MK Drawing Sterling Leadpipes

[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?

[norbie2018]

The sterling pipe in the Edwards 396-AR is shorter than their standard yellow brass pipes.

[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.

[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.

[Tbarh]

What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?

[BGuttman]

What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?

Makes it more expensive ...

[Rusty]

What does Sterling silver do in a leadpipe Anyway ?

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.