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Hi all Miraphone 1291 BBb players. I just bought a "very similar" horn and am wondering what mouthpiece you use for your 1291 and why. Thanks for any info you can provide.

"some guy" who played a 1291/2 CC has a mouthpiece designed for it, and he seemed to do pretty well with it. They have it in round (VERY round) rim versions, and flatter versions. http://www.king-cart.com/Giddingsandweb ... atch=exact

On my 1291 5 valve BBb I use the Bloke Symphony model with the #2 rim. The horn can go a little hot sometimes with my PT88 so I tried this and it worked great. It's a very good mouthpiece.

Just my observations.

Roger

What are the general principles when choosing a mouthpiece? I don't have a huge mouthpiece collection. I settled on mouthpieces for my other tubas purely by trial and error (Marty Erickson 4 with my Willson 3050, Miraphone TU33 with my Getzen CB-50, Dillon S2 PS with my MW 45slp).

A friend just loaned me a Baer mouthpiece to try. I've only played a couple notes with it - more tomorrow.

Thanks!

pinedale wrote:What are the general principles when choosing a mouthpiece? I settled on mouthpieces for my other tubas purely by trial and error...

You already have your answer!

Are there principles to use to find potential candidates? Unfortunately there aren't any good vendors of tuba mouthpieces nearby so trying a new one usually means buying a new one. At $150 a pop, that can get pricey!

pinedale wrote:Are there principles to use to find potential candidates? Unfortunately there aren't any good vendors of tuba mouthpieces nearby so trying a new one usually means buying a new one. At $150 a pop, that can get pricey!

Sure there are! What do your mouthpieces have in common? What is it do you like about them? Is there anything you do not like about them?

For me, after a search of about seven years and a couple of dozen (approx.) mouthpieces, I know that I look for this:

Flat rim with a sharp "inner-bite."
I.D. around 32.5mm
I prefer a funnel/cup hybrid.
I do not like anything too deep as far as cup.
I do not like small (to me) throats.

What I came up for me was a G&W Diablo for contrabass tubas. It doesn't matter the size of the horn, or the key, I love this mouthpiece on every contrabass tuba I play.

YMMV

G&W Bayamo for me

Different strokes for different folks. I'm using a PT-48X on my Mirafone 1291 BBb 5V.

I use a Miraphone TU 29 for my 1291 clone

I used a GW Caver on my 1291 BBb 4v, relinquishing low end for a little better control, as compared to the GW Baer MMVI.

Buy used stuff...here or on eBay, try it, and then sell it if you didn't like it. Or, a lot of dealers will let you test something with only a modest return/restocking fee. Some dealers (like Mike Finn) even have some scratch & dent models that are only 90% perfect, and far reduced in price.

I've played "the mouthpiece game" a lot over the past year, probably trying out about 10 pieces. I ended up keeping a few that really worked for me. For the ones I re-sold, it was a zero-sum game, and well worth the time.

I use a PT-48 for my 1291 CC. Might need something a little bit bigger for a BBb, but I really love the darkness of the sound I can get in the lower and middle range.

TubaTinker wrote:Different strokes for different folks. I'm using a PT-48X on my Mirafone 1291 BBb 5V.

Dan, do you use the same on your M&M TU-8000?

PT48+. The heavy version sounded a little more solid than the standard PT48 and the PT 50 was a bit woofy on the 1291.

Regards

Gerard

Miraphone has been delivering these with a TU 26 , manufactured by G and W , and it appears to be a copy of the original Alan Baer - I assume they tested this extensively. I have a buddy with this horn who uses one of Doug Elliots MPs ( deep T cup I think ) with great results...