MK Drawing Sterling Leadpipes

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mrdeacon
Posts: 1225
Joined: May 08, 2018

by mrdeacon »

Hi Everyone!

What are your experiences with MK Drawing sterling pipes vs their other offerings?

I was surprised that the bass GR sterling pipe I just received was the same length as my yellow brass bass GR pipe.

I thought sterling pipes were usually longer than standard? Or is that just a rule of thumb for tenor trombones?
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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

The sterling pipe in the Edwards 396-AR is shorter than their standard yellow brass pipes.
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muschem
Posts: 372
Joined: Jan 17, 2021

by muschem »

Some makes do have a standard length difference for sterling. Most of my Edwards pipes have been around 9"-9.5" in length for the brass version, and around 10.5" for the sterling version. This pattern seems to generally hold true for bass through small bore tenor pipes that I've had from Edwards. For Shires, my non-sterling pipes measure around 8.75" for .525-.562 (7.5" seems to be the standard length for small bore and alto), while the sterling version is the same as the "long" version of the non-sterling pipes at 9.75" (the extra-long versions are usually an inch longer, at 10.75"). You can find some special designs that buck the trend - like the sterling AR pipe that norbie2018 mentioned above.

As far as I know, MK Drawing does not typically make their sterling pipes longer than the non-sterling versions. I have both the MK42 and MK50 pipes in sterling as well as other materials. Both of those designs are the same length in sterling as they are in other materials. MK Drawing isn't alone in this - the sterling pipes I have from Brad Close are the same length as the non-sterling versions.
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mrdeacon
Posts: 1225
Joined: May 08, 2018

by mrdeacon »

Mike thank you for the confirmation!

I’m not the biggest fan of sterling pipes but in certain horns they really work well. My MK GR sterling pipe is definitely a better fit in my R9 than my old yellow brass MK GR pipe.
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Tbarh
Posts: 505
Joined: Aug 16, 2018

by Tbarh »

What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?
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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

[quote="Tbarh"]What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?[/quote]

Makes it more expensive ... ;)
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Rusty
Posts: 470
Joined: Jun 01, 2018

by Rusty »

[quote="Tbarh"]What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?[/quote]

I have a Shires sterling silver bass pipe, and you’d best describe it as a very dense sound. Response was good and the attacks were fairly weighty, and it seemed to hold together well at higher dynamics, but I’d say felt harder to manipulate the colour than a yellow brass pipe.