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One suggestion for your Besson Eefer: Wick 3.

I have use a PT 72 on both the 981 I owned in the past and the 983 I am currently playing and that seems to be a good fit.



Alex

I have said it before, but the one mouthpiece that seems to work best for me on my 983 is the LM-15. I was using the Wick 3, but it wasn't as free blowing as I like. With the LM-15 I get the sound I want, good intonation, and it facilitiates an easy range from pedal to the high end. Other mouthpieces could provide the range or give a good tone, but intonation was inconsistent. Since I got the LM-15 I haven't found anything that works as well for me. Of course everyone is different and your experience will probably not be the same, but it's probably worth a try.

I don't own a Besson 983 or the mouthpieces in question, but here's my educated guess....

Compensated instruments like your 983 have a bit more resistance in them than non-compensated instruments.

A lot of British tuba players who play Besson E flat tubas use mouthpieces with very large throats to help compensate for the the extra resistance. Look at the throat sizes on most Denis Wick mouthpieces, they're huge. http://www.deniswick.com/dw_leaflet_06.pdf

The Sidey MB has a 7.5 mm throat, that's about the same size as a stock Miraphone C4 (TU23) or Laskey 30c. I call that small. If you like a C4 on your tuba and hate the rim, get the SSH-MB.

The Sidey MBL has a more normal 8.15 mm throat, just a hair smaller than Miraphone Rose Solo or Conn Helleberg or Laskey 30h.

So if it were up to me, I'd get the SSH-MBL because the larger throat will likely work better with your tuba.

I think you should get both and send the one you like least back or sell it on Tubenet.

cjk wrote:I don't own a Besson 983 or the mouthpieces in question, but here's my educated guess....

Compensated instruments like your 983 have a bit more resistance in them than non-compensated instruments.

A lot of British tuba players who play Besson E flat tubas use mouthpieces with very large throats to help compensate for the the extra resistance. Look at the throat sizes on most Denis Wick mouthpieces, they're huge. http://www.deniswick.com/dw_leaflet_06.pdf

The Sidey MB has a 7.5 mm throat, that's about the same size as a stock Miraphone C4 (TU23) or Laskey 30c. I call that small. If you like a C4 on your tuba and hate the rim, get the SSH-MB.

The Sidey MBL has a more normal 8.15 mm throat, just a hair smaller than Miraphone Rose Solo or Conn Helleberg or Laskey 30h.

So if it were up to me, I'd get the SSH-MBL because the larger throat will likely work better with your tuba.

I think you should get both and send the one you like least back or sell it on Tubenet.

Maybe that's why the LM-15 works for me. It has "Throat Bore: 8.25 mm." The bore on the LM-9 is only 7.823mm. The Wick 3 has a bore of 8.78mm, although the 3SL is 7.62mm. You can get the Helleberg rim for any of the loud mouthpieces if you really like that feel too.

Yes, you sent me the 3L, and I turned around and sold it to Schlep, who loves it for his eefer helicon. It has just never worked out for me playing eefer.