richardbailey

After some testing, I recently decided to make a switch to Monette Prana mouthpieces. I've had a B2M S3 for about a month and the adjustment seems to be going well and I'm happy with the results.

My questions/concerns are with the piccolo mouthpiece that I recently aquired. I play a Yamaha 9830 and after exchanging some email with Gretchen at Monette, I ordered a Prana AP2LS with a trumpet shank. The mouthpiece arrived new, directly from Monette, about 2 weeks ago.

At first glance, I noticed that there seemed to be a smallish defect in the plating at the end of the shank. I also noticed that the edge of the shank is much thicker than my other Prana (it's very thin and fragile looking) - even thicker than those of mouthpieces I have from other manufacturers. I was under the impression that the thinner shanks were characteristic of all the Pranas. Also, after closer inpection of the inside of the shank, that defect in the plating seems to continue into the shank about 1/4" - it looks the inside of the mouthpiece has been gouged with something.

In what is perhaps an unrelated issue, the horn plays almost a half-step higher than it did with my previous "standard" mouthpiece. I can compensate by pulling the leadpipe out (or by drastically lipping the notes flat - that's how it feels), but it's a bit unnerving to pull it out so far and I wonder about leadpipe gap (as opposed to mouthpiece gap).

So should I, or can I do anything about the apparent physical defect in the mouthpiece? I have been practicing with it so it is now "used".
Is the shank thickness appropriate for this model mouthpiece?
Is the intonation merely the result of my needing to continue to adjust to the "constant pitch center" and mechanics of the 'piece.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Richard