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I played an older King fiberglass sousaphone recently in a parade (first time performing on fiberglass....EVER!), and I found it to be a little lacking in focus, and tone "penetration" through the other brasses.

To the question: Is this just the way fiberglass is, or is there a mouthpiece that will fix the "woofiness" of a fiberglass sousa?

What type of mouthpiece did you use?

From my experience it's just nearly impossible to get the same sort of tone out of a fiberglass sousaphone that you get with a brass one. If your sousaphone is in good shape and not leaking or valves are not out of position it should be projecting through almost too much with a more edgy sound than on a brass horn.

Playing outside is different than playing inside of course and often when I play outside it takes a while to get used to the sound going "out there" and not bouncing back like it does when one is playing inside.

I don’t think you should choose your mouthpiece from the material of the instrument. What you describe rather sounds like a leaking instrument, which may happen with all-brass instruments also.

Check the instrument for leaks, fix the leaks, and play a mouthpiece that fits you without being too much of line with the pitch of the instrument.

Klaus

What YOUR ear (as the player) perceives is often quite different from what a listener actually hears. I played my Selmer commode-O-phone at an outdoor concert yesterday. I used the same MF-2 I use most of the time on my other horns.

The fiberglass does not produce any bell 'ring' like a large brass bell would but the sound to the crowd should be the same as long as you are not trying to overblow the horn.