Lance McG, having decided that the list was no longer boring, contributed the following: he has a friend, and the neck of her mouthpiece bends away the rest of the mellophone. He wonders if the quality of playing is harmed by such bends.
I had an interesting experience once. I played almost an entire marching season without emptying condensation from my mellophone. (By the end of the season, my tone was the envy of all the brasses.) Just before the last game, however, I emptied the instrument out! What a mistake! Almost immediately, my mellophone started suffering from intense cramps and severe pains in the joints.
As nearly as I can figure out, emptying such a large volume of fluid from the instrument caused nitrogen gas, formerly dissolved at high pressure in the valve oil, to come out of solution, forming little bubbles which collected in the tubing and the valve casings. You guessed it: My mellophone had the bends! Ouch!
As you can immagine, this taught me a valuable lesson. The next season, I was careful not to use any valve oil, so I had no trouble at all.
Don't worry, Lance, mouthpiece bends can be easily treated in a Decompression Center. Anyone who has played in a marching band on a submarine will be glad to tell you where to look for one.
As I would say,
Gotta go,
Cabbage