What is the purpose of the ring by the mouthpiece receiver, for example on a King 5B?

Thanks

[quote="walldaja"]What is the purpose of the ring by the mouthpiece receiver, for example on a King 5B?

Thanks[/quote]
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It's for your index finger if you have small hands or if you simply prefer to hold it that way.

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Larger bore horns have more distance between the upper and lower slides, at least on the King horns, so smaller hands can't alway fit the index finger comfortably around the leadpipe on large bores. The ring is so the index finger doesn't have to stretch so much. I have big hands. I just got my 4B (same slide as a 5B, just bigger bell) out and experimented. I could just get the first pad of my finger over the lead pipe area. I was able to get my second finger joint over the ring, holding the horn a lot more securely and comfortably. I also tested my smaller bore 3B - my index finger was able to get the first joint on top of the lead pipe area and wrap the fingertip around to the other side, so I could hold it easily. PM me with an e-mail address and I would be happy to send pictures explaining what I said.