983 modification: mts sleeve

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Wilco
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983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by Wilco »

I love my 983 but…. I felt I could be a bit easier to start soft notes, to do flexibilities easier and a little bit more to lean on in general. I got this from my experience with Thein. When I visited their shop we did some optimizations to my Thein bass trombone. This included sleeving the mts. That was quiete a big improvement!

It occurred to me that I could try sleeves in the mts of the 983 and see what that brings me.

I started with various plastic inserts. All the things I looked for seem to happen with the inserts. I asked a tech to make metal sleeves. A short one (15mm for the large end and a long one 30mm for smaller end. After a bit of experimenting I am keeping the sleeve in the large end. So just one sleeve on the large end

If you have a 983 you should give a try! I tried a lot to fix it at the mouthpiece, but now most mpc’s work!

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arpthark (Sun Sep 13, 2026 11:08 am) • hrender (Wed Sep 16, 2026 12:44 pm)


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arpthark
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by arpthark »

Nice. A lot of players have messed around with sleeving larger tubing to improve response, etc. Supposedly it helps tame the somewhat amorphous low range on the larger B&S F tubas, but I've never tried that tack.
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Wilco (Sun Sep 13, 2026 11:44 am)
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by shovelingtom »

Is this what the “acousticoil” was attempting to be?
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martyneilan (Mon Sep 14, 2026 1:14 pm) • Mary Ann (Wed Sep 16, 2026 9:37 am)
Wilco
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by Wilco »

Not really, I believe they are 2 completely different things. The common thing is that they narrow the bore and have an effect on response..... Sleeving is not a new thing and has been around for a long time I believe.
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anadmai
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by anadmai »

Bringing in the sleeves.
Bringing in the sleeves
We will come rejoicing,
Bringing in the sleeves. :laugh:
1906 Henry Distin Euphonium(JUNIOR)
1952 B&H Imperial Trombone(HASTINGS)
2015 Sterling Virtuoso Baritone(MARGARET)
1988 Besson/B&H Sovereign 967(BRAMWELL)
2023 Dillon Eb Bass 981S(ALBERT)
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by TxTx »

I have not seen this before. Where can I learn more?

Thanks,

Eric
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Re: 983 modification: mts sleeve

Post by Wilco »

Eric, this is a great read: viewtopic.php?t=805&hilit=601
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TxTx (Thu Sep 17, 2026 6:29 pm)
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