Interchangeable Euphonium Leadpipes

[Micah.Dominic.Parsons.]

Hello everyone,

I was rather curious to find out if there has ever been a Euphonium made which has an interchangeable leadpipe?

I have noticed that lots of Trombone's have interchangeable leadpipes which allow the player to use leadpipes made up of different materials to allow the player to change their instrument to suit a certain genre or performance style.

I was wondering if this had ever been a feature on a Euphonium before and if so what brand of instrument had explored interchangeable leadpipes.

Best Wishes,

Micah Dominic Parsons

[Bennim]

I know Jupiter makes a euphonium called the JEP 1000M that has a lead pipe you can replace with one that lets you hold it on your shoulder like a contrabass bugle for marching. Really neat but not really practical for anything.

[davewerden]

I think a removeable leadpipe would be fun, but it also compromises the design and stability. On some horns, like Adams, the leadpipe is soldered to the bell, and I assume that was a design decision for sound/response reasons. And anything that moves or can be removed is inherently less stable, which could make a difference in this critical area.

Sterling made a horn with removeable leadpipes as a vehicle for me to try different designs back to back. They sent me 3 different pipes and I tested each, then chose the best one. It because the final design at that time.

That was done shortly before my Japan tour, and it is the horn in my publicity photo they used for a poster. The full poster is below. But the Japanese are quite observant, and people started asking about that "feature"!

Anyway, Paul made an extended tightening screw, which is circled in the closeup photo. In the small clip I outlined in red the valve-end attachment. At the mouthpiece end there was also a thumbscrew, but it is hidden behind the pipe.

[MarChant]

Not so much leadpipes, but Hirsbrunner (used to) supply 3 different sized Mouthpiece receivers: Small, Medium and Large to be used with different sized mouthpiece shanks.

[davewerden]

Not so much leadpipes, but Hirsbrunner (used to) supply 3 different sized Mouthpiece receivers: Small, Medium and Large to be used with different sized mouthpiece shanks.

Right! The Wessex Sinfonico also has that system. These don't go against my hesitations above - they screw in and make a solid connection.

[stevevaughn]

Sterling made a horn with removeable leadpipes as a vehicle for me to try different designs back to back. They sent me 3 different pipes and I tested each, then chose the best one. It because the final design at that time.

Matt Good of the Dallas Symphony also had (has?) a similar horn, the Meinl Weston 2265, which came with 4 interchangeable leadpipes to test and ultimately he ended up removing the interchangeable hardware and soldering the preferred leadpipe onto the horn.

[Micah.Dominic.Parsons.]

Hello everyone,

I have been rather fascinated to read all your comments in regards to interchangeable leadpipes!

I often wonder with the different materials which are currently on offer for the Euphonium if this could be a viable system to include on a Euphonium in the future!

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me!

Best Wishes,

Micah Dominic Parsons