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Looking to buy some mouthpices for two Eb tubas, been looking around quite a bit, but looking for some good suggestions. They are for a school band so not anything too expensive. :)

Probably cheap 24AW copies is a good place to start.

Thanks for the suggestion

I would try as mouthpiece that pairs up well with the besson it is a copy of, like the Wick 3L

Have looked at those, do you have any experience with the heritage type? Thanks for the suggestion

I'm not sure of the differences other than cosmetic. I would just get the less expensive one


@Doc has a packer Eb. You might ask him what he uses

henans wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:17 pm Looking to buy some mouthpices for two Eb tubas, been looking around quite a bit, but looking for some good suggestions. They are for a school band so not anything too expensive. :)

Perhaps I’m mistaken but I thought that new JP Tubas came with mouthpieces.

If they are three valve instruments and for the use of less experienced players then relatively small pieces (Bach 25 size and slightly smaller again) would be my choice (easier to control by those who might well not yet have lip strength and negligible loss of tone).

In the four valve Eb that Doc has he was supplied with a Wick 3 which is a similar cup diameter to a Bach 24. The Wick 3’s work well with four valve Eb’s but are, I think, bigger than is needed for a three valve instrument.

LOL
I feel quite certain that Buffet Prestige clarinets come with mouthpieces as well… and “precision matched“ to those instruments.

I might even wager that they include a reed or two.

I have a borrowed Wick 3 that I tried with my Eb, and it is too big, and this Eb requires a lot of air. I'm using a 7B, which feels smaller. An even-smaller-yet might work well for newer players who don't need to go into the basement yet.

For kids I would get a Kelly anything. They work just fine and when you drop them they do not put a sizeable dent in the bell. I use one on my euph (5G) and am totally happy with it.

Today - when I was leaving for my Sunday brunch gig with my compensating E flat, I realized that I had actually sold the cup component from my go-to mouthpiece for that instrument.
The only thing I had that would fit in the small English shank receiver was a bowl cup mouthpiece.
Yes, I got through the gig - and it played the instrument, but I didn’t like it (not with the compensating E flat).

Mary Ann wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 1:07 pm I have a borrowed Wick 3 that I tried with my Eb, and it is too big, and this Eb requires a lot of air. I'm using a 7B, which feels smaller. An even-smaller-yet might work well for newer players who don't need to go into the basement yet.

For kids I would get a Kelly anything. They work just fine and when you drop them they do not put a sizeable dent in the bell. I use one on my euph (5G) and am totally happy with it.

For a comparison of mouthpiece sizes look here: https://www.dwerden.com/Mouthpieces/tuba.cfm

When I first started playing an Eb Bass again the old instruments available to me had small shank receivers which are the same as trombone large shank receivers. With one loan instrument I was supplied with a large Bass Trombone mouthpiece (28 mm cup) and it worked for me - and I assume for previous players too. Of course a small cup can be limiting in the basement and the tone quality is maybe not so good, but on the other hand big cups demand more lip control that the player might not yet have - rather than look for perfection have children use what they can reasonably manage. A Wick 3 has a 31.25 mm cup and the 3.25 mm size increase over the Bass Trombone mouthpiece might seem little, but in practice it makes an enormous difference to what the player can successfully manage.

Kelly mouthpieces, I had one for Trombone and it worked if with (I felt) slightly reduced tone quality. $40 for a plastic Kelly copy of a Bach 25, I’ve had reasonable solid mouthpieces for similar and less money. There are pro’s and con’s to everything.

I believe that JP supply their JP611 mouthpiece with their Eb Tubas, it isn’t expensive and if it wasn’t correctly sized then they’d be daft to sell them - they’re a very successful company so they’re getting a lot of stuff right.
https://www.johnpacker.co.uk/prod/jp611 ... thpiece-4l
Cup inside diameter of 30.5mm (virtually the same as a Bach 25 and the same as a Wick 4), solid brass, cheaper than a Kelly and far cheaper than a Bach.

