6H Ergonomics

[OneTon]

Has anyone experienced (extreme) discomfort from playing a Conn 6H? I had an abused 6H after college that was never comfortable for me to hold. I had practiced 4-5 hours a day plus rehearsals on an 88H or 42B in college. I was always able to play through that. Last night I got out a 6H that I purchased before COVID. An hour into it the pain was excruciating. I quickly remembered why I never played it much.

[BGuttman]

1. Are you trying to hold it the same way you hold the 88H? You are supposed to wrap your thumb around the bell brace on the 6H.

2. I find that with many small bores I have to make the dihedral angle more than 90°. This is less of a problem with most of the Conns I own but is very important with a King 2B/3B or an Olds.

3. Do you have a counterweight? The horn can be very nose heavy if you don't have one.

[OneTon]

1) I have not had or played an 88H for almost 50 years, truthfully. I have my thumb around the bell brace similar to a 6B, LT42AG, and 79H. I get the “dent” in my index finger pretty quickly.

2) Do you mean closing or opening from the 90 degree angle?

[Kevbach33]

You might try holding it so the cross brace is between your middle and ring fingers. This is what I do, and it helps me hold my 6H with greater comfort than having the brace between index and middle. You'll also be less likely to be pinched by the cork barrel and the outer slide.

Of course, this means the "dent" you speak of will be on your middle finger, but it'll appear much later if at all.

[hyperbolica]

The dent should be on your middle finger. Index finger should rest on the mouthpiece receiver area. In place of a dent on my middle finger, I have a big callous. I play a 48h, which is similar to a 6h, and I've owned 6hs in the past. Also grew up on an 88h. I never found the 6 or 48h uncomfortable. Maybe the slide is a little narrow, but not bad. Definitely need a counterweight. Can you show a photo of your grip?

[OneTon]

I had my digits mixed up. I was never exposed to finger math. The is on the 2nd finger, the politically incorrect one. I have a permanent callius on it. It usually did not start being annoying until 3 or 4 hours on the 88H. It gets uncomfortable and painful in about 30 minutes, then and now on the 6H. I plan to try Bruce’s suggestion of closing the bell to slide angle, tomorrow, after my hand recovers. Thank you all. The counter weight is present. I have added counter weights to Olds, a Bach LT42G, and some Bach 6 trombones. I never removed one.

[BGuttman]

The dihedral angle should be obtuse (>90°). I found more acute angles caused the neckpipe to dig into my neck. Also, put the middle finger on the mouthpiece side of the brace. I put mine in an imaginary finger ring like you would find on a large bore King.

[Burgerbob]

Yup, I always found my 6H to be pretty uncomfortable. Short cork barrels and really sharp ferrules.

[dbwhitaker]

I get the “dent” in my index finger pretty quickly.

If the dent (and associated pain) is the problem then that can be solved by wrapping some foam pipe tubing around the brace.

I do this on all my horns because of nerve problems in my left hand.