

STEP AWAY... FROM... THE COMPUTER...

YOU'RE GOING... TO BE... ALL RIGHT...

[Rick Denney]

http://www.vansevers.com/pocket_info.html

Friend of mine told me about this one. I'll hold my opinion back until others chime in.

The science is bogus.

Firstly--anything that fits in your pocket could not have a resonating chamber big enough to hear low brass frequencies.

Secondly--the thing in your pocket is being held tightly up against your leg, which is a gelatinous mass of tissue that has supreme damping characteristics.

Thirdly--something bulky in your pocket might take your mind off the mechanics of playing and make you sound better as a result on first trial. Once you got used to it, it would be back to the same old self-defeating mental processes. Sorta like a golfer trying to get rid of the yips by wearing his hat backwards.

I'm also suspicious of anything that is sold primarily on the basis of anecdotal empirical results from "fine players". In such as study, I might be considered a "fine player". How scary is that?

If it does something physical, then the physics can and should be explained so that those with a little science can evaluate it. Of course, I'm suspicious of those sorts of descriptions, too. Pseudo-science abounds.

Rick "who thinks this won't last long enough to achieve urban legend status" Denney

[JCradler]

A piece of wood that you keep in your pocket that makes you sound better?

And you believe this?

I would never buy one, but wish I was selling them you you guys...

I don't think any of us said we believe it! To the contrary, I was pretty sure most here(all) would think it's a load. Time for me to go practice...

[WoodSheddin]

http://www.vansevers.com/pocket_info.html

Friend of mine told me about this one. I'll hold my opinion back until others chime in.

Damn Jarheads

[Leland]

Looks good, John. Order seven for the section. We're going to smoke the D&B next parade season with these attached to the sousaphones.

I'll tell our guys that you said that...

I got a pocket rocket right here that'll make anybody sound better.

[KarlMarx]

Firstly--anything that fits in your pocket could not have a resonating chamber big enough to hear low brass frequencies.

You oughta be in the know. After all you hold the coveted list status as the "Residual Genitals"

Secondly--the thing in your pocket is being held tightly up against your leg, which is a gelatinous mass of tissue that has supreme damping characteristics.

If your legs at too gelatinous, any R&D department would order you back up on your bike. No motorised lawn moving will do.

I'm also suspicious of anything that is sold primarily on the basis of anecdotal empirical results from "fine players". In such as study, I might be considered a "fine player". How scary is that?

Very! And thats the euphemised version.

Carolus Marximus Responsivus ad Tief Frequentierte Purrs (senza ottone)

[Kevin Hendrick]

The science is bogus.

Yeah, I thought I smelled "rose food" ...

I got a pocket rocket right here that'll make anybody sound better.

Thanks anyway -- appreciate the thought -- but I don't really need another two octaves of high range ...

[Mark]

I suspect that they might work better if you removed the lacquer.

[Karl H.]

...anything that fits in your pocket could not have a resonating chamber big enough...

...the thing in your pocket is being held tightly up against your leg...

...something bulky in your pocket might take your mind off the mechanics of playing…


1. This sort of gratuitous filth has no place on a public bulletin board.

2. What's in someone's pocket doesn't matter: it's what's in their wallet that counts!

3. Send me the cost of a Pocket Rocket, and I’ll buy every Marine sousaphonist a quantity of malted beverage that I guarantee will make you all sound better (to yourselves).


Karl "who has numerous challenges and shortcomings, but enjoys a good laugh with the best of them" Hovey

[Chuck(G)]

Darned amazing what can be done with a bit of copper tubing and some scrap wood--turning it into bucks. But honestly, wouldn't it make the perfect accessory for one of these:



http://www.qray.com/



http://www.braintuner.com/biomirro.htm

Chuck "New heights of gullibility"(G)

[Chuck(G)]

3. Send me the cost of a Pocket Rocket, and I’ll buy every Marine sousaphonist a quantity of malted beverage that I guarantee will make you all sound better (to yourselves).

Karl, why not pass it over a magnet and advertise its healing capabilities? AFAIK, no one's offering magnetized beer yet...

http://www.drlam.com/opinion/magnetized_water.cfm

[MaryAnn]

I should not admit this, but I bit on the Acousticoil, based on the premise that it would be possible to somehow put a dent or bump in the piping somewhere in my F tuba and make the damn low C work better. (reference Lawson leadpipes, which are NOT bogus.)

When I sent it back they told me (sniff) that I was one of the extreme few who did. (The few who bothered to, in my opinion, put it back in the box and pay postage instead of just burning the thing or keeping it to show other hapless fools what not to buy.)

MA

[tubeast]

THANK YOU Chuck for sharing this valuable source of information with us. AT LAST I´ve come across THE answer to my questions concerning the recycling process of scrap brass instruments to the true benefit of ALL MANKIND. Serious, people, just check out the links at the end of that website and you´ll find out how to fix those problems you don´t have. ALL OF THEM. Reminds me of the ORGON ACCUMULATOR designed to focus orgon energy (you know, this chemical element ORGON has a negative enthropy, which is real neat ´cause you can charge water with that energy and sell it to people willing to pay 40$ a gallon, and MAAN, do I feel good with THAT stuff inside.
Geez, it´s crazy, in my home town, there´s a shop for this kind of stuff right by the expensive furniture and haute couture shops, and it has been surviving for SEVERAL years. I definitely have studied the wrong profession. Do something where the money´s at, not what you can be proud of.
Hans

[Chuck(G)]

The funny thing is that "education" is no guarantee that folks won't be fooled into this kind of stuff. I know a fellow who made a pretty decent extra paycheck by selling magnetic pads to university students and faculty.

And the neighborhood full of "well educated" professionals (well, okay, medical professionals) went nuts and were raising money to halt construction of an electical transmission line three miles east of here. Their logic was that the low-frequency magnetic field was going to harm them. I made some enemies when I opined that this was just plain stupid--electric field strength obeys an inverse-square relationship to distance. Iif they were worried, they might want pull all of the wiring out of their homes.. I really made some people sore when I asked if the lawyer they'd hired had ever pointed out this bit of freshman physics...

Several of these same folks fell for the plastic "laundry ball" that purported to clean clothes without detergent.

Now, if you'll pardon me, the "Add Water" indicator on my home cold fusion generator is blinking and needs attention...




Chuck "skepticism is very healthy"(G)

[Alex C]

I don't know about the Pocket Rocket but...

the octave key I had a local repairman install works great.