The Bach 25 Tuba Mouthpiece is a fairly small mouthpiece and is known for being a popular model for young students.

https://www.westmusic.com/band-orchestr ... ece-450377
$109 … not cheap but if it has to be a Bach then that’s the price - for me it doesn’t have to be a Bach and I think that the price is overly high, but YMMV.

henans wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 12:17 pm Looking to buy some mouthpices for two Eb tubas, been looking around quite a bit, but looking for some good suggestions. They are for a school band so not anything too expensive. :)

I assume you're in the UK since you've got Eb tubas in a school band. Denis Wick 3L, 4L, or 5L. Classic Series. Silver plated. I assume you need the "L" version as it has an American shank rather than the old "similar to bass trombone" English Eb size. The smaller shank Wicks don't have an L.

If Faxx mouthpieces are available in your area, I'd pick up some Faxx HB models. The Faxx HB is a nice copy of a Conn Helleberg 120s. They're cheap too.

Assuming these are traditional, Boosey/Besson type 3+1 Eb tubas, pretty much any tuba mouthpiece that fits makes these go.

Many comp. E-flat tubas' mouthpiece receivers - these days - are set up to accept "standard" shank tuba mouthpieces, whereas "small" shank mouthpieces will not "bottom out".

I prefer using small shank mouthpieces with modern-day manufactured comp. E-flat tubas...and (well...) I prefer my own mouthpieces over those suggested, but that's just me, maybe...

(Many "euro" shank tubas are set up the same way - whereby "standard" shank mouthpieces will not "bottom out"...I refer to those receivers as "fake euro".)

Looking back through the OP’s (other) posts I see that he is in Norway.

I’d assumed that being on here he’d be in the US and someone else above assumed that he’d be in the UK.

Here’s an alternative European retailer and ‘reputable manufacture’: https://www.thomann.de/gb/as_stoelzel_2 ... gLEAPD_BwE
I have an Arnold 25, quite like it and think the user comments on the retailer’s website to be broadly fair. The Arnold 25 was part of my journey, it worked for me and helped me on my way, but I can now manage and choose to use a slightly bigger piece than that. I struck lucky and got my Arnold 25 at an unusually large discount (Amazon sale, IIRC).

Edit. There are other Arnold brand Tuba mouthpieces available from Thomann too: https://www.thomann.de/gb/arnolds-sons_ ... tubas.html . They give you alternatives but it can take years to build stronger chops so I’d stick with the 25 rather than go for a bigger cup, a bigger cup might be too much of a challenge to control for an inexperienced player.

Oystein Baasvik uses a Conn 120S. I like the Robert Tucci RT-64 or a Sellmansberger (it doesn't matter much which one to me) with a 32.3 rim.

If it helps to know about European manufacturers, Josef Klier makes a range of tuba mouthpieces. Including a 24AW clone with the usual 31.5mm rim and 8.6mm throat, and including Perspex plastic. As pointed out above, plastic is for practical purposes less likely to be damaged, and certainly less likely to damage anything. JK also makes other mouthpiece models. Retail possibly in Bergen and Tonsberg, though I wouldn't bet money on it.

If you like a big sound, you could try the Bruno Tilz WH-B1, that's what I use on my Besson E-flat in brassband.
(nobody else does, so take it with a grain of salt)

I've been using a Warburton "The Grail" T.G.4 on my JP377 for a while now. It's not far from a 24AW in size, but it darkens the sound considerably and has a sharper (but not sharp), comfortable rim. If I need a more secure high register, I use a RM-9.

Interesting ... I think I have read that Warburton made the Dillon mouthpieces of ca. 20 years ago - like my F1, which is what I've been working on for Eb lately. So I wondered if any of their current tuba range might be similar, but at least the rim sounds different - F1 is about as round as they get.

Anyway, I'm starting to suspect that at least half of my perceptions of my different mouthpieces has to do with how far they fall into the receiver (i.e., shank size.)

Warburton tuba mouthpieces don't receive the attention they deserve, IMHO. When I had a 24J, a Warburton 30D was by far my favorite. Lots of booty in the sound, but enough brightness to let the sound penetrate, and without the dreaded woof.

Yeah, lots of non-specific verbiage there . . .