TubeNet

in a word, no. numbers and letters are often just catalogue numbers or they refer to the jigs used to cut them. There is really no such thing as a CC mouthpiece or a BBb or EEb or F tuba mouthpiece, although some players may find that some mouthpieces work better with particular instruments for them,
shank sizes can vary from country to country, and can also depend on the age of the instrument, which would make buying a mouthpiece on somewhere like Ebay a bit risky, if you are not sure about the sizes.
There is nothing to say that a $300 Monette is better than a $65 mouthpiece for you, (except to say perhaps, that if you do commit that sort of money to a mouthpiece you're not going to say you don't like it, are you?).
there is no standard system for mouthpieces, and the best advice is to try as many as you can, if you find one that makes a sound that you like, use it, and don't be too swayed by the opinions of others. your mouthpiece choice will always be a compromise to achieve the best balance of high range and low range, loud and soft, smooth articulation and sharp and so on and on and to reiterate, what works for one player, however good they are, might not work for you.

bigbob,

This is a very involved subject. There is little to no standardization. The various parameters of a mouthpiece (cup ID, cup depth, rim shape, bite, throat size, backbore shape/size) all influence your sound and flexibility and blow and all interact, too. There are general trends, but no specific scientific way to tell what mouthpiece fits you beyond trying various ones and comparing them.

Bigger diameter and depth cups produce a darker and bigger sound, in general. "V" cups and bowl shaped cups produce different sounds, the "V" cups generally being mellower and darker, all other things being equal. The bite of the mouthpiece may affect your flexibility and make the mouthpiece "feel" bigger or smaller. The throat size influences the resistance and "blow" of the mouthpiece. The backbore can deepen or lighten the sound. There are probably other effects, too, which I haven't noted or don't understand myself.

Once you have a place to start, you can compare. You might like most of your current piece, but want something darker, so you go for something deeper or larger in diameter or with a bigger backbore. You might like your current piece's depth of tone, but feel a lack of edge and need something smaller in diameter. Or you love the way it sounds, but it's too big and you can't get all the high notes with it. And so on. Maybe I am stating the obvious to most. You can look online for discussion of the parameters, maybe in the Bach mouthpiece manual for starters. Many discussions here in various threads. It's exasperating, but interesting, and tantalizing to think that the magic mouthpiece out there will improve your playing. Possibly, but perhaps not so much as practice. . .

Stryk wrote:Or - you can save yourself all the hastle and buy a Blokepiece Symphony.

Actually, I would probably recommend the Blokepiece Grand Orchestral (Orchestra Grand?) mouthpiece for your BAT. Most likely, the American shank will fit better, but the ideal solution is to being your horn and try 'em.
I tried both and American and European shank Symphony on my own homebuilt piston BAT, but neither of them ever felt right.
In the meantime, play what feels best (and offers the best intonation, very large tubas often don't like very deep mouthpieces.)

You just need to try out some different ones I guess, but for me. If I where to only keep one MP, it would probably be the blokepiece symphony (with a 2 fair dinkum rim). There's something to that design

I do not look at it as a particular big and demanding MP, but it does havw a soft tone that ca be a bit too much on a bat....thou I use much larger bucket on my bat

bigbob wrote:In order for me to try bloke pieces I'll have to wait till the tuba conferrence in DC for which I'm bringing my horn...Thanks for the info I'll be patient....BB

If I'm not mistaken, Bloke is offering to ship mouthpieces out on a trial basis. If you don't like it, you send it back. If you are interested, you might ask him. I presently own(and regularly use) a couple of his mouthpieces. For those who know me well, I don't often spend that kind of cash. I have found them to be worth it. As the usual disclaimer: You mileage may vary.

bigbob wrote:What brands are considered Deep Marty?? I'm using a perantuci 50 and a R&S tu11 which right now the R&S sounds best to me.

R&S TUH maybe? I am not familiar with the R&S line, but don't see anything elsewhere about a TU11, just TUH and TUHH. Helleberg copies, presumably of the Conn 120S, which would imply they're moderately deep, but that's a pile of guessing. Coincidentally (?) Miraphones TU11 is described as a Helleberg also.

Of course there's lots of stuff out there. Mike Finn makes an MF5 that might be of interest.

Donn wrote:

bigbob wrote:What brands are considered Deep Marty?? I'm using a perantuci 50 and a R&S tu11 which right now the R&S sounds best to me.

R&S TUH maybe? I am not familiar with the R&S line, but don't see anything elsewhere about a TU11, just TUH and TUHH. Helleberg copies, presumably of the Conn 120S, which would imply they're moderately deep, but that's a pile of guessing. Coincidentally (?) Miraphones TU11 is described as a Helleberg also.

Of course there's lots of stuff out there. Mike Finn makes an MF5 that might be of interest.

<S> My eyes are a little bad haha under thw magnifier it looks likeTUH II or maybe TUHH??I like it.. Jamsave gave it to me... It seems to have a bigger opening in the end.... notes sound fuller compared to my other mp's...of course I don't know what I'm doing<s>.....BB

bloke wrote:

Stryk wrote:PT 88?

