[byas-a-drink]

hi
i have here an 9* otto link without "tone edge" stamp. (see pics)
it is a 1 chamber, smell like hard rubber
an idea which generation it is? the EB 4th generation?

 

[livingthedream]

would you like to add a photo of the steepness of the beak?
thanks.

 

[byas-a-drink]

hope this helps

 

[adamk]

I have a 6* like that I bought new in 1982.
White box with orange letters.
Nice mpc especially on C Melody.

 

[Sigmund451]

There are bigger EB gurus that I out here but to me it looks like a well finished modern link. At least with the angle of the photos it does have good baffle but there seems to be the lake or deep impression into the piece after the baffle that is present in modern TE pieces.

You will occasionally find pieces not stamped properly. I dont know if they escaped the factory or if they just escaped quality control.

 

[B Flat]

How many so called generations of EB are there?
When does one just become current generation?

 

[Sigmund451]

It depends on if someone is curious or if they are selling them lol

I think we are up to 18

Pretty much every six months there is a new delineation to make something special.

Now people try to sell early modern Meyers as something other than a modern Meyer

Im also pretty sure there is also no such thing as an eb alto link. Granted there can be a difference in finishing but the alto mold has never changed.

Maybe they have more baffle but you can face that onto a piece.

marketing, marketing, marketing....

 

[pontius]

I have a very early late late Babbitt that's KILLER. The late late late ones aren't so good.

 

[Sigmund451]

I dont want to suggest the pieces does not play well. What I see (and I could be wrong) is a modern link chamber with some extra baffle. This is very different than a true EB. Its a totally different mold core. The FL and EB pieces dont have the big thumb print behind the baffle. It is a different set of internal cores that create a very different chamber. All Eb pieces dont have a big baffle but they do not have the depression on the floor.

 

[whaler]

I guess I’ve thought the Tone Edge with the “1’ in the chamber is the beginning of where they get tubby.
I had one exactly like that that played ok but didn’t have the “bite’ of an EB.

 

[Sigmund451]

Its that crazy thumb print behind the baffle on links that just kills everything good.

 

[byas-a-drink]

thanks for the replies
well, it doesn't have the real EB baffle for sure.
But it is made from a better ahrd rubber that the current production, so i guess it should be from the early 80's.
i was just curious about the "tone edge" missing which could be a special period of the production, but it looks like a production mistake.

 

[MojoBari]

Its that crazy thumb print behind the baffle on links that just kills everything good.

I call that depression a black hole for sound. Filling it in with Apoxie does wonders.

 

[Sigmund451]

Not to rain on the parade but 80s hr and current HR is about the same and nothing is wrong with it.

I cant quite remember the era..I think it was in the 90's that Babbitt had trouble with their HR supply chain due to plants shutting down.

They still used HR but the crap was nasty heavy black stuff. Its like putting a facing on a Firestone tire.

They still sound the same but its a lot more difficult to get a clean cut tip rail out of.

The whole "Old hard rubber" is another marketing ploy of the vintage mpc boom...mostly furthered along by ebay.

 

[pontius]

That was my understanding too Phil. Lots of internet gossip quickly becomes part of the folklore when it comes to this kind of stuff. The sellers eat it up and spit it out. I can't tell you how many times I've heard claims that Babbitt's HR is no good anymore. It's crazy. There is probably several well respected makers still using current blanks from Babbitt are there not?

 

[B Flat]

I have read and heard on many occasions that the true early Babbitts that everyone raves about have a considerably higher floor.
It’s actually quite easy to measure, yet whenever one asks for that measurement a seller tends to point to a picture of a baffle with oil smeared over it and an angled shot of the beak to make it look steeper and claims this is where the proof lays.
And now there are early Babbitts, not so early Babbitts, somewhat early Babbitts, 4th generation once we’re early Babbitts and early late Babbitts.
It seems nobody has a current model tone edge anymore.

 

[BobD]

Its that crazy thumb print behind the baffle on links that just kills everything good.

I totally agree with this statement and once posted the same thing only to be berated by Doc Tenney.

 

[Sigmund451]

Pontus you are correct Babbitt has made blanks for almost everyone including McGregory to Lamberson... If you want to drop the dough they will make cores to specs for customized blanks.

BobD: Doc also made and sold a lot of refaced modern links. Reportedly he had his pick of pieces that he chose for his refaced links. Doc also tended to like really dark pieces. You have to take all that into account.
I started in the business rebuilding TE pieces. They still can be good. However, it takes a lot of work to pull that out of one....and they still dont have a ton of projection due to design issues discussed.

 

[MojoBari]

Doc was a contakerous opinionated fellow. But quite talented and knowledgeable on mouthpiece facing. He answered a bunch of my questions via email when I was starting out.

 

[Nefertiti]

I dont want to suggest the pieces does not play well. What I see (and I could be wrong) is a modern link chamber with some extra baffle. This is very different than a true EB. Its a totally different mold core. The FL and EB pieces dont have the big thumb print behind the baffle. It is a different set of internal cores that create a very different chamber. All Eb pieces dont have a big baffle but they do not have the depression on the floor.

I'm just curious how the "thumbprint" in these more modern Links differs from the "lake" in the baffle that is seen and described many times in Slants....? Is the "thumbprint" just of a greater degree of depression?