The bowl on my gong broke. I cleaned the downstem thoroughly. Not sure what size bowl I need to replace it. Has anyone ever brought in a CLEAN downstem to the head shop to get the correct bowl size, or is this a no-no? Uggh! Not the start to my Friday night I was hoping for.
Just make sure its as clean as new! Bring it with you when you got to the store. Its important to ask first before you pull out your piece though, explain that you need a replacement slide and you dont know which size it is, and that your going to see if it fits on the clean glass that you brought..
The difference between an 18 and a 14 slide is very easy to tell when you're looking at them side by side. Even without the downstem to check, you shouldn't have a problem. Additionally, if it looks like this: It's almost certainly a 14mm slide, because bushing (or 'low profile') downstems typically reduce an 18mm male piece to a 14mm female.
Picked one up today. It was easy to see the diff between the 14mm and 18mm (it's a 14mm). They had one that was made by the same company that made my gong (HVY) so that was easy enough! I asked the gal behind the counter about having a CLEAN downstem in the store and she said it was a definite no-no, so it stayed in my pocket.
Or, if you bought the piece there, just point out to them which one you purchased, and tell them you need a replacement down-stem for it. I do that all the time if I'm not certain the exact part I need for a specific piece. There are definitely advantages to purchasing stuff in-store... Every piece Ive bought over the past 3 years is still in stock at the local store, so when I'm there, I can always reference them if I ever need to.