Mouthpiece needed for 4th grade girl beginner.

[drewfus]

A friend of mine is a elementary band teacher who has a very motivated young lady wanting to play tuba. She is playing on a King fiberglass sousy, but is playing everything an octave up. I sat in with her class today, the only mouthpieces she ( the teacher) has for this horn is a gigantic Holton 7, and a 24AW, the brand slips my memory. The poor child must feel like her whole face is in the mp.

Does anybody have a smaller diamater standard shank mp I can buy for a reasonable (read: cheap)price? The teacher can't buy anything until the next school year. I would give her my 7B if I could, but it is my only mp until I get the cash together for a G&W.

Thanks for any help.

[tubaguy9]

Maybe a Denis Wick mouthpiece? I know they can go pretty small...

[ASTuba]

I always had good luck with the Bach 32E for my beginning students. It's tiny, and seems to allow the students to get around the instrument well enough.

[The Big Ben]

I always had good luck with the Bach 32E for my beginning students. It's tiny, and seems to allow the students to get around the instrument well enough.

I hope you can find one of those. The Bach factory has been on strike since Sept. (or longer) and anything that isn't a 'big seller (i.e. Bach 18, 24AW, etc.) is 'out of stock' at the major sources. Of copurse, always ask and don't assume they don't have it.

Kelly mouthpieces go down to 25 and are 1/2 the price of a Bach. They are kind of neat for kids because they are light and made of plastic (they don't bend or break when dropped (Lexan) and if she drops it on her foot, it won't break a little girl's toe. I bet a 24AW could) On top of that, they come in colors which kids all think is pretty neat.

Don't know if a 25 is small enough but it's a thought. If it will work, send me the address in a PM and I'll send you one. The color is "Marching Maroon". Woooo!

[hnoyes]

I know you didn' ask, "What mouthpiece should I recommend" but as a girl, who remembers those days (while they were a long time ago) I HEARTILY recommend the 7B. That was the breakthrough day for me - it finally was a "real" mouthpiece that fit my face. Even as an adult I've struggled to find mouthpieces that don't swallow my face - I have a small mouth (those of you who know me, don't laugh, it really is small...) and many tuba mouthpieces are just too uncomfortable to play.

Good Luck - I'll look through my box, but I believe I left my 7B with a female student in Arizona, never to be seen again.

[Kevin Hendrick]

The small-diameter mouthpieces that I know of (aside from Doug Elliott's 3-piece system, which isn't exactly a low-cost option) are as follows:

Denis Wick 5L - 1.20" (30.5 mm) I.D.
Josef Klier T8 - 1.20" (30.5 mm) I.D. (4 cup depths from medium deep to very shallow)
Josef Klier T9 - 1.18" (30.0 mm) I.D. (3 cup depths from medium to very shallow)
Bach 30E - 1.18" (30.0 mm) I.D. (shallow cup)
Bach 32E - 1.16" (29.5 mm) I.D. (shallow cup)

Best wishes to the student (and her teacher)!

[Charlie Goodman]

6 1/2 AL

[Chuck(G)]

There's also the Bruno Tilz F-1 and G-1--29 mm = 1.14" (even smaller than a 32E).

[LoyalTubist]

I'd go with the one Chuck said... and it's easier to find in stores (even in Vietnam!)

[drewfus]

Thanks for all the responses, it looks as though a Kelly 25 and a 7B are in her near future. You all have been a great help.

[iiipopes]

If she starts on an Eb with the older smaller receiver, and she is really small, she could use a bass trombone mouthpiece for awhile until she grows into a standard tuba mouthpiece.

Otherwise, to minimize transitional difficulties later, see if she can start on a 25. If not, then any of the above would be find.

A Wick 4 is also a tad larger than a Wick 5 and is also a possibility to add to the list.

And remember that Bach are notorious for being larger in the cup than "spec."

[ken k]

helleberg 7B

[tubaguy9]

6 1/2 AL

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a 'bone mouthpiece!!!!!!!!!!

[tubaguy9]

I've never had good luck with a 24AW for smaller faces, the rim is too wide and pushes against the nose. It hits me in the nose even, I have a short upper lip.

I've had good results with both a 7b and a Kelly 25, plus they can drop the Kelly without flattening the shank. I have had a kid bring one back that had the shank mostly chewed off by his dog, though.

If I know the 24AW, those things are pieces of, well, CRAP!!!!!!! There is no inner edge on it, and the rim is so thick, I could...huh...wonder what to say here...so thick, it's thicker than one of Hardee's Thickburgers...

[Steve Inman]

I also don't like my cheapie 24AW clone, but the cup inside diameter is smaller than the 7B, fwiw. That may not be the deciding factor based on the rim, however.

A Wick 3 is about the same size as the 24AW. (Wick 2 = Conn 7B). Then there are the Wick 4 and 5, each slightly smaller than the previous lower "model" number.

Cheers,

[Captain Sousie]

I had good luck with a 24AW and a 32E for some of my students with smaller lips/mouths but a 25 might work just as well (I don't know, I've never tried one).

Good Luck,
Sou

[ken k]

keep in mind that with the Denis Wick mouthpieces the numbered models without an "L" suffix will be the smaller shank mouthpiece suitable for some older european tubas and some Eb tubas.

If you want a Denis Wick mouthpiece with the full sized "American" Style shank you need to get a 4L or 5L.

ken k

[tbn.al]

6 1/2 AL

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a 'bone mouthpiece!!!!!!!!!!

Hey tubaguy....I think that's the point.

I tried so hard to get a friend's daughter to start on a 6 1/2 AL, in a baritone of course, and then switch to tuba. She's a bright kid but really struggling. She just can't center the embouchure in a tuba mouthpiece. The top rim hits her in the nose, even with the smallest we can find. 1/3 upper lip and 2/3 lower does not a pretty sound make, and everything is played an octave up. If she doesn't get discouraged and quit before she gets bigger she probably will when she has to relearn an embouchure. It's a sad waste of a bright kid's enthusiasm.

[Kevin Hendrick]

6 1/2 AL

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a 'bone mouthpiece!!!!!!!!!!

Hey tubaguy....I think that's the point.

It's a good point -- if the smallest tuba mouthpiece you can get is still too large, there's a myriad of trombone/euph mouthpieces that covers the range between that and a 6-1/2AL. What you'd need is an adapter to fit the largest t/e mouthpiece she can comfortably use to a standard tuba receiver (and make the "mp + adapter" length equal to a tuba mouthpiece), and you could probably have one of those made at a machine shop (look in the yellow pages -- I just checked through Yahoo, and found them under

Business to Business > Manufacturing and Industrial Supplies > Metal Industries > Machine Shops

-- hope that helps).

[tbn.al]

IMHO: If she is too small in the face to center a tuba mouthpiece, then she needs to start on baritone or euphonium, switching later to tuba. Trying to play a bone mouthpiece stuck into tuba size tubing is just going to mess her mind up worse. If not now, then later when she switches back. Probably more than half of the posters on this site started on a smaller instrument ,even trumpet, and it didn't hurt them. That switch from baritone to tuba is really pretty easy even if you are a 55 yr old bone player like I was. It's a snap for a kid.