Mouthpiece Selection/Switching

[tubatodd]

When I was in college in the late 90s, I was what you might call a "mouthpiece whore." I was constantly looking for the next great thing. Unfortunately that habit has followed me through life. In college, the mouthpieces I used got larger and larger....until my final semester when I realized a smaller mouthpiece on my Meinl Weston 2165 was more controllable.

Fast forward to 2025. I now have a relatively new-to-me tuba (Besson 995) and 8 mouthpieces that range from medium to large. When I first got the horn, I tried each mouthpiece until I found the one that seemed to be a great fit. The winner was the Robert Tucci RT-45. I've really liked using it.

But I keep having the urge to try one of the other mouthpieces in some "quest for something better" only to arrive at the same conclusion.

Is this a common practice/behavior among y'all? How do you decide which mouthpiece to use, when you have multiple to choose from?

[tubanh84]

I went through a long phase of mouthpiece trial and error and finally centered on a few that I've used for the last 10-20 years:

On my PT6, I switched between the PT50 and PT50+ depending on the setting. The 50+ was more restrained for me, and the 50 was like pulling out a regulator and the horn lit up.

Eventually I got a Mike Finn H, and that was it. Got rid of the PTs and only used the Finn for years. When I got rid of the PT6, the Finn stuck as my sole American CC tuba mouthpiece, and it's lights out the best thing on my Gnagey. I don't even question it at this point.

On my 182, I've used a Bobo solo for 20 years for solos and most ensemble playing, only using a Helleberg for polka gigs or when I wanted to use the 182 in a concert band, mostly for my own amusement.

When I got my 184, I did another mouthpiece search (about 2 years ago). How I did it:

Gathered about 8 mouthpieces
Warmed up on my Finn
Played a two-octave Bb scale on each mouthpiece. Made a cut based on tone, intonation, and connection of notes.
Played a technical and a lyrical etude on each mouthpiece. Made a cut.
Played excerpts on each mouthpiece. Made a cut.
At that point it was down to two Miraphone mouthpieces, and I had to play each a while and ultimately made a choice. Been happy with it since.

[arpthark]

I think thoughtful selection of mouthpieces can lead to some unexpected discoveries about what works and what doesn't work. Doing lots of A/B and blind tests can be surprisingly helpful. The York 91 mouthpiece that came with the 6/4 York is smaller than something I would have normally chosen, with a ~32mm ID, but it works with that instrument. Having a few different styles on hand, or at least archetypes of a style, allows you to make some choices and see what works best.

At least that's the ideal, but in reality, they look pretty on my shelf, and occasionally get turned back into money when there are too many of them.

[Mary Ann]

I do that -- I don't have that many but they are a pretty wide variety. It was only when I got to the more narrow cups that I realized that was what I needed. Every new tuba, I try them all, and the wider ones are immediately rejected even if they do the low range better, because they are just too big for my face. I seem to have really settled into the Wicks (4 and 5) for the tubas I play regularly. They win every time in terms of what I can get out of them compared to what I have to put into them. I should get rid of the bigger ones because I know they will never be chosen.

[tubanh84]

It was only when I got to the more narrow cups that I realized that was what I needed.

The York 91 mouthpiece that came with the 6/4 York is smaller than something I would have normally chosen, with a ~32mm ID, but it works with that instrument.

That's what I ended up finding with the Bobo, Mike Finn H, and the Miraphone TU28. None of them is big, and they were all smaller/narrower than what I had initially played on the respective horns. The larger mouthpieces, TO ME, lacked color, precision, and clarity.

[Heavy_Metal]

You might try one of @bloke 's recently-introduced pieces.

[tofu]

I sometimes think the ability to search out - obtain and try many different MP can have a hindering effect on players. Up until 20 years ago I had a couple mouthpieces. I used whatever came with the horn in Middle school. In HS it was what the school had until I went down to Schilke’s in chicago and spent an hour with Mr Schilke and used that Schilke 67 through HS & College. Bought my first horn a few years out of college and used the 67 in that for 25 years. I used that MP in Conn & King BBb and York BBb Jumbo & Reynolds Eb sousaphones, Conn 20J & 25J, Rudy Meinl BBb, a Meinl- Weston 25, a Buescher Eb, King 2341, a Besson New Standard BBb, Yamaha 621 F, Miraphone 185 & 186 & 188, a Martin Mammoth BBb, King Eb Helicon and a Conn Helicon. A lot of very different horns - one MP. I think when you have no choice it forces you to figure it out and make it work. To practice and listen to your sound etc. In other words it forces you to get the best you can be by working at it and not seeking solutions that you pay for in a box.

Now don’t get me wrong. Mouthpieces can make a difference and the choices available to day are both plentiful and better and better. Making it more possible to better match to you - the horn and the sound/articulation etc you seek. Starting maybe 20 years ago I started buying more horns and subsequently more MPs. They can make a big difference in completely dialing in a horn, but I sometimes think it can become a substitute for players not to examine their playing and spending the time working on improvement and a search for an easy fix. I think this especially applies to kids in school.

