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So I showed up at church last Sunday and got an early Christmas present: a Musica 3/4 BB. Unfortunately, the thing came without a mouthpiece.

I borrowed a Laskey 30H from a friend and have spent the past week trying to get a feel for the horn. It sounds pretty good from F at the bottom of the staff on down, but intonation and slotting start to get squirrely from second line Bb--which doesn't want to slot: it keeps wanting to slip over to the 3rd line D--on up. Granted, most of the apparent quirks could largely be due to operator error, however, the 30H (1.295") is a good bit larger than my regular mouthpiece (Warburton Demondrae Thurman, 1.03": I'm a eupher), so I'm wondering if I would be better served by a smaller mouthpiece.

Thoughts, suggestions of mouthpieces to consider/try, or should I spend some more time with the 30H before trying a different mouthpiece?

I would try a Yamaha 65 or a Bach 22. The old Conn 2 was sort of a "Standard" for this size horn but the old style of this is no longer made. However, a Conn Helleberg 7B might also work nicely. Do you know if the receiver is American or European shank? That will make a difference in what feels "slotted."

bloke wrote:A pretty good just-under-$125 mouthpiece to try with a 3/4-size contrabass might be the Marckiniewicz N4 "Tommy Johnson" model.
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I would second this. I've found the LM-10 Tommy Johnson that I use on my 185 also with works well on my 3/4 so the N4 would be very close and a lot cheaper. I regularly see them offered on here for $45-65 used.

A Wick 2 works well as does my Bloke Solo 2. The piece that I found that flat out just lights up my own 3/4 is the JT-1 that came with a new Rudy Meinl. This is the piece I use when I need the 3/4 size horn.

Is the LM10 like the N4? I've never seen either, but the LM10 is on my list in case I need more mouthpieces, because I've heard it's the rare relatively shallow but somewhat funnel shaped mouthpiece, more like the Marcinkiewicz H4 than N4. (But wouldn't suggest H4 for the present purposes, if only because of the large throat.)

Another popular moderate sized mouthpiece is the Schilke 66. That's the same diameter - 1.24" - on the chart as the Conn 7B, but `in reality' might be a hair smaller. Laskeys are numbered by the decimal fractional part of their size in inches, so your 30 is 1.30" - but beware measurement artifacts, reported dimensions aren't reliably comparable. Conn Hellebergs have a relatively well defined rim, which may contribute to their apparently small measurements.

But according to convention, you'd want none of these Helleberg style mouthpieces for a rotary.

pgym wrote: Thoughts, suggestions of mouthpieces to consider/try, or should I spend some more time with the 30H before trying a different mouthpiece?

My thoughts:
1 - If you can borrow the Laskey for a while, get to know what you like/don't like about it. According to dwerden's charts, http://www.dwerden.com/Mouthpieces/tuba.cfm it's one of the larger mouthpieces out there so it should be a good match to the 3/4 size BBb. That will help you determine what you're really looking for in a longer term mouthpiece.

2 - If you really need to buy a mouthpiece, take a look at these from Kelly: http://www.kellymouthpieces.com/kmtuba/index.asp.
I'd start with either the Kellyberg or #18 (assuming it's anything like the #18 Bach).
I've never been a fan of the 24AW mouthpiece, but that may be an option for you as a Euph player.
I haven't tried a #25 design from Back or Kelly, it's usually considered a school mouthpiece because of its size.

All of the 3/4 tubas I have played, or sat next to guys who played, have all benefitted from a Conn 120S Helleberg. The deeper cup rounded out the tone, but it isn't so deep as to cause intonation issues.

iiipopes wrote:All of the 3/4 tubas I have played, or sat next to guys who played, have all benefitted from a Conn 120S Helleberg. The deeper cup rounded out the tone, but it isn't so deep as to cause intonation issues.

I have used this mouthpiece with a King 1140 and an Olds 009-4, both with good results. Easy to play in tune, full sound.

The Big Ben wrote:

iiipopes wrote:All of the 3/4 tubas I have played, or sat next to guys who played, have all benefitted from a Conn 120S Helleberg. The deeper cup rounded out the tone, but it isn't so deep as to cause intonation issues.

I have used this mouthpiece with a King 1140 and an Olds 009-4, both with good results. Easy to play in tune, full sound.

I concur. He is wanting a full sized tuba sound, not an Eb or F tuba sound that a shallow cup mouthpiece could tilt this 3/4 tuba towards.
My personal recommendation would be the stainless steel Kellyberg, a slightly tweaked version of the full sized Helleberg mouthpiece in durable, comfortable stainless.

bill wrote:I would try a Yamaha 65 or a Bach 22. The old Conn 2 was sort of a "Standard" for this size horn but the old style of this is no longer made. However, a Conn Helleberg 7B might also work nicely. Do you know if the receiver is American or European shank? That will make a difference in what feels "slotted."

I agree with your suggestion of the Yamaha 65. I think the original poster would be very happy with the 65 on a smaller BBb tuba. The range and projection of this mouthpiece are extraordinary, IMHO.

I have a like-new Yamaha 65 on hand and can give the OP (or anyone else) a decent price. Please send a PM if interested.

Ace