TubeNet

Hello everyone,

I just acquired a Conn 25J tuba. I was wondering if anyone who knows about these horns can suggest a good mouthpiece to try out.

Also relating to this post, I've always heard that you use a large mouthpiece with a small tuba and a small mouthpiece with a large tuba. How true is this statement?

I just got a 26J and I am currently trying the Bloke Grand Orchestra, the Symphony model and a Lee Stofer Geib. American shank mouthpieces seem to fit better on my horn.
Rick

Think about it. Big mouthpiece, lots of air goes through. Big horn, lots of air goes through. Combine the two and, unless you have amazing capacity and control, it could be tough to play musically. BIg horn and small mouthpiece can really work well together, if you can find the right mpc.

Try a Bach 22 to start. A good balance between big and small, built for tubas like that. I actually use a Kellyburg with my Martin most of the time, but the 22 is my main backup or just need something different go-to.

Ok. I guess I should start out by saying that my Helleberg did not work well. I borrowed a mouthpiece from a friend of mine. It was the mouthpiece they modeled the helleberg off of, according to him. It was small. I believe it was some variant of a 24AW? Well, they don't make that anymore, but I loved it in my 25J. It solved almost all the intonation problems. Unfortunately, it is not for sale. Large mouthpieces are creating a lot of intonation problems for me.

I use a Mike Finn 2B with my Conn 20j. It works very well. The intonation is decent requiring only some minor adjustments. The notes above the staff ( until an F) respond very well and they have a very nice singing quality to the sound. The "false " tones also respond very well and are easy to slot.

I have tried several others (Bach 18- pretty good, Helleberg Large version-not so great, Doug Elliot R cup- ok) but the Mike Finn 2B so far is the best overall mouthpiece I have found. I hope this helps.

All comments are greatly appreciated!

The 24AW is supposed to have a relatively wide throat, if that helps.

eupher61 wrote:Think about it. Big mouthpiece, lots of air goes through.

Hm, really?

I dug through my collection of mouthpieces that I had gotten in trades but never used. In it, I found a Vincent Bach 24AW and a Vincent Bach 22. I'm still deciding between the two, but both are solving the intonation problems I was having with the Helleberg and all the large mouthpieces I normally use.