Hi all Bassoonists
I guess this is an easy one for you guys: are there any major differences in the area where the cork is applied between bocals from all the major suppliers, like Heckel, yamaha, Fox etc.?

Are they all cylindrical at the bottom, meaning the cork is cylindrical, or are some brands conical?

Any replies would be appreciated, I need this for for some current research.

my bocal`s cork is cylindrical..

PS: i just broke one of the corks of my bocals yesterday. shiit. i took it of my bassoon and i felt it tear, and it kept tearing as i twisted it out so i had to pull t out... ARGH...

And what kind of bassoon are you playing?

Have you ever seen conical bocal sockets (where the bocal is inserted in the instrument)?

i play a student selmer. i`ve only been playing since september, so i definitely don`t know everything there is to know about bassoons (although i do know quite a bit. i need a lot of reading on bassons)


hrm, i don`t see how a conical bocal cork could fit in and stay in. haha. it`d have to be cylindrical to be able to stay in right? or else it`d be wobbling a fair bit. haha.

but if you mean if the bocal itself is conical, then yes it is. the bocal just fits around it to be a cylinder. the cork is thinner at the bottom of the bocal than the top of the bocal.

it shouldn`t be conical. if it is then theres something wrong with your bocal

the hole where the reed fits in is smaller than the hole at the end of the bocal. it`s conical. believe me.

i think he`s refering to the cork area. if thats what you meant then it shouldn`t be conical. if you mean the entire thing then yeah it is

oh i c =)

Ive played on 2 types of bassoon, and they would be Schrieber and Selmer. From my experience with these brands, the Fox corks on the *CVX* bocals are VERY wide. They would not fit into my Selmer without me litteraly forcing it down with ALOT of pressure, and my punchner bocal that I play on the selmer is a tight fit on the Schrieber, so the fox would definetly not fit into it. The only bocals that would fit into the Schrieber were the ones I had by schrieber. To sum it all up, fox bocal corks are wider than most other bocals ive tried, so be wary of that if you are planning on buying one for your schrieber or selmer!

We need to start putting the first letter of our last name on our name so that we know the difference between each other.

Yeah good idea haha, i just noticed..lol.

Thanks for the input. Now - what I am really interested to know is, what does the bocal look like underneath the cork? Do you know? Which of the two types do you have, A or B, or is there a third type?

Please look at www.ipt.dtu.dk/~thn/bocaltypes.gif

I am most interested in the measurements of a1-a2 and b1-b3, if you are able to get them.

Thanks