The fact that tuning bits work seems a bit odd. I recently inspected one from an Alex 107 - it seemed to have no internal taper after the mouthpiece. If the horn plays sharp at all and the bit needs pulling out, there will be a cylindrical segment the same diameter as the outside of the tuning bit. But the horn seemed to play well, with no obvious duff notes and intonation - no worse than other descants I've tried with clever split leadpipes.
Perhaps the rest of the instrument is designed to compensate for the tuning bit. Or maybe the care I take making leadpipes so the venturi is regular and coincides with the end of the mouthpiece is misplaced.
This post is beginning to sound like statements like 'if sport is so good for you, why is there sport medicine', so I will desist.
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