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I use the same Laskey 42C that I use for alto trombone. The other finalists when I was in the process of searching were a Bach 22C, a Schilke 42B and a Wick 10CS. I feel strongly that a bass trumpet mouthpiece should be considerably shallower than anything you would use on euphonium. Try borrowing an 11C as a good place to start experimenting.

Doug Yeo uses a shallow cup mouthpiece built on the same rim as his bass trombone mouthpiece. I suppose you could call it a Yamaha 62A. A number of other players I know use shallow cups on a 50 or 51 sized rim. For me, the smaller cups work better. Pretty much every bass trumpet I have played has been pretty stuffy below about D in the staff. Larger mouthpieces (in my experience) don't do anything to help this.

If you get a bass trumpet I recommend you learn to read F parts. 90% of the work I get on bass trumpet is last minute sub calls to cover horn parts in quintets. If you are looking for a piece to show it off in a recital, try the Neruda Trumpet Concerto down an octave. It lies really nicely in the sweet spot of most bass trumpets.

Finally, a story. I do not know for certain if this is true, but it's one of those stories that ought to be true, even if it isn't. Back in the Reiner era Renold Schilke was playing bass trumpet during a rehearsal. Schilke was using a large trumpet mouthpiece which apparently irked the Maestro. Reiner had him play a passage, shook his head and explained that to get a proper sound on bass trumpet you needed to use a trombone mouthpiece. He then told Schilke to show up the next day with a trombone mouthpiece.

Schilke went to his shop after rehearsal, took a trombone blank and made a copy of his trumpet mouthpiece inside it. The next day Reiner stopped the orchestra after the same passage. He pointed to Schilke and said, "See, now that is the true bass trumpet sound."

Indeed. Or maybe even a Bach 12C trombone mouthpiece.

I use an old Holton 47 on mine. Always liked that one. If I'm doing more relazed stuff (non-orchestral) my Bach 4C suits me fine.

Tried a 22EW Bach once - awesome!

J.c.S.

Small and damn small

Honestly, I'll have to find some way to measure. The 47 feals a lot like a 12C rim but much sharper. The 22 has a wide cushy rim, but a cup diameter that feals like an alto-horn mouthpiece.

J.c.S.

Using manufacturer's specifications:

Wick 10CS 25.0mm
Bach 11C 24.7mm
Bach 12C 24.5mm
Laskey 42C 24.2mm
Bach 22C 23.9mm
Schilke 42B 22.9mm

Just for reference, a Wick 2 alto horn mouthpiece is 19.0mm. The smallest trombone mouthpiece I know of is the Schilke 40B, which is 22.5mm.

According to the liner notes on his Orchestral Excerpts CD, Micheal Mulcahy (Chicago Symphony) uses a Bach 15C mouthpiece on his Alexander bass trumpet in C.

tubashaman wrote:our marching band marches bass trumpets

Very interesting...what music do they play? Are the instruments in Bb, an octave below the trumpet? How many players march bass trumpet there? It seems like the small bore compared to a marching baritone would be counterintuitive, not to mention more expensive.

I couldn't find any bass trumpet parts or baritone treble clef parts at http://www.acu.edu/academics/cas/music/ ... gchap.html, but it sounds like a neat idea!

tubashaman wrote:our marching band marches bass trumpets.....well they are played by euphonium players, they own a baritone, but is in need of repair, my professor, a euph player, said they are genuine american style bass trumpets used for marching.......small shank euphonium mouthpiece works great

I'm thinking, hmm, brighter trumpet sound on those parts, no thanks. But than, perhaps trumpet tone+euphonium pedal register=mmmmmmmmmmm, tasty. I think. I'm curious now.

I would think a Euph Mouthpiece - unless it's the stock 6.5 AL or 12C mouthpieces usually sold to schools - would be far to dark and veiled for a bass trumpet.

Getzen used to market their bass trumpet (I think Bach did too, briefly) as an alternative to the trombone or euph for marching, much like the flugel-bones. Several were purchased for that reason.

J.c.S.

Regarding cup geometry, too shallow, and the tone will be too grainy; too deep, and yes, the tone will turn to mud.

A couple of mouthpieces not mentioned that has just come to mind that might also work: Wick 9BS or 7CS. I have played the 6BS, and it's great for mid-section bone work, but it might be a tad deep for bass trumpet. A lot of players who use the 6BS for their section work then use the 7CS for lead work to get the extra presence, as it has a slightly shallower cup and slightly smaller throat (for a Wick mouthpiece), but the same rim and diameter, so it might work well, depending on the range you need. The 9BS is slightly smaller diameter than the 7CS, and like the 12C or Yammy 48, is considered suitable as a "starter" bone mouthpiece, which means it might also work well with bass trumpet.

I played an 11C or 12C on mine (crap, which was it?!?! ) and I, after having only played bass trombone and tuba for the past few years, felt it was too small. Don't be afraid of going small on bass trumpet; it's a completely different feel.

We tested our Model 1088 bass trumpet with an 11C and a 12C, among others. It ships with a 12C but we'll substitute an 11C on request.

Early play testing on the Model 1088 was done by myself, and subsequent (and more intensive) testing was done by Alan Kaplan and Charlie Loper. The bass trumpet itself plays much like the Bach, but is freer blowing with better intonation and response. As well, it's more readily available - the build time being approximately four to six weeks.