Gnostic

:)

Tootsall

Lots of talk about annealing and it's effect on a mouthpiece. Annealing is the heating and then SLOW COOLING of an object with the intention of removing stresses built up from "cold working". An example of this is to take a coathanger and bend it back and forth several times in one spot. Notice how it's getting warmer and then gets brittle where the bending action is happening? What is occuring in the metal is that the crystals of the material are changing shape due to the deformation they are going under. When you anneal it, you heat it up, allowing the crystals to reform (and the stresses to reduce). The slow cooling then allows the crystals to "freeze" in their new shape/position.

The following link shows cartridge brass (darn near identical to yellow brass in composition) which has been cold worked and then annealed.

http://www.n3mra.com/annealing.html

Now...when you turn a brass rod in a lathe and cut parts of it away, the stresses can be built up from a) the original formation of the rod (provided it has not been annealed up until "now"), b) the pressure from the cutting tool, and c) the heat from the cutting tool.

Does this "work hardening" affect the tone of a mouthpiece? Hmmm .... bet my ears can't hear the difference....nor can my face feel the difference once the m/p has been plated.

An interesting side bar: Beer bottles are made by blowing molten glass into a mould that opens and closes like a clamshell. Because the mold takes the heat out of the glass very quickly and unevenly, the new beer bottles contain a LOT of stresses: in fact, once they've cooled down and you tap them with a pencil, they'll explode. So those newly "minted" beer bottles are then passed through a long furnace that slowly heats them up, holds them at that temperature, and then VERY SLOWLY cools them down (looks a lot like an automated pizza oven). Then you get "annealed glass" that won't cause you to spill your beer (and cut your fingers!)

What has beer got to do with trumpets? Heck...I thought EVERYBODY knows the answer to that one! :?

JACKKANSTUL

But it makes a big difference in a "Resonating Tube" which is what makes a brasswind instrument. A Tapered Tube to boot all wraped up. Now that's a difficult thing to get a handle on.

Jack Kanstul

rhdroc

I've been fortunate enough to have owned both an original Monette LT MF-II and the new Kanstul replica, the M-MF II. Except for the softer bite on the M-MF II, both pieces played, felt, and sounded very close. Since purchasing the M-MF II, I also purchased a M-BL3. Once it arrives I anxious to compare the two!!

---<Rick

trickg

I've only had the opportunity to play on a couple of Monette mouthpiece and the only Kanstul Mouthpiece that I have played is a Kanstul flugel setup that I own. That being said, right out of the gate, there are several reasons that I would choose the Kanstul "copy" (if it can really be called that) over the Monette.

The first reason for me is price. I have a hard enough time justifying to my wife that I want to purchase yet another trumpet accessory and if I presented her with the bill for what a Monette costs, she'd lose her mind!

Second, but probably more importantly, is consistency. Someone mentioned above that every Monette mouthpiece is different. Well, I got news for you. If something should happen to my mouthpiece, such as it getting lost or stolen, I don't want to spend that kind of money for a replacement that probably isn't going to feel or play the same.

Third, as many of you might already know, I have a real problem with the Monette pricing system. Chiefly, I think that they are waaaaay too high priced and I believe that better can be had for less. Case in point, Kanstul mouthpieces.

Just my 2¢