quick note about mouthpieces that shouldn't (but do) fit a super-large Alex 163 receiver

[arpthark]

It's probably a quirk of my 1930s Alexander CC's huge receiver, but there are a couple of normal/common mouthpieces that do fit (all the way to the end of the shank) and don't rattle around:

- Normal ol' Helleberg

- Stofer Geib

- PT-50 (but not the 88)

- Sellmansberger Solo euro shank (don't have a Symphony or Orch. Grand euro shank to test, but wouldn't mind having some)

I bought a Doug Elliot "A+" shank mouthpiece for it when I first got it, because I needed something that fit, but the response and tone color I was getting were not quite what I was looking for. I also have a kaiser-shank stainless Kellyberg, which is fine but sort of the same vein. Lately, I've really been digging the Stofer Geib. Does it make a difference that the mouthpiece is inserted literally all the way to the end of the shank? Maybe, but it works for me.

[bloke]

Years ago (when I was a young scholar), when I had a typically wretchedly out of tune Alex C, I cut off the front end of the larger of the two King sousaphone tuning bits - which served as an acoustically-bad-but-good-fitting standard shank mouthpiece adapter.