Tip tunes

Back in the day, Louis Armstrong sang “You push the first valve down, and the music goes round and round, oh-oh-oh-oh, and it comes out here.” Of course, Louis didn't know he was teaching us all about how exhaust tips control the sound that comes out of your pipes, but that's what made him such a genius. In any case, mufflers and resonators handle most of the noise reduction. The exhaust tip shapes the remaining pulses into a particular sound at a particular pitch and decibel level as it exits the pipe. The length and shape of the tip makes a big difference in how your system will sound. A short megaphone exhaust tip will sound more like a sousaphone, while a long pencil-shaped exhaust tip will sound more like a trumpet. Some exhaust tips come with an additional small resonator that mellows and deepens the resulting note. At the very end of an exhaust tip a perforated tube wrapped in sound deadening material softens the final exhaust pulses before they hit the street, and the ears of your audience.