Yamaha 891Z leadpipe differences

[DrTbone43]

Hello all. For those of you who play the 891Z bone, what differences do you hear with either the Gordon or Martin leadpipes?
One brighter than the other? Sure would enjoy hearing from other bone players who have this horn.
For me the Martin is a bit darker while the Gordon is a bit brighter.

[Burgerbob]

As far as I know, all the players I know on these use the same leadpipe... I think it's the NY.

[imsevimse]

I play that horn and I can not hear a difference between the two original pipes. The feel is different but not the sound. I use the Andy Martin leadpipe. On my f-att 891Z (892ZX) I use a Conn 32 replica pipe in copper build by Noah Gladstone. It colur the horn more.

/Tom

[Fidbone]

I play on the NY, It's more a feel thing!
I feel the NY is more centred with my Doug Elliot D series Mpc.
If you take into consideration that The LA pipe "supposedly" played by Andy Martin on an 11C sized piece and the NY played by Wycliffe on a 6.5 sized piece maybe the choices and reasons were made there.
I believe most play the NY...... I definitely prefer the NY all day long.
The bone itself will sound like you playing it overall

[brtnats]

I recorded both quite a bit last summer. I agree that the feel is different, but the sound was different too on the recordings. The NY pipe centers faster, helps with sharper attacks and loud volumes. I find it a more brassy, trumpety sound, with a 5-6 sized piece. The LA pipe sounds smoother and darker for me with the same mouthpiece. I find it a touch less centered and a bit more airy unless I’m using a 12C.

I use both. When I play indoor jazz gigs into a mic and the volume isn’t that high, I like the tonal flexibility of the LA. Most of the time though, I’m playing unamplified traditional jazz or ska and using the NY pipe with a Wycliffe “Master” from Pickett. **Amazing combination.**

I had one of the 32H copper pipes and did not like it with my current mouthpiece setup.

[bassclef]

Of the two which came with the horn, I use the NY pipe.

In my opinion, there's not a huge difference in sound between the pipes, but I'll admit I've spent a total of about 30 minutes with the LA pipe. There's a bigger difference in feel between the two which caused me to choose the NY almost immediately. The LA is shorter than the NY and feels a little more "open", wider slots, responds just a bit slower (for me), etc. I like the NY because it gives me some focus which I don't have to provide, instant response, easy clear articulations and has some resistance to blow against when it's time to light things up.

Now that I have a screamin' high and loud salsa band job out of the way, I'm going to work with a Kanstul Herrick H8 for a while. This one could be pretty interesting.

[hyperbolica]

I had one of those horns for a while, and I used the NY. Everybody I heard of/from used the NY. It felt like it responded better and gave me more of the feel I wanted with the NY pipe. There might have been a sound difference, but it wasn't nearly as big as the feel difference to me. If the horn doesn't feel right, you're not going to make it sound very good either.

[DrTbone43]

Thank you folks for your insight on leadpipes. I concur with the majority of you, the NY pipe plays and feels better for me.