Leadpipe mod to improve high register?

[RJMason]

I have a Williams 7 that sounds great but the high register requires a lot of effort to slot and sound good above a High C. It sounds thin and often hard to lock in and miss partials when I’m soloing or really going for it.

I can pretty easily hit these extremely high notes on my 6H and 36B so I’m thinking it’s a design issue with the Williams itself. I’m wondering if a leadpipe mod could improve this? I’d prefer to use the Williams as much as possible because of its tone.

Does anybody have any luck with another leadpipe such as Shires to improve the slotting and stability of their vintage horn? I read a lot of guys back in the day would put Herrick pipes in their Williams but I don’t think I can get a hold of one of those.

Thanks for the advice!!

-RJ

[Bonearzt]

A lead pipe swap "might" help, but I would check the obvious suspects first; waterkey alignment, bad cork not sealing, leak around the w.key nipple, mouthpiece not seating well in the leadpipe, etc...

You might check with Chuck McAlexander to see if he has a Herrick or similar pipe, or just grab a few different pipes & try them out in a playing situation!
MAYBE try a different mouthpiece too, even one of the same you're playing now & see if that changes anything.

Eric

[blast]

Hey Eric....is Chuck back in business ?

Chris

[Matt K]

Shires #2 is my go to pipe for such a swap because it's available in all the common bore sizes and is usually good in whatever you pop it in even if it ultimately isn't the optimal pipe for the horn. It's also easy to use as a frame of reference that you can then use to make a decision about later. Eg. If the 2 is too open, go smaller. Closed - vide versa. More 'edge', perhaps trying the same pipe in nickel, so on and so forth.

[JohnL]

Legend is that the Herrick pipes were a common mod on Williams 6's used in the studios, so something in that general style might be the ticket.

[Bonearzt]

Hey Eric....is Chuck back in business ?
Chris

Hi Chris!
Not completely, but I think he may still have some stuff available on a very limited basis.

Eric

[Cmillar]

Check out the Brass Ark lead pipe model 32H.

It’s the single best way to improve a horn I’ve ever found. My Bach ‘16 slide/16Mbell/3B slide crook’ horn plays like a dream now.

Every aspect of range, sound, etc. is there now. I have to get used to not trying so hard now to make certain things happen!

Most of all, people out front love the sound... check it out.