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I know this has been addressed before, I couldn't find the thread. Any thoughts on bending the shank of a mouthpiece upwards, mainly to achieve equal pressure and seal from upper lip to lower lip?

It was posted a while back... specifically about bending a trumpet mouthpiece to give is a 'Dizzy Gillispie' look... to put the mouthpiece over a straightening mandrel and give it a whack. I know a fellow who did that with a trumpet mouthpiece and it worked just fine.

The year I played bass with Welk orchestra the lead trumpet had his mouthpiece throat bent. Fine for trumpet.

There is a thread somewhere of someone doing it on a Kelly. He got lucky and got it done before the Lexan totally deformed from the heat.

As for me, I also have a slight overbite. I considered the bent mouthpiece option and quickly discarded the thought. Just too much risk, when new mouthpieces now average over $100 per for name brands. As I have had done to both my Besson and my Miraphone, it is much easier, safer, less expensive and reversible to have your local competent tech sit you in a performance chair, have you hold your tuba normally in playing position as if the mouthpiece were perfectly where it needs to be, and reposition the leadpipe position and receiver angle to fit your face with your choice of conventional mouthpieces.

While you're at it, if you play a rotary, it's not that much more in time or money to have the paddles and thumb ring adjusted and if need be resoldered for both length and position as well so you have a totally tailored tuba that you simply concentrate on the music, your conductor, and those around you and play, instead of always fiddling with something or other.