[Mary Ann]

I have learned / decided / been told -- that there are two facets to choosing a mouthpiece, other than the situation in which a person will have no idea what they are doing before their embouchure has matured to a certain point, and that's the period when they keep changing mouthpieces trying to fix problems that are not due to the mouthpiece. Some were given a mouthpiece in 6th grade and have played on it all their life, and either they have a good fit, or they don't know what a good fit IS.

I have concluded that there are mouthpiece-instrument matches and there are mouthpiece-person matches. I need the person end to be "about 30.4 mm wide" and take it from there what I can find that matches the instrument best. So far, the ones available with narrow enough widths are the higher-number JKs and Wicks. The Wicks clearly work better in the instruments I have. I have tried a Wick 3 and it's just too wide for my face; when the corners disappear, the cup is too wide.

[catgrowlB]

I sold off a few mouthpieces a while back that I wasn't using. Some of them were very nice or rare, but something about them made me stop using them. The rim has to be comfy for me to use, even if the cup shape/depth are different.

I do keep an assortment of mouthpieces around that I use regularly or even just every now and then. A mixture of bowl mouthpieces, and a couple funnel mouthpieces for sound differences.

[russiantuba]

Before going to what I use now, I will retell my CC journey to get there.

My DMA professor had me try a Hammond Design XL Buckeye Brass had. I had used a Baer MMVI for years, I liked it, but after trying this Hammond, I had more brilliance and control of colors. I hated the rim, and as Bloke mentioned, I hated the thick throat. I also had a Blokepiece Symphony around the time, one of the rare returns, I hated the rim and at the time, my professor didn’t think it was the best fit. I got the mouthpiece specs of the Hammond. and found out it was Geib based, so I got a Stofer Geib. Used that for a while bought another Blokepiece Symphony the C4 rim setup, did a side by side with my Geib, got the same sound I was looking for but held onto it.

Several years later I started hearing a donut sound, wanting more core in my CC. Started looking again and went down the rabbit hole. I had loaned my Blokepiece to a few responsible students and I thought the Solo with a #2 backbore and cup extender would be it. Sadly, it wasn’t. I wanted something a hair more rounded at the bottom. Before sending it back, I decided to try a college student on it, one using my Symphony. I tried him on it, and his King 2341 sounded perfect, he agreed and I said I would sell it to him. I decided, well I’ve not tried this blokepiece in a while, let’s pop it in. Exact sound I was looking for with better control. I did a rim swap. Everyone was happy. Still using it.

—————————


To give a better answer, now when I look for students and myself as what I did with F tuba a couple years later, I find what works now and I like and what I want better. I try to find what is the same about what I like with that change.

To be honest, I probably won’t ever leave the modular system ever.

[bloke]

not any sort of brag, but just a (my own particularly life situation at this time/current existential state)

Yes...I have mouthpieces and components sitting here FOR SALE, (but) ACTUALLY for MYSELF...

I have
- a mouthpiece for every tuba (all a bit or a lot different).
- two or three really standard models as reference mouthpieces (though I'm likely going to dump those...notice I just dumped my "reference" PT50)
- prototypes and experimental versions of my "Sellmansberger" production models...(I'm not selling them, but - I suppose - I'm also not tossing them in the trash.)
- a couple of Holton "Revelation" 52 mouthpieces to include (as these were oem) with the Holton 345 tubas I'm restoring
- a wretched 24AW out in the shop for testing repaired tubas...ie. If they'll play with that, they'll play with ANYTHING.

Curiously, I have way more diverse littering (no...not a "collection") of large and small shank trombone/euphonium/bass trombone mouthpieces, vs. tuba.

There may (??) be "emergency" mouthpieces in the vehicles' glove boxes, but I haven't checked to make certain they are still there.

bloke "Oh yeah...I almost omitted my prized Kelly glitter gold - with goes outdoors with the King fiberglass."

[WC8KCY]

Now that I'm not as young as I used to be, I can't blow like The Big Bad Wolf anymore. Once I used a Bach-copy Holton 7 for everything, but the big mouthpieces and big tubas that I could once play with ease are now unmanageable air hogs.

Striking a intelligent balance between good intonation, air efficiency, fine tone quality, and quick response is what I'm after these days.

On my Holton Monster E-flat, there is but one choice: A Schilke 66. It's the only thing on hand that yields accurate intonation on this finicky old tuba. It also sounds quite nice, slots very securely, and responds with ease. The rim tires my chops more than others, but...if you aren't in tune, you ain't got nuthin'.

My Martin Indiana E-flat sousaphone and JinBao 520 BB-flat work best--by far--with my blokepiece Imperial.

On euphonium, I've likewise been going smaller as the years go by. Once I used a Schilke 58 for everything, but nowadays it's a Bach 6.5AL for section playing and a Yamaha 48A for solo work and for covering trombone parts.

On trumpet/cornet, I've worked downward from a huge Schilke 20D2d to a Stork Vacchiano 4, then a Bach 3C, then Bach Mt. Vernon 7, then Schilke 8E2, then Bach 10B cornet/10C trumpet, and finally settled on a Schilke 13D4 corrnet/7B4 trumpet tandem.

Someday, I'm gonna have to list my two shoeboxes of no-longer-played mouthpieces in the Classifieds...