What is a Medium Shank?

[JoelKelley]

Try as I might I can not find a mouthpiece that is listed with this feature, could someone please help.

[EdwardSolomon]

It's what the Germans call Baritonschaft. This is often referred to as 'Euro' shank. It sits midway between large and small shank and it is commonly found on older European baritones and trombones.

[pompatus]

Medium shank, sometimes called European shank, is most often found on older euphoniums. The shank, as you might guess, is in between small (tenor) shank and large (bass) shank. I used to have a Denis Wick 4AM to fit a Willson euphonium I played through undergrad, but sold it after I sold that horn. It’s fairly common to see old Besson and Boosey & Hawkes euphoniums in medium shank, as well.

Many mouthpiece manufacturers will make a medium shank these days, but it may be a special order item. I believe Doug Elliott has a medium shank listed on his website for certain series of his mouthpieces.

[ghmerrill]

Wick lists a number of euph mouthpieces in medium shank: https://www.deniswick.com/wp-content/up ... -Chart.pdf. Other makers do as well. There's additional information on Dave Werden's forum about this. Here's an example: http://www.dwerden.com/forum/entry.php/ ... yO0wadKiUk.

And, as mentioned, Doug makes them for his mouthpieces. I have one for my oval Amati euph.

[BGuttman]

Also please note that Medium Bore trombones generally do NOT have a Medium Shank mouthpiece. They take small (standard) shank mouthpieces.

[afugate]

Please note: If this question is concerning a mouthpiece for a medium bore horn as being discussed in a separate thread of yours , then don't worry. Most medium bore horns, like my Yamaha 645 - and the King 3B+ mentioned in that thread, use a small shank mouthpiece.

I *think* there are a few medium bore horns that have large bore leadpipes and therefore take a large shank MP, but they are the rare exception.

--Andy in OKC

[heinzgries]

You can get all Mouthpieces from Klier, Tilz, Schmidt with the option bariton/euro shank

[ghmerrill]

And you can get Klier through Dillon in the US. They're a bit spotty in terms of what Klier items they have in stock, but they will order for you (and you can even return it after that if you aren't happy with it). If they don't have what you're looking for in stock, it will probably take several weeks for them to get it. But they're great to work with.

[BGuttman]

I think this discussion is probably moot since the OP was talking about a mouthpiece for a medium bore trombone.

[ghmerrill]

Definitely tricked by the "Medium Shank" title. But a lot of this terminology can be confusing until you get experience with it -- especially the shank sizes that can appear in the case of bartiones/euphoniums/tubas (American, European, Old British, etc.).

[JoelKelley]

Yes but on the Yamaha website it has it listed as requiring a medium shank mouthpiece..I really didnt know that they existed before now.

[BGuttman]

Yes but on the Yamaha website it has it listed as requiring a medium shank mouthpiece..I really didnt know that they existed before now.

That's just WRONG. The Yamaha 640 takes a standard (small) shank mouthpiece.

[Kingfan]

Local music store was selling cheap Chinese copy horns (Mendini?) brand new that took a medium shank. I pity the parents that bought a trash horn anyway, and to make it worse couldn't find replacement/upgrade mouthpieces.

[Matt K]

Which horn are you referring to? Looks like the 640 is indicated appropriately here:

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical ... oduct-tabs

Might be wroth specifically pointing to the page so that if someone else has that question, when they google it hopefully this thread pops up detailing why the information is incorrect! Might help someone in the exact situation in the future!

[JoelKelley]

No... 445g?

[BoneRob]

I remember being tripped up by this when I first started looking at medium bore horns as well. For instance, Yamaha lists the specs for the 446G as using a medium shank:

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical ... oduct-tabs

I now know that it takes a regular shank like other tenor horns. Yamaha should really change that page.

[Matt K]

Ah yes, I see it!

448G/446G

(They have at least fixed it for the 630 series instrument and the other medium bores that I can find). So it should look like this for the 446G:

Level	Intermediate Tenor
Key	Bb/F
Bore	ML:0.525"
Bell Diameter	8-1/2"
Shank	Small
Leadpipe	Yellow brass; Fixed
Body material	Yellow Brass
Bell Material	Gold brass; One-Pice
Weight	Standard
Finish	Clear Lacquer
Inner Slide	Chrome-plated nickel silver; Drawn
Outer Slide	Brass; Drawn; One-piece
Mouthpiece	48
Features	F-Attachment
Pistons/Rotors	Hand lapped; String linkage

[Doug Elliott]

Cut it open and see what it looks like on the inside. Medium should be pink.

[Kingfan]

Cut it open and see what it looks like on the inside. Medium should be pink.

Or the medium could get you in contact with your deceased trombone.