[thiessen3.14]

So, this soprano thing has been a blast except for right thumb pain. After trying different angles on the thumb hook, I decided to try something different. I found some pretty dense foam in my shop that is firm enough to shape and attached it with some double-sided tape (pretty strong stuff I use for attaching router templates). Anyway, great improvement and over time I expect the foam to conform a bit to my thumb position. After reading some other threads on this issue, it seems the two biggest causes of discomfort for me (besides the unavoidable weight of holding a straight sop) are the curved hook and the lack of angle on the body of the horn. You can see in the pictures, I left the top to basically just fill in the curve, creating a flat surface to allow for a bit of mobility, while the vertical part has an angle to allow for a more natural angle of the thumb to the body tube. Anyway, it's pretty easy and cost effective to try out, so I thought others might benefit from this. Merry Christmas all!

 

[thiessen3.14]

all good points. in my case, the foam was used for the purposes of shaping into alignment rather than padding. first, the curvature of the hook “pinned” my thumb in tight to the body tube, causing an unnatural angle at the base of the thumb. by flattening the top and, more importantly, creating the angled vertical part against the body tube, my hand now rests in a much more comfortable position and i can now support the instrument pain free.

 

[thiessen3.14]

Well, the thumb pad is ok, but the biggest difference maker for me is shown in this picture. It's the vertical part that keeps my thumb at a more natural angle.

 

[thiessen3.14]

squawk, that looks great!

 

[thiessen3.14]

This is great! Any idea what type of foam it is? I'm browsing around at the min, found somewhere to buy but not sure what type to choose.

not specifically. it was used for packaging. it is firm enough that it makes a distinct sound when tapped or dropped on a hard floor.