rowuk

There is a lot of VOODOO concerning weight. Much of what can be accomplished with weight, can also be accomplished with bracing. That being said, there are several types of interfaces on a trumpet, some "tunable" some not. Any place we solder the tubing together we have to make sure that we have a perfectly smooth transition or a planned step. The resonance in this area can be controlled by the solder joint, bracing and thickness of the tubes. The "movable" parts like slides are generally suspended by a layer of grease and therefore not "damped" like the rest of the horn. The manufacturers use various bracing patterns to optimize the resonance of these parts. The mouthpiece is a different situation. We have a metal to metal contact, but not at solid as a solder connection and we have no bracing. The only way that we can control the resonance here is to optimize the mass. Heavier is not better unless it is part of the total design, just like MegaTone mouthpieces are not universal answers for all players. The effect of the receiver cannot be simply defined as "better slotting, intonation" or whatever. It is dependent on the rest of the horn-including the mouthpiece and bracing.

If we look at horn design, the instrument is an amplifier. Any modification at the mouthpiece end gets amplified most and therefore causes the greatest change in sound and feel! My rule of thumb is: on trumpets not designed for mass, adding it makes the slotting better at the cost of intonation. This leads to drilling the mouthpiece out to make the intonation "fuzzier" which makes the slotting less prominent. No net gain with a frankentrumpet.

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.