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Re: BD4 Throat Design?

Author: John Peacock
Date: 2021-09-07 12:34

I just recently got a BD4. Not sure I like it: from the description, I hoped it would be a little more free than the BD5, which I found rather dull and stuffy. But first impressions of the BD4 is that it's not so different from its stablemate, alas.

Anyway, I had a careful look for the feature described above, and I think it's possible it is a visual illusion. Traditional Vandoren mouthpieces had hand finishing on the baffle: a roughening of the surface that continued right down into the top of the chamber. The BD4 in contrast has what looks like machine roughening on the baffle. This stops abruptly a little short of the chamber, at which point the baffle becomes shiny. But then in the chamber itself the surface is a little rougher - presumably from where it was drilled out. So this leaves a small patch of material between top of chamber and bottom of baffle that is more shiny than the stuff above and below it. I agree it looks at first sight as though there is a dip at that point: but gently running the tip of a screwdriver over it, I don't believe there is.

As to why it's there, my guess is that whatever machine they're using to roughen the baffle just isn't clever enough to get round the corner at the bottom where it joins the chamber, and they're saving money by not having hand finishers complete the job in traditional style.

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BD4 Throat Design? new

Bob Barnhart

2021-09-05 23:15