Shank adapter for small shank Wick 3 to American shank

[GC]

I have a small shank Wick 3 that I'd like to be able to use in an American size receiver. Does anyone still make shank adapters like that?

[2nd tenor]

I have a small shank Wick 3 that I'd like to be able to use in an American size receiver. Does anyone still make shank adapters like that?

I too use a Wick 3 and have one Tuba that has a small shank receiver and another that has a large receiver. My solution is two mouthpieces (3 & 3L) but I was lucky to get the (second hand) pieces for a good price.

Small shank Tuba pieces seem hard to come by now and converters aren’t easy either. Thomann might be able to help you:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/bruno_tilz ... b_tuba.htm

And advice from another place:
http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?t=93019

[GC]

Bruno Tilz also makes one they call F-tuba to Bb-tuba that has a slightly larger inner diameter. I just don't know which one is best. Maybe Thomann customer service will know. Thanks.

[bloke]

The difference between the old British shank size and the "standard" shank size is only a few thousandths radius...

...so a TRUE adapter would be unstable, because it would only be about five-or-so times as thick as that "heavy-duty" aluminum foil (which is about .001" thick)...so only about .005" or so thick. (THIN-wall tubas' bows' sheet metal is about .020" thick.)

...and anything somewhat stable is going to need to be about five times as thick as the .005"-or-so difference (probably at least .025" thick), which will significantly change how far out your mouthpiece will sit from the "choke point" (where the receiver ends, and where the mouthpipe tube begins).

I'd recommend getting on that 20,000-people place on facebook and see if anyone has a good/cheap-used Wick 3L.

Otherwise...If you don't mind carefully wrapping HD aluminum foil around your shank five times, and razor-blading it off clean from the end of the mouthpiece...

bloke "...only pointing out the consequences of using adapters, and seriously asking if you might consider a very careful 5X foil wrap"

[GC]

I probably will for now. Thanks.

I used to get my best results with antique Eb contrabass Saxhorns with a Wick 3, but mothballed it after quitting the antique thing and had forgotten about it. My goal is really just a tryout to see if it suits me with the JP377, and if it does, probably I'll buy a 3XL for the more rounded rim and proper shank size.

[2nd tenor]

I probably will for now. Thanks.

I used to get my best results with antique Eb contrabass Saxhorns with a Wick 3, but mothballed it after quitting the antique thing and had forgotten about it. My goal is really just a tryout to see if it suits me with the JP377, and if it does, probably I'll buy a 3XL for the more rounded rim and proper shank size.

The choice is yours but the standard 3L is a fine piece that’s very comfortable in prolonged use, well that’s my experience of it. I tried a few alternatives and found it to be a nice match (both the best of those that I tried out and good to use) to the Besson Sovereign that my Band lends to me, I suspect that the Sovereign is very similar to your JP. If a lot of what you play is around the (Concert Pitch) peddle Eb then you might think about a Wick 2L but otherwise the 3L works quite well in the lowest range through the fourth valve and the 2L is more challenging to use, well that’s my experience. IME the 3L is a Goldilocks size that’s just right for a four valve Eb. On a BBb I’d expect to normally use a Wick 2 - that’s what my BBb playing section mates use - but I find that BBb’s work quite well with a 3 too, a 3’s near enough (to the ideal size) to be perfectly good enough. Again, just my experience.

https://www.deniswick.com/wp-content/up ... -Chart.pdf

Perhaps I haven’t been looking in the right places but I’ve never seen a 3XL for sale either second hand or new. I believe that the VB24AW is a similar size cup with wide rim; I tried a 24AW but found the rim to be uncomfortably wide for me - not a good match to my particular face. Of course many people love the (wide) 24AW and I was surprised not to too but more of something isn’t always an improvement, a standard 3L is a safe bet that’s loved by many ... but it is of course your money.

[bloke]

I actually looked around the web (for him) for a good/used fifty-buck 3L, and don't see one for sale, right now...

[2nd tenor]

I actually looked around the web (for him) for a good/used fifty-buck 3L, and don't see one for sale, right now...

Sometimes you’ve got to leave a search open on eBay and wait for something to come up, sometimes you have to just use what you’ve already got and sometimes you have to settle for what you can buy.

I used a Bach 18 for a while (nearly Wick 2 size) and could have continued with it but decided to both settle on the Wick range (so that I could use the same cup size piece on both small and large shank receiver instruments) and to go slightly smaller (which I did without incurring any particular detriment and IIRC the changed helped my high end). I also have a Bach 25 copy in my gig bag pocket as an ‘emergency’ spare, it’s about Wick 4 size and (being slightly smaller than my usual piece) a ‘guaranteed’ easy play - super chops are not required but an acceptance of slightly less and very low end performance is.

[iiipopes]

If you can't find a cheap Wick 3L, try a Bach 24AW. The cup geometry of the 3 was supposedly modeled on the 24AW.

[GC]

Thanks to everyone who's weighed in on this. I'm a very mouthpiece-sensitive individual (I'm not going to blame the horn for being mouthpiece-sensitive). I have a Bach 18 and an 24AW and have tried both lately, but neither one satisfied me. I'm not really after a 3L, and for tryout purposes am just going the route of a shank adapter or trying Bloke's suggestion of an aluminum foil wrap (which I will try my next rehearsal on Sunday). Thomann sent a nice reply as to which of their two shank adapters they would suggest (and of course suggested that a new 3L would be more reliable).

The 3 and 3L were modeled after the 24AW, but are slightly modified to cure some of the 24's problems, and play better in my opinion. If I like the response of the 3 on the Packer, I'll probably buy a new 3XL because I like the feel of the more rounded rim (I've tried a friends' 3XL on his Besson 983 before). I definitely agree that the 3 has a plenty comfortable rim, but maybe I'm just fixated on the 3XL . . .

I also have a Wick 3CC and 2CC that I bought for use on my old Conn Monster Eb a couple of years ago. They have amazingly deep cups and worked the best of anything I've tried on the old Conn. Shallow cups, like most people suggest for Eb's, responded horribly on this horn, and the super-deep cups evened out the response throughout the low range. However, these do not work well for me at all on the Packer.