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Nevermind...my horn is broken

Ralph

If you like the Helleberg and want a big dark sound out of your F, you may want to try the Floyd Cooley Helleberg; a modified 7B that works great on your F if you want to use it for quintet or things like that. The C4 is an old standby, and the Baer F is a great piece too, although neither of those are "hellebergish"

I have several Eb tubas, including a Conn "Jumbo." Even between this tuba and a Willson 3400, the mouthpieces are different. On my Jumbo, I can easily use a Conn 2 or a Conn 7B. On the Willson, a fairly large Eb, I use a G & W Matanuska but would probably be able to use a Churada, too, if I wanted a lighter sound. When I played F tuba, I had a Yamaha YFB 621. I used a Bobo Solo for that and it worked quite well. All of these horns were different sizes and all responded differently to mouthpieces. If you get a large F, with a standard shank, I would try some thing cheap or borrow a mouthpiece or two and see how it responds. If you get a European shank and it is a fairly small horn, try the smaller cupped mouthpieces. Since I assume you are going to use this F tuba primarily for solo work, you are most likely to want a smaller mouthpiece for it, initially. In that case, a Bobo Solo is a good choice.

Depends on what you use the F for. In orchestra, using the F as trumpet players use sopranos simply for more secure performance, simply use what you normally would. For solo work, using the F for pieces written for F, use the large euphonium approach.

All good advice. I've tried the MF4. If I played Eb or F in section, I'd use one. It's just that I'll play Eb or F about once every few years, so I couldn't justify one.

its a really smart idea to make sure the rims are EXACTLY the same on both your F and CC mouthpieces. Look at the GW Baer mp's, the rims are identical. the difference is the depth, backbore, and shank. the rim shape, contour, diameter are identical which forces you to play both horns with the "same embouchore" This is something that Baer preaches and it WORKS!

also look at the Laskey 30H and 30C. same rim, just different cup depth and bore.

TexTuba wrote:I know they have mouthpieces recommended for bass tubas. Is it really possible to have TOO much mouthpiece for a horn?

Yes, but it is not possible to have too many mouthpieces.

bill wrote: I have several Eb tubas, including a Conn "Jumbo." Even between this tuba and a Willson 3400, the mouthpieces are different. On my Jumbo, I can easily use a Conn 2 or a Conn 7B.

Coincidentally, I like those two particularly well on my Conn-made Pan American Eb Giant Bass, but a hair smaller mouthpiece also works for me, like Schilke 66 and 62, for more of a bass tuba effect.

The SSH isn't particularly a giant mouthpiece, is it? I had the idea that it's loosely the same as the Conn 120S - larger than normal for bass tuba, but maybe not hopeless for a medium to large F tuba, as a stopgap until the perfect match can be made.

Thank you all very much for the info. so far provided! It's not the LARGEST one out there, but I thought it's kind of big. Here's the thing: I LOVE the rim on that mouthpiece! So is there anything CLOSE to the rim of the SSH?

Ralph

When I was playing F, I liked funnels better than bowls:

Schilke 66
GW Diablo or Matanuska

Ed Vinson wrote:its a really smart idea to make sure the rims are EXACTLY the same on both your F and CC mouthpieces. Look at the GW Baer mp's, the rims are identical. the difference is the depth, backbore, and shank. the rim shape, contour, diameter are identical which forces you to play both horns with the "same embouchore" This is something that Baer preaches and it WORKS!

Of course he wasn't the first to say that, one of the big contributors to such an idea is Chester Schmitz. Same goes with the Monettes he helped design: completely identical rim; backbore, throat, cup size completely different.... even his custom euphonium mpc from Monette has the same rim as his tuba mpc.

This thread was up recently

viewtopic.php?t=21469&highlight=

I'm using a RM9 on my Rudy 5/4 F, but all players are different and tubas are different so there's no substitute for trying a few yourself. No one else can know what sound you're aiming for.

Cam

Bob1062 wrote:windshieldbug, did you use the same mouthpiece on F that you used to use on your little Distin?

Since I have a "6/4" Meinl 45 F, I use my regular orchestral mouthpiece with it.

With the old Distin, when I used it, I used a Miraphone H2.
Not much smaller. But the main difference was the throat & backbore. Too big a mouthpiece, it'd be like playing just the receiver, with no mouthpiece at all.

It depends a lot on the kind of music you're going to play, how big a sound you need, and what your chops can support.