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Now there's an open ended question!!!

Search the archives for everyones opinion and goodluck!

I think he's looking for the same mouthpiece we are all looking for...

Intonation: you'll have to try out a bunch... depends on YOU and your HORN.

Great high and low range: Get one not too deep, but not too shallow. Look for ones called "medium/semi deep." You'll want the inner rim diameter not too wide, but not too narrow... something moderate.

Play with ease: A little ambiguous. If you are referring to comfortability... then look for one with a wide rim and a well rounded inner edge. This, of course, won't allow for clean attack... so if you were referring to the opposite (ease of articulating) then look for one with a more narrow rim and sharp inner edge.

Also, experiment bowl-cup vs funnel-cup.

have fun... you'll have lots of work ahead of you!

try try try...

I have a few mouthpieces that Mr Jacobs used, they don't sound like Mr Jacobs, they are lacking something - Mr Jacobs!

A mouthpiece is just a mouthpiece until you add the player. There is your intonation, sound quality and all that stuff. Looking for a mouthpiece that has all that is like looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the fountain of youth, the easter bunny, tooth fairy . . . ain't such a thing!

Sorry if I offended anyone who believes in the tooth fairy or easter bunny, if you believe in them, go for it.

brianf wrote:Sorry if I offended anyone who believes in the tooth fairy or easter bunny, if you believe in them, go for it.

Tooth fairy? Easter bunny? You mean I've had those two mixed up all these years? Dang ...

I definitely agree, even if you have to purchase a small spray bottle of disinfectant so they can spray and wipe down each mouthpiece you try before returning it to stock. When you go, try them in the following order by spec.

1) a Bach 18 or facsimile. See how it goes, paying attention to how the rim feels on your embouchure. This is where a lot of people start.

2) If you like the rim, then try something with a little larger or smaller diameter cup to see if it feels better or worse, and how well you center your tone over the range of the instrument.

3) If you don't like the rim, try something with a wider rim, like a 24AW, & if you like that rim, then go to step #2.

4) After you get a rim you like, then try out different cups. Generally, a deeper cup will give a bigger tone than a shallow cup, and a rounded cup will give more overtones than a funnel cup, which tends to suppress them and give a mellower tone. At this point, it helps to have someone with you to help listen for the difference in tone and intonation.

5) If you're really brave, you can try a true Helleburg: rather thin and flat rim with a very sharp inner edge, and a very deep funnel cup to get a dark tone. Very few people like that kind of rim, so try it first.

6) In the meantime, if you have to have a mouthpiece now, you can get a Bach 18 facsimile from Faxx, Blessing or a couple of other brands less expensively, or even a Kelly for @$30. If you think you are going to have any outdoor gigs, get a Kelly anyway, as the Lexan will not be temperature sensitive and will warm or cool to your lips immediately, unlike getting frozen or burned on a traditional mouthpiece.

I was lucky in when I picked back up I had access to several mouthpieces from friends, the lodge and community bands I play in, and at least three music stores in town. I settled on a Wick 1 for general purpose for my Besson, and a Kelly 18 for my sousaphone, following this same plan.

I reviewed specs, but only as a comparison to weed out definite mismatches, like a Bach 7 or 30. Moreover, even though the specs on a Bach 18 say something like 1.26 inner cup diameter, the last new one I measured recently had a 1.28 inner cup diameter. I liked the feel, but did not have the cash, and the standard American shank is larger than my Besson. I liked the rim. So I tried larger and smaller cup diameters, but came back to a 1.28. The 18 was also, with its rounded cup, a little bright for my Besson. Hence the Wick 1, which has a little deeper and more funnel shaped cup for the Besson. For my sousaphone, I felt like I "bottomed out" on the mouthpiece for the air I wanted to be able to put through it. But I was going to play the sousaphone outdoors, so I wanted something with good overtone development for better projection. Hence the Kelly 18, which has the same rim, a little deeper, but still rounded cup. Not only have I matched mouthpieces to horns, but I have also kept the same cup diameter and rim profile so that switching between the two is a non-issue.

If you don't have buckets of money handy or a store where you can try out a bunch of mouthpieces, the four sizes offered by Kelly cover enough of the size range and rim styles to give you a good idea of what works for you. That might at least give you a general idea of where to direct further experimentation. The Kellys aren't my favorite mouthpieces, but I like them. They have a little mellower tone than I prefer.

I get my best tone with the Faxx Helleberg when my mug is in a mood to work right with it. I have to question the "Helleberg" title because (as far as I can tell) it is quite a bit different than the Conn. It makes me think a Conn Helleberg and a Bach 18 got together and had a kid.

The Faxx 24AW is an easy to play mouthpiece and inexpensive. The Yamaha 67C4 is another easy to play mouthpiece.

Although the Yamaha Canadian Brass replica is not my favorite tone, my mug works well with it. It's very similar to the Conn Helleberg, but a little smaller rim and (I think) significantly smaller cup. I get the impression that the intent was to make a lighter sounding Helleberg.

There is an excellent chart giving comparative cup diameters at http://www.ibowtie.com and a fairly good chart on comparative cup depths at http://www.dougelliottmouthpieces.com/s ... chart.html

iiipopes wrote:There is an excellent chart giving comparative cup diameters at http://www.ibowtie.com and a fairly good chart on comparative cup depths at http://www.dougelliottmouthpieces.com/s ... chart.html

And don't forget Andy Cattanach's chart (in MS Excel format), which can be downloaded from:

http://www.andycattanach.co.uk/

Kevin Hendrick wrote:

iiipopes wrote:There is an excellent chart giving comparative cup diameters at http://www.ibowtie.com and a fairly good chart on comparative cup depths at http://www.dougelliottmouthpieces.com/s ... chart.html

And don't forget Andy Cattanach's chart (in MS Excel format), which can be downloaded from:

http://www.andycattanach.co.uk/

Thanks. I didn't know about that one!

Just make sure the mouthpiece is plated. Bare bronze on a mouthpiece can cause blood poisoning and is potentially deadly. At least it could raise unsightly welts on your lips.

Indeed! I know about this first hand. My son is allergic/hypersensitive to metal. When he blew on my cornet mouthpiece before I got him his own, his whole lip area broke out, even though the silverplating was as it should be. I had to get him a nylon cup DEG mouthpiece. I shudder to think what raw brass would have done!