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Hello gang. I'm a longtime lurker, occasional poster, and I have a question.

This is a mouthpiece question. Yes, another one. I've searched and searched, and have not found the answer to my question.

Basically, I LOVE my G&W stainless mouthpiece for most situations. But I find that it's just not quite what I want for high register soloing. I'd like to have something that's a lot like it, but with a smaller inside diameter and a cup that's quite a bit more shallow.

Does anyone know of such a mouthpiece? You know, VERY heavy, big throat, no (or very narrow) rim, shallow cup, smallish inside diameter?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

A Churada is a G & W mouthpiece with the smaller diameter. You may also be interested in their Sass model.

Greg,

I use a Bayamo, and it is the best mouthpiece I've ever used. Stepping into it from the trusty ol' Helleberg, I noticed as much of an improvement as I did back when I stepped into my Helleberg from a Conn 24AW. It's just a little big for really high solo stuff.

UARTuba wrote:You may want to give the LOUD LM10 Tommy Johnson model a shot. It's stainless, has a shallower cup than most G&W's, and has a screw on rim so you can find the right rim for yourself. I use a G&W Taku for everything, and the LM10 for a lot of solo stuff, and really like the LM10.

No rim wanted on it? unscrew the one that you get, and you have no rim...

BBbDave wrote:Hey, tubaguy9, that's really mean of you, using that 5.5 font on us old guys!

It's not 5.5...it's 7...same as tiny font size...
I could have done this...
Or this
This is what you thought it was

Greg wrote:Mike Finn MF4H is very good though it is not stainless steel. . . .

I use both the G&W Bayamo and a Mike Finn MF 3H. Both are excellent for a 5/4 CC.

The MF 3H is heavy, and gives a little more control playing in the staff than does the Bayamo.

Throat drill venturi:
Bayamo .332"
MF 3H .332"

Inside cup diameter:
Bayamo 1.320"
MF 3H 1.299"

Greg wrote:Isn't the (MF)3H a rather deep mouthpiece used for getting a huge sonorous sound?

Yep......I wouldn't put this in the solo mouthpiece catagory. I love my MF3H, but I agree that something a good bit shallower would give you a lighter, perhaps more overtone-rich, kinda "solo" tone.

dmmorris wrote:

Greg wrote:Isn't the (MF)3H a rather deep mouthpiece used for getting a huge sonorous sound?

Yep......I wouldn't put this in the solo mouthpiece catagory. I love my MF3H, but I agree that something a good bit shallower would give you a lighter, perhaps more overtone-rich, kinda "solo" tone.

Both Greg and dmmorris are right about the MF 3H being for big sound, contrasted with solo work. I'll measure the cup depth this evening and get back to you. The MF 3H is the only heavy MP I've had experience with, besides the Bayamo, so I cannot offer much else from personal experience to the discussion.

The original poster asked for a very heavy MP with a "big throat, no (or very narrow) rim, shallow cup, smallish inside diameter cup," but I haven't seen cup depth documented in charts to any extent. Finally, I recently bought some smaller Laskeys, but they do not meet the call for "very heavy."

Greg wrote:Tubaguyry, are you looking for a mouthpiece to use on recitals as a solo mouthpiece or are you looking for an ensemble mouthpiece that will make it more easy to control the higher register?

Greg, I'm looking for a solo mouthpiece. I don't have any problem whatsoever playing high ensemble stuff. I want something that will make it a bit easier to play things like the Barat "Introduction and Dance" (in the baritone register) and the Robert Jager tuba concerto on my CC tuba. I mean, I can PLAY them on the Bayamo, but I just feel like I'm having to work a bit too hard playing that high because of the size of the mouthpiece. The reason I stated the desired characteristics in the mouthpiece I want is that the Bayamo is by far the best mouthpiece I have ever played on, and I wanted to have as many characteristics from it that I can on a smaller mouthpiece (except for the width and depth of the cup).

Since first posting this, I've emailed Ivan at G&W, and he assured me that the Churada (and all his heavyweight mouthpieces) WILL fit my Mirafone 186, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to order either the Churada or the Bora. Once I get it and play on it a bit, I'll let you know how it turns out for me.

Thanks to everyone who responded, I really appreciate your comments!

Dean E wrote:... Both Greg and dmmorris are right about the MF 3H being for big sound, contrasted with solo work. I'll measure the cup depth this evening and get back to you. The MF 3H is the only heavy MP I've had experience with, besides the Bayamo, so I cannot offer much else from personal experience to the discussion. ...

I have the MF3 mouthpiece for band playing on my 4/4 tuba, and have wondered how the G&W Bayamo compares: Is it bigger?

Cheers,
Allen

Dean E wrote:

Greg wrote:Mike Finn MF4H is very good though it is not stainless steel. . . .

I use both the G&W Bayamo and a Mike Finn MF 3H. Both are excellent for a 5/4 CC.

The MF 3H is heavy, and gives a little more control playing in the staff than does the Bayamo.

Throat drill venturi:
Bayamo .332"
MF 3H .332"

Inside cup diameter:
Bayamo 1.320"
MF 3H 1.299"

I measured the mouthpieces' cups the best I could with a machinist's depth ruler/square.

The depth of the MF 3H cup is 1.53", which is not ideal for solo work, as noted by others. It's great for rattling the walls, though.

The Bayamo's cup is 1.59", roughly .060" (1/16 ") deeper than the MF 3H.

I put both MPs on my postal scale and estimated the weight (mass for the scientists and engineers) to the closest half ounce. The stainless steel Bayamo is lighter than the brass MF 3H:

Bayamo 13.0 ounces

MF 3H 13.5 ounces

Thanks Dean, that's good info!