French Horn Mouthpiece

[BMBob]

Yeah...sorry. I hate waiting forever for shipping.

[Shadow_7]

Yeah...sorry. I hate waiting forever for shipping.

Ditto.

I got an email yesterday that showed the M1 as "processing", but the one this morning said, next year. Guess I didn't make the cut. Maybe they'll send my mouthpiece pouch since it is now in stock. So I can at least look cool at the first camp.

[Shadow_7]

Anyway, I got my M1 today. But I am realllllllllyyyyy pissssssed at FedEx and wwbw. Apparently their Idea of "delivery" is placing a plain brown box in a clear plastic bag NEXT TO MY TRASH CANS. Note: My trash cans about about 100 yards from the house / front door.

And since I ordered this piece over a month ago, and wwbw did NOT give me a tracking number, or even sent an email for that matter, I didn't know it was my order. I literally threw this box in the trash. Which picks up TODAY. Had I not asked the other members of this household about it, since we don't have/use clear plastic bags, IT WOULD HAVE GONE OUT WITH THE TRASH.

Tis the season for bbb.org complaints. I don't appreciate almost throwing away my $106 order because someone can't communicate. Although I'm still missing 1/3rd of the order in the form of a shilke 13a4a as I wonder if it suffered a similar fate. Had someone else had taken the trash out, it would have. Note: this order was placed Nov. 15th, Today is Dec. 16th.

[Shadow_7]

Talked to my neighbor, apparently FedEx delivered one of their packages by opening the garage and placing it on the lawn mower, then closing the garage. Had they not gone out to do some cleaning, it probably would have sat there over a year.

Anyway, the M1. It has a really sharp rim, really really sharp. I don't think I'll be marching this piece, unless I can find one with a wide rim. The Stork M1 appears huge, even next to the Schilke 31 which has a .5mm larger rim. I'm not warmed up or adapted to it yet, but it appears to play more open than the 31, which is what I was wanting. The cup is much deaper than the 31. Imagine the cup being as deep as your pinky, that's the impression I get. Really really deep.

[BMBob]

Good luck adjusting to your new piece. It always takes a while.

[randomnoise]

I play on a Schilke 30. Have had the same mouthpiece for 30 years, and I would be lost without it. Schilkes seem to vary a bit from mouthpiece to mouthpiece - try as many as you can before you buy.

In our section, most play on the 30 or the Holton Farkas MDC. These are both good marching mouthpieces - comfortable rim and medium cup.

The 31 and the Storks have never been good for me (rim too narrow), but I am sure they work great for others. Love the Schilke 32 for 4th horn!

[Shadow_7]

I play on a Schilke 30. Have had the same mouthpiece for 30 years, and I would be lost without it. Schilkes seem to vary a bit from mouthpiece to mouthpiece - try as many as you can before you buy.

Thanks for the input.

I like the way the M1 is playing for me. Even though my chops are a little dry, chapped, and tense/swollen today. I can't seem to get the same louder volume laser sound that I get a little too easily on the 31. If only it had a thicker rim, I might consider marching the M1.

I've considered getting a Schilke 32. If only for the larger throat, but it might be a too little wide of an inner rim for me. From what I've gathered off of google, the 29 and 27 are popular, but I didn't want to go there as they're probably too small and not well suited to drumcorps. I like the schilke rims, I don't think I've run across a schilke rim I didn't like. Although the plating seems to scratch and pit a little to easily. If it's a piece I use a lot I tend to replace it bi-annually, just to get fresh plating. Maybe I'll actually pop for gold plating someday.

I'm a little weary of Holtons, as there's no official specs, same with Conn's. But a medium deep cup is along the lines of what I'll end up using eventually. I consider the 31 as just a medium cup, even though it might spec as a medium deep cup. And the M1 is definitely a deep cup. I haven't really scoped out the 30, but it might be the next logical step. Playing loud on the 31 is a chore, and you don't get all that great of a sound on it when you do.

I live in the country so having a place to try before you buy would probably involve a 200 mile oneway roadtrip. I'd probably spend more in gas than I would on the piece or several pieces for that matter. Or hundreds of dollars and several years in shipping.

Thanks for the input. At least I know I'm sort of in the right ball park.

[ravedodger]

I can't remember the dimensions of the 31B, but have you tried it? I have one and love it, but only when I'm playing low.

[Shadow_7]

Anyway I called FedEx customer support and filed my complaint. 1-800-GoFedEx

The automated phone system goes on and on and mentions nothing about filing a complaint, even though their webpage says it's the number you call for a complaint. But if you mention filing a complaint long enough and loud enough it eventually connects you to an operator. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to understand you, let me connect you to an operator.

The operator was good about taking my complaint. I guess I'll hold off on the BBB complaint till after my other shipments finish arriving. I was able to verify that I didn't accidently do to the other half of this shipment that I almost did to this shipment. As it has not yet been shipped according to FedEx. My Schike 13a4a is still safe (somewhere).

Of course this box, was delivered two days ago according to their records. Placed in front of two full trash cans in a trash bag. And it has been sitting in my front yard for TWO days. According to the operator he was supposed to come to the door. Although in fairness the middle gate was closed as the dog was in the front yard. But only because wwbw didn't send me any indication that it had shipped to start with and I wasn't expecting it till January as listed in their last email 11/29 about my order.

Anyway, I like the M1. I'm just afraid to practice anything range-ey as I might start drawing blood. It really is that thin of a rim. It's dynamic range is quite impressive, I can play much louder on the M1 than the 31. And the M1 is deep enough that my low end is better than the 31. We'll see how I feel about it a couple weeks from now.

[Shadow_7]

I can't remember the dimensions of the 31B, but have you tried it? I have one and love it, but only when I'm playing low.

I haven't tried that one. I just got the 31 because it was popular a decade plus ago, when I last had an inclination to play french horn. And wanted something common and cheap to play horn with. And I used the Schilke 31 for a short stint in the Army Band so our only true MOS french horn player could take a day or two off and be there for his wife and new baby. I think I ultimately loaned it to him and he apparently liked it as I never got that one back.

Anyway, my M1, wow. This is such a better match for me. Although the deep cup might not be well suited for outdoors, the medium thin rim certainly isn't. My accuracy in about 4x's better on the M1. And the more open feel of the deep cup and larger throat makes it more comfortable to push Euph air though such small tubing. Although it's probably a hit on the range, not that I have much to start with. I was hoping the smaller rim would help with range too. In time I guess. Or maybe if I get one with a bigger than "medium thin" rim on it, so I can use my other chop.