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A few short weeks ago I stated looking for a tuba for playing in a jazz band. I don't play tuba, I play bass... BUT I HAVE some experience with valve trombone & fluegelhorn.

A "friend-of--a-friend" offered me an Eb sousaphone (I don't know what manufacturer) that his daughter had used in school... FREE ! (It's not fiberglass and it looks extremely well used)

AT any rate he has two mouthpieces...

one is a Vincent Bach 22, goes for around 90 bucks
the other is a Vincent Bach 24 AW goes for 140.00

I know nothing about these.... given the fact that the horn will be used to play "speak-easy" jazz would any of you have a recommendation ?

Thanks.... Art Fahie, Maine

bloke wrote:...or (only $43 or less) preferably this:

Over 20 minutes have passed and they're still there. Are you waiting for something? Don't wait! But if you blow it and they're gone, you can get a FAXX 7B copy for a little more, which should do fine.

The :cost quote" is from the guy giving me the tuba.... I have my choice of mouthpieces at no charge.... as he is not local and I can't spend time with them I'd rather have some feedback from other folks as to which of the two would be the "safer" choice.... yes, I know everyone is different, but educated preferences/opinions are better than not have any at all to work with. Thanks for your input on this.

If I HAD to choose between a Bach 22 and a 24AW, I would choose the 22. I don't have a very good reason.

My reasons are that I find the 24AW to be dreadful, but I find the Bach 25 to work okay on an Eb tuba. You might find the Bach 18 to be a bit big for you, and the 22 is a bit smaller.

If you have to pay for it, I wouldn't buy either one.

The Helleberg that Bloke recommended is probably better than any of these.

Many of the English 'eefer' players used to play the 24AW, so I'm not convinced that the description "dreadful" would be speaking for the majority. Mouthpieces are very personal. Just be sure to get a good deal on those.

Really neither of them is a sure thing. The 24AW is popular in that quite a few players love it, but also quite a few hate it. The 22 is small enough that it doesn't work for everyone. If they were the last two mouthpieces in the world, I'd get both, to avoid the fairly significant possibility of making a disastrously wrong choice. The Conn* 7B is an excellent mouthpiece.


(* used to be Conn before the conglomeration of musical instrument companies. Close enough to the early Conn Helleberg mouthpieces, in that respect there may be no more classic tuba mouthpieces.)

Depends also on what you're looking to get from the horn. When I use a 22 in my Eb I get a cleaner high range but less "oomph" at the low end. Plug in a PT-66 and the low end is more like a BBb, but the high range suffers.

Blessing makes a good Bach 18 copy.

You can get colorful and for @$35 get a Kelly 18.

I have a friend who plays trombone who uses the 22. I have heard him play a 24AW, and he sounds better on the 22.

iiipopes wrote:I have a friend who plays trombone who uses the 22. I have heard him play a 24AW, and he sounds better on the 22.

Being a tubist who doubles at being a trombonist who doubles on tuba, I agree that you will likely find the 22 a more agreeable choice. Less volume, but a more typical cup and rim shape