Euphonium Bell Covers (COVID)

[davewerden]

Good morning, All! I want to bring a conservation from Facebook over to this forum. Here is what I posted this morning.

BELL COVERS: has anyone found a good COVID-type bell cover that "plays" well? I'm trying one from a very high-quality company, but it puts me flat by 20 cents overall and is quite stuff. Tone is noticeably affected, too. Looking for a cover that is a little more friendly to the horn. Thanks!

One person suggested the Denis Wick cover. I had seen it, but so far can't find a USA source. Does anyone know if there is one? Or is there a British source with good service?

Then Doug Ruby posted this:

Dave. Check out the MoistureGuard bell covers. Available in the US now.

I see there is a USA site: https://www.moistureguardusa.com/pro...-moistureguard

But I don't see that they mention COVID protection specifically (they do say that shipping times may be affected because of COVID).

Here is more detail on my own complaints with the one I have:

I only have my tuning slide out about 1/4" normally, and with the bell cover on the best I can do is 20 cents flat on the tuning note, and on some notes that are normally a bit flat it gets much worse. That is my greatest concern. I can deal with a tone difference and the stuffy response.

So my questions are:

Doug: do you know if the MG covers are considered COVID protective?

Has anyone else found a cover they like, which is protective enough?

Thanks!

[daruby]

Dave,

All of the data and testimonials come from the UK site, https://www.moistureguard.co.uk

https://www.moistureguard.co.uk/about
https://www.moistureguard.co.uk/testresults
https://www.moistureguard.co.uk/faq

Doug

[Fujiifilm]

Steven Mead's online store looks like they have the DW bell covers for sale, so you should be able to order one through them.

I'm guessing that DF Music will probably get them as well at some point, since they seem to specialize in carrying the entire line of DW products.

[davewerden]

Steven Mead's online store looks like they have the DW bell covers for sale, so you should be able to order one through them.

I'm guessing that DF Music will probably get them as well at some point, since they seem to specialize in carrying the entire line of DW products.

Thanks! I have ordered a Wick euphonium, bass trombone, and baritone cover from Mead's shop.

Doug, I also ordered a euphonium, horn, and trombone cover from MoistureGuard.

I'll report more when I can compare them!

[davewerden]

Thanks to all who helped me figure this out. I have now done tests of bell covers from Torpedo/Cronkhite Bags, MoistureGuard, and Denis Wick, in that order. In my 3rd test I give a brief summary/comparison. While I was at it, I tested the Torpedo face mask for brass players. Here are the tests:

First test, Torpedo/Cronkhite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz3zLuNfxpY

Second test, MoistureGuard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3hgGpqIjnI

Third test, Denis Wick. This video has a graphic showing the sound attenuation of each bell cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOa9-gf3xMM

Torpedo/Cronkhite face mask, which has a zipper closure for dual use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwBFdGNjhg4

[daruby]

Thank you Dave! Terrific data.

[RickF]

Today I ordered the Wick bell cover from DF Music. Price is $8 and it came up $10 standard shipping. But they emailed me later to say they’re lowering the shipping to $5 since it’s so light. Nice that they did that.

Denis Wick Euphonium bell cover:

[RickF]

I also ordered the MoistureGuard (2ea) a day earlier. Beware, they're not large enough to fit 12" bell. They would fit a bass trombone or maybe 10" - 11" baritone. I know my bell is 12.2", but from watching Dave's video, looked like they would fit.

[daruby]

I also ordered the MoistureGuard (2ea) a day earlier. Beware, they're not large enough to fit 12" bell. They would fit a bass trombone or maybe 10" - 11" baritone. I know my bell is 12.2", but from watching Dave's video, looked like they would fit.

Rick,

I originally ordered a whole brass band set of Moistureguard covers from the UK. The euphonium covers were plenty big enough for my 11.8" (300mm) Sterling and my 12" Adams and would have fit a 310mm (12.2") bell as well. However, the euphonium covers I ordered from the US site were smaller. They would fit my Sterling but not my Adams.

Doug

[RickF]

Hmm? Thanks for that Doug. I've emailed the U.S. Supplier and see what they say.

[davewerden]

Rick, I would email MG and ask if they can send you (gratis) a larger cover. Mine was ordered from the U.S. site and fit the Adams comfortably. There may be different production runs involved or something, but they ought to fit!

[RickF]

Got an email reply this morning from Moisture Guard and they're sending out replacements.

"Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
It seems we have unfortunately been sent a bad batch from the manufacturers. We have now gone to a different batch which has been sent from the manufacturers who have tested the size of them. From this batch, we have chosen 2 that we have confirmed will fit and have repackaged them ourselves.


They have been mailed out today."

[davewerden]

Got an email reply this morning from Moisture Guard and they're sending out replacements.

"Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
It seems we have unfortunately been sent a bad batch from the manufacturers. We have now gone to a different batch which has been sent from the manufacturers who have tested the size of them. From this batch, we have chosen 2 that we have confirmed will fit and have repackaged them ourselves.
They have been mailed out today."

Mistakes happen. What builds customer loyalty (deservedly) is following up correctly!

[RickF]

Happy to report that Moisture Guard sent out two replacement bell covers to me – free if charge. They arrived about three days ago but my horn was in the shop for cleaning so couldn't check it out until today. Kudos to Moisture Guard!