Jump to content

Tuba Mouthpiece


ConnorLeeWithSomeTea

Recommended Posts

So I'm in the market for a new tuba mouthpiece. I don't want to spend insane amounts of $ on it, but I want it to be of decent quality. What would you recommend? I play on a Bach 18 right now, but I feel like It restricts my range. I was thinking about getting a Helleberg, but I've heard that there are better mouthpieces out there. I don't have any way to try them out, so what is your personal recommendation for all around use?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My personal favorites are the PT50 and PT 88 (I use the + models for both), the Hammond 30XL, System Blue tuba mouthpiece in that order.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loud LM-5 is my weapon of choice. A veritable bathtub of a mouthpiece. I have wonderful tone on that mouthpiece, and it requires so much air that I can't possibly overblow my horn. I've tried an LM-12 as well. Goodness... if you literally need something to make you three times as loud at the expense of quality tone, that's a perfect mouthpiece. I may pick one up just for giggles. Good luck finding an LM-5 though. When Loud went out of business for a few years, the LM-5 did not make the cut when they returned to production. Those who have an LM-5 do not give them up!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Conn Helleberg.

Edited by BigDale
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dennis Wick 2XL Heritage Series. I personally play on a 1L with a gold rim and interior and I like it better, but the 2XL is what I recommend to everyone first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

What do you NOT like about your current mouthpiece?

Limiting your range? In what way? To hard to play high? To stuffy to play low? Inner rim too small? too big?

I was mostly a Euphonium player who dabbled in Tuba. The helleberg wasn't for me, the inner rim was too small, and the deep cup made it hard to not be on the flat side with all the slides pushed in all the way. I have the G&W equivalent of a PT88 (Caver) and it's good and large, when everything else fails for me, that's a good fallback option. The one that seemed to work best for me was the G&W Alan Baer. Sort of a middle of the road piece. I have the LM-10 too, but unless you playing a small tuba or doing delicate solo work, it's kind of small. Good for high end, endurance, and pretty good sound at low volumes. But not a drumcorps piece. That's about the limit of my experience with mostly marching horns on the large side of the spectrum.

There are lots of factors when it comes to mouthpieces. Give any new piece a month to get over the honeymoon period (about 2 weeks). And evaluate what you might change on your familiar mouthpiece(s) to get your desired results. More of a V cup can make a small mouthpiece play like a large one. Stainless steel makes a piece feel larger than its' actual specifications. And other traits. If you've got performance demands you probably don't want to change your rim size much. It's pretty much an endless quest which will ultimately result in a compromise. See if you can't borrow a piece or two from other players. At a minimum give a large, medium, and small option a try to see where you might fall in your preferences. Which is what I have to play with. Caver (large), Baer (medium), LM-10 (small). If you're really unsure, then get some of the kelly plastic ones, they're cheaper in general, and that can add up if you're gonna end up with a collection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32.10mm inner rim on the Bach 18 and described as "medium" and best seller. Seems like the helleberg would be roughly the same specs, but a deeper cup. I tended towards a rim size near 33mm which was a larger inner rim than the helleberg. But it's been a while and the actual conn specs might be hard to find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...