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I'm considering taking an offer in a Rm 5/4, I currently play on the GW Alan Baer, but is there any suggestions for people who use this horn? What really pairs up with this beast?

Hello. Mouthpieces are so personal, BUT, I'm responding to this because I have used
a Rudolf Meinl 5/4 CC for the past three seasons in a professional ensemble and really
enjoy the sound they produce. What worked for me (and they way I play) was an older
Schilke Helleberg II. I am not the only player to use this match up.
I found the Schilke well balanced, affording an evenness of sound, and ease of
playing/flexibility on such a large tuba. I only recently stopped using the Rudy
because I wanted something a little smaller, but I won't easily find that great
Rudy sound again.

Thanks for the input guys.

Well I currently use the giddings and webster alan baer signature series, the newest one. I love this mouthpiece, it works great. It's not really that big, a big mouthpiece I used to have was a Bayamo. But anyways, I don't know how it'll match up. When I played my teacher's Rudy 5/4 my standard shank was too small for me to enjoy it. So i'm getting a euro shank Alan Baer.

And one more thing, whats with the bowl shaped cups vs. the cone shaped cups on mouthpieces? A professional once said that bowl shaped mouthpieces (maybe like a pt-88?) worked best with rotary valve tubas, and a cone shaped mouthpiece (maybe like my MVII, or another mouthpiece with a sharp bite to it?) works better with a piston tuba. Or maybe it was the other way around. I think this is a myth but I didn't want to get complicated with it and it's been bugging me since I heard that theory.

Again, any thoughts on that?

I found the Rudy 5/4 CC to be quite mouthpiece sensitive, given I used 20 odd MP's to check through. To begin with the Rudy MP receiver is large. Bob Reeves used an internal micrometer on mine and concluded the receiver had a French taper and sleeved up my MP's accordingly. The Doug Elliott Tu R cup with a R5 or R6 shank works well for me. Also the Elliott T cup is good. The Clements Orchestra MP is the best I've found for this tuba. That one also works well with the Willson CC 3050 rotary.

The mouthpiece that worked for me on my Rudy 5/4 CC was the old Schilke Helleberg II (Laskey made). I would recommend this or one of the current Laskey 30 Series mouthpieces. Before doing that however I'd sure like to know what you are looking to change in your sound or response that has you shopping. What works for me might not work for you.

All the best.
Roger

I had a chance to play one of these that was on consignment at Ferguson's. (Loved it.) I agreed with the seller that a Helleberg-style (cone/funnel) for some reason worked much better on this horn than any bowl-shaped ones. I really liked the G&W Taku on it, though I can also understand the SHII preference.

Well I wasn't able to enjoy my MMVI on my teacher's rudy because the shank was too small. My teacher has a g&w Caver with a Euro shank, and that fits the horn. When I played with mine some air was leaking and the lead pipe was hissing and the mouthpiece wobbled so I knew I was't even getting the sound I should get. But I do love my mouthpiece and the way I normally sound, I wouldn't want to change my mouthpiece but I know what is important is finding a mouthpiece that vibrates well with me and the horn all together. Now that I have some suggestions, I think i'll just order my same mouthpiece in a euro shank and go from there.

The ultimate mouthpiece for my Rudy 5/4 so far, is the Werner Schmidt WH-B2. A Walter Hilgers signature model made by
mundstuckmeister Schmidt in Germany. It is VERY big. It takes double the amount of air compared to the PT-88 I used earlier.
It gives me the most sonorous, dark and lyrical sound with both my Rudy and my Hirsbrunner, to a degree that I barely won't use any other mouthpiece.
But be prepared to put down a substantial amount of practice to get clarity and control with it.

No. Outside Ø Inside Ø Cup Depth Bore
WH-B2 48,5mm 33,0mm 46,0mm 8,9mm

Tuba extraordinaire Cam Brook with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra who used this tuba before me, suggested that
I'd try a Laskey 30H. I never came that far, since the Schmidt mpc suddenly appeared. PT-88 worked well for me, but I wanted more.
It basically all comes down to which sound you're after, and how much work you are willing to put into getting the ultimate sound.
Rudys aren't the easiest ones to play, but when you get it right, it surpasses just about anything else IMHO. Cam said he used a Laskey 30G
with a slightly bowl shaped cup, to get more clarity.

Just my experience - for what its worth.