TubeNet

wbryan6 wrote:Does anyone know Denis Wick's largest mouthpiece? I'm currently trying a 2L . . . .

There are 1 and 1L. The 1 is for small shank receivers.

I use the 1 on my York Eb and can range from a pedal Eb, through the privileged notes, and up through Eb above the staff.

Up to Bb above the staff is reliable. Above that, the notes too often sound like "Effie Passes a Kidney Stone!" That could mean that a smaller MP would be in order for playing above the staff.


Denis Wick 1L (from beckettsmusic.co.uk)

The Mike Finn mouthpieces are quite large. Also the Monette line of mouthpieces are HUGE!

The size of the mouthpiece cup is not the only thing that impacts intonation and response. Backbore can have a large impact. I tried a Wick 2L, a Mike Finn 2, and a Helleberg on my Besson 983, but when I switched to the Wick 3L that came with the horn, intonation and reponse evened out for me. When I was looking at the specs for Wick mouthpieces after making this change I realized that although the 3 doesn't have the widest or deepest cup, it has the largest backbore of any of the DW mouthpieces and I speculate that it had an impact on it's playability for me.

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As a rank amateur, I am using it in a large community band where there are at least 4 other tuba players. It really brightens the sound of the section. I also use it for the occassional church, or quintet gig, and would like to try to pull together a tuba euph quartet just for the fun of it. I bought it to learn how to play an eefer so that when I was old(er) I could lug around a lighter horn. Of course I could have always just bought a smaller BBb, but where's the challenge in that?

I play my BBb tubas in the community band where I am the only tuba player.

At ITEC last week, Besson had three new mouthpieces, all prototypes, currently marked as 1XL, 2XL, 3XL. Based on the VERY positve reaction given these during the conference, they will be made as production models starting in the fall. These are all made to appeal more to the US market--several of my students tried these, as did I, and we all liked them.

D. AsKew

not so thick, I didn't think. and, the 1XL is the largest, 3XL is the smallest.

dwa

The new Wick's have much thinner rims than the previous models. I bought the 3XL at the show last week and was thrilled with the change of clarity on my 983. And I have never liked Wick's before.

I've been having trouble with everything from articulations to my sound (well, for a lack of a better term) projecting too much and sounding heavy. After much imput I bought it and have really enjoyed the results.

I recommend giving them a try when they are out on the market.

Mark

P.S. Just thought I'd dilly around the bloody net whilst minding me time in ye 'ol London town, Dennis! See you soon....I hope! (Still looking at next week or the one after. Sigh...)

The one I bought and the ones that were at the show are prototypes. They have changed the rim and the cup. It was very different from any other Wick I've seen. I would give a try when they are available.

Mark

tubasisten wrote:In my opinion, Wick mouthpieces works excellent, as long as you´ve got a british horn. I´ve tried Wicks in different B&S-tubas and none of them turned out to be to my satisfaction. German style tubas=German style mouthpieces, British tubas=Denis Wick.

This was my first reply, just got registered. I apologize for my crappy english.


Mattias
Sweden

I'm using a 1L in my BBb Cerveny 683 with good results. I'd like to try something with a larger diameter cup and large throat though. Even in my trombone days I seemed to need a large mouthpiece.