Complete beginner in search of mouthpiece advice

[RockinBones]

Hi folks, I’m looking to begin learning tuba after 15+ years in on upright bass and other instruments, and have benefitted hugely from the knowledge of others on forums like this through that time. As such I’ll be greatly appreciative of any advice as I go through this journey!

If I may kick off with a question, I’m looking at a Bb Boosey&Co tuba as an affordable and locally available start point but would need a mouthpiece. I understand that mouthpieces are shaped very differently for preference and performance but in terms of fitment into the tuba (I believe the shank is the term?!), how universal is the fit? Is there a clear set of criteria to determine if a mouthpiece will fit? I don’t have the budget to purchase multiple options at this stage, not a local supplier to seek out, but have struggled to get clarity from various sources online. Any advice greatly appreciated and sorry for the probably-stupid question!!

[daktx2]

Hi!

Basically everything there is to know about mouthpiece shanks was typed by Matt Walters here.

If your tuba is an old Boosey, it probably has the old British small shank, though it's hard to guess without seeing it, and impossible to be certain without being there in person. That small shank is closer to the size of a bass trombone's mouthpiece shank. Once you have the tuba in hand, you can either use a 10$ pair of calipers to compare with the measurements in the post I linked, or have a trombonist friend see if their large shank mouthpiece fits your tuba. If it's small shank, then you need to buy a fairly expensive mouthpiece (Denis Wick makes them in this size, they're usually >$100) or have a repairperson replace the mouthpiece receiver to a standard size.

Good luck!

[RockinBones]

Thanks so much! This was exactly the type of advice I was hoping I’d find here. Incredibly helpful