TromboneChat

I’ve asked about this here before, but I still don’t understand why bell flares for cut bells are not yet for sale by the major makers of modular horns. I’ve expected it to be the next big thing but that prognosis seems off…
There is a thread here about sterling silver bells, I would be very curious to how a bell flare in silver would play with a brass stem, or the other way around (silver stem, brass flare). Any experiences with this, or theories? Only a stem or flare in silver should be cheaper and also change the character in more subtle ways, I assume.
I have some flares myself, different sizes and alloys, and find the possibility to switch bell characteristics while the rest of the horn plays the same very useful, I do it all the time. Curious about a silver flare though.

So... interestingly enough, forum member lmalewic had such a horn made. It was a screw bell King 3B made from two 3B bells, one 3BSS and one 3B (mine!) --- before he went with Yamaha as an artist. You can probably find threads here from him enumerating the differences. Obviously, he no longer plays them so I believe it wasn't as useful as one might hope. I might be able to search sometime this weekend if you don't see anything.

Dunno about sterling silver, but my Olds Studio has a brass stem with a nickel flare. It's not a screw bell; it's soldered that way. The Olds Specials were the opposite (nickel stem, brass flare).

It's difficult to describe what I believe it does (I don't have an all-brass bell as a "control") but it feels as though it provides more resistance to the blow because the materials don't vibrate as much when combined. I think it resonates just fine, but it does feel as though I'm blowing into more resistance.

I've heard people describe sterling bells as "hard to overblow"; I'd say that's true about my Studio. I'd expect a sterling bell flare would have some of the same characteristics in that it would provide some extra density and resistance to the blow and allow for more stable loud-to-very-loud volumes, but I could be wrong.