Has anyone tried the Fitz model - PT 109 ?

Ha Ha.. Is that the one JFK played on??? <s>

bigbob wrote:TUH II or maybe TUHH??I like it.. Jamsave gave it to me... It seems to have a bigger opening in the end.... notes sound fuller compared to my other mp's.

OK, supposed to be a Helleberg type. That is, more of a sloping internal profile, also called "funnel shaped". For one thing, that affects how deep is "deep" - because there's less volume at the bottom - that's my theory anyway.

So ... I guess you've been dissatisfied in some way with what you have there? It's a well regarded mouthpiece, I think, if that matters.

If you want to try the exact opposite, look for a Miraphone C4 or TU23 - shallow bowl shape, tiny throat. Used to be popular for larger rotary tubas, maybe not so much any more, so there might be a few laying around unwanted.

It's like girls. (Or boys, if you're a girl, or ... whatever.) There are half a billion people in North America, and narrowing it down to just women of a suitable age, I reckon that checking them out 1 second each for 8 hours straight every day, would take a couple years. At some point, as important as the differences may be, you have to figure that they aren't that important.

bigbob wrote:Actually I was just curious.. after seeing all the different numbers and everyone saying theirs was made for a CC or F I thought maybe everything was a standard size so when I did look I would know what I was looking at... apparently it's all a guessing game I'll find out at the next DC tuba conference...Thanks.........................BB

http://www.dwerden.com/Mouthpieces/tuba.cfm is a good place to speculate and analyse and solve many questions about mouthpieces before you start trying them at random. This chart is set up so that you can search many "known" mouthpieces and find similar examples of other makers' mouthpieces you might like to try. You may also use the chart to "step up" or "step down" in one or another dimension and see how it affects your playing. I own about 40 mouthpieces, all kinds and sizes and degrees of physical condition. Over the years of teaching I have done, I have found it useful to have the mouthpieces around for kids to try and get a feel for if they wanted something better than what they have. I own 6 tubas, 2 EEb, one F, 2 BBb and one CC as well as a bass trombone and a Euphonium. In the case of each instrument, I find several different mouthpieces work fine and settle on one or two to go with the specific horn.

Some manufactures make this a little easier than others. Josef Klier is one. His tuba mouthpieces are listed in a chart, with each rim diameter and within that, each depth and back bore in order of size. Most of my Miraphone mouthpieces appear to be manufactured either in his shop or from his blanks. I have also noticed that Yamaha mouthpieces, using a Schilke-like numbering system, can be assessed, on paper, for size and similarity to other manufacturers.

Instruments and mouthpieces I use are:
M-W 182 F (custom built for me) Yamaha 64 (orchestra and quintet), JK TU8 C or D (solo)
Willson 3400S EEb Yamaha 65 or Doug Eliot Custom
Conn Jumbo EEb Almost Anything that fits, like a Miraphone TU 3 or a Conn 2
Miraphone 184 CC Miraphone TU 3
Weril 680 BBb Bobo Solo
Conn 5J King 26, Conn 1 or 2
Conn 72 H Bass Trombone Shilke 60
Weril Euphonium Shilke 52D

With that all written out, I have to confess I am always experimenting but what I have written here is what I use, most of the time. My lips are sensitive to materials (I usually use a gold plated rim, at least) as they are to the width of the rim ( a narrow rim width cuts in to my endurance a lot). I also am somewhat of a Moyel of MP shanks. I will cut one to get the right gap for a horn.

I don't know if the will help you, BB, in getting a feeling for the subject but thought my experience might be of some help in answering your questions.

Donn wrote:

bigbob wrote:What brands are considered Deep Marty?? I'm using a perantuci 50 and a R&S tu11 which right now the R&S sounds best to me.

R&S TUH maybe? I am not familiar with the R&S line, but don't see anything elsewhere about a TU11, just TUH and TUHH. Helleberg copies, presumably of the Conn 120S, which would imply they're moderately deep, but that's a pile of guessing.

R&S went out of business recently, they were somehow affiliated with Jet-Tone. The TUHH and TUHH-II mouthpieces are Helleberg-type wIth extra mass, like the Bach MegaTones but heavier. This makes them sound darker.

From what I've read, the TUHH is based on the Conn Helleberg design- not sure which model. The TUHH-II is based on the Schilke Helleberg, with a slightly shallower cup and smaller throat than the TUHH.

Donn wrote:It's like girls. (Or boys, if you're a girl, or ... whatever.) There are half a billion people in North America, and narrowing it down to just women of a suitable age, I reckon that checking them out 1 second each for 8 hours straight every day, would take a couple years. At some point, as important as the differences may be, you have to figure that they aren't that important.

I'm guessing the girls won't be happy to hear that anything about them isn't "that important."

I don't think they were going to like being rounded up for the 1-second-average interviews either. I guess you can't win.

Speaking of heavier mouthpieces, I see the Wedge people now offer a "Heavy New York" model- scroll down:

http://www.wedgemouthpiece.com/catalogu ... ieces.html" target="_blank