Grey cushion rings on a K?

[12bridge]

In all my years of tinkering with horns, I have never seen a Grey one. Dont think this bell has ever been apart, as it has virtually no wear on the inner sides. This is from a 90's K5H.

[Railgeek]

They are the same as the red ones. The only ones I know of that are different are the black ones. I think they are made of natural rubber instead of silicone. I've only found black ones to be in very early K and J horns, around 1953.

[Nathan_P5A]

Grey cushion rings were common among the early 90s K horns. I’ve gone through a few dozen horns that have had them.

[b2major9th]

I've seen cushion rings red or gray (standard, ~ 0.140-0.145 thick), bright red (~0.150-0.155 thick), and as Reed mentions, the black ones (0.120-0.125 thick)

The most common are the red, then gray. The others I mentioned are less common.

Tip: substituting a different thickness cushion ring will change the pitch of the bell slightly. Thicker rings will raise the pitch, thinner rings will lower the pitch.