shower pipe to plumbing

[bhumm]

My old funky shower head screwed directly onto a male-threaded copper or brass pipe that extends through the sheetrock 3/4 of an inch or so. My new shower pipe is a male fitting on the end that should connect with the plumbing. (1) Do I need some sort of adapter? (2) Does that male fitting (which does have a hex nut head just upstream of the male threads) come unscrewed, or am I going to break something if I try to unscrew it?

Thanks for your advice. Otherwise, calling the plumber is the next step.

[markts30]

Sounds like the male threaded part is a MIP adapter soldered onto the copper pipe directly and the head just screwed on....
It may be that the original plumber made up his own custom nipple and that it might just screw out of a fitting inside the wall (try to loosen it but don't force it or you risk bending/kinking/breaking the pipe....
More likely though you will have to get a local plumber to solder the correct adapter onto the pipe....

[bhumm]

Sounds like the male threaded part is a MIP adapter soldered onto the copper pipe directly and the head just screwed on....
It may be that the original plumber made up his own custom nipple and that it might just screw out of a fitting inside the wall (try to loosen it but don't force it or you risk bending/kinking/breaking the pipe....
More likely though you will have to get a local plumber to solder the correct adapter onto the pipe....

Would there be a screw-on adapter (i.e., female on both ends) that I could install, or would that stick out too far from the wall?

[markts30]

Might find one - but it would probably look ugly and stick out too far....

[hj]

It probably unscrews, but we cannot tell for sure without seeing the actual installation.

[bhumm]

It may be that the original plumber made up his own custom nipple and that it might just screw out of a fitting inside the wall (try to loosen it but don't force it or you risk bending/kinking/breaking the pipe....

I guess it was a custom nipple. I tried to loosen it, but it was so tight that I was afraid I would damage the pipe, so I did the prudent thing and called my plumber. He got it unscrewed but it took a lot of force. The peace of mind was worth the house call. Thanks to all who offered suggestions.