Triple bore GBD Stem?

[Puffer Mark]

Well, don't quite know what else to call it. I picked up a nice little GBD straight prince at my local market for a shade under 4$ on the weekend (Stop! Thief! I hear you cry). Brass insert in the stem and linear "Made in England" stamp peg it as a pre transition.

Oddly, for me in my vast inexperience at any rate, the button has a centre slot and two holes either side thusly (sorry, no pic):



The three converge into a single airway about 2 - 3cm into the stem.

Cursory browsing on the net yields nothing similar. In my view that means one of two things.

Either:

a) it's very rare, or

b) it's so unremarkable a gimmick as not to warrant comment.

Either way. it seems a bit fussy to me and seems likely to present extra hassle when cleaning. I'm of half a mind to just turn it into a single wide slot with a square needle file.

Thoughts, comments, advice?

 

[riff raff]

That is the "twin bore" stem. It's supposed to be bite proof. I don't often see that button on GBD's, but their sister company, City deLuxe used them frequently. Heres the business end of one that I have for sale in the classifieds section. On City deLuxe pipes, the stem is frequently stamped "Tuskan Lip" with a Registration Number stamp. Does your GBD have either of those?

And another, a 357 shape.

 

[Puffer Mark]

Thanks Al.

Yep it's pretty much exactly as shown in your pics, and don't you know it, after very close inspection it has a very faint semi circular stamp at the bottom of the stem that could very well be "Tuskan Lip". Other than that it has the usual oval GBD stamp over New Standard in cursive on the left of the shank, the GBD rondelle inset on the stem, and LONDON ENGLAND (not Made in England) over what is presumably a shape number, 3293, on the left of the shank.

I do now find some references after having been set to rights on the correct name, i.e. twin bore.

So if I understand correctly, the idea is to strengthen the button by some reinforcement as apposed to spreading/redirecting the smoke as the case with the P-lip.

I notice that the centre slot of the two you show seem to be blocked up whereas this ones is open and takes a cleaner.

Thanks again, and cudos on your encyclopedic knowledge, sir.

Perhaps I'll post a pic or two once it's cleaned up. I only have a crappy cell phone camera to hand at the moment.

M.

 

[riff raff]

Sometimes that white plastic bar (or yellow, over time) is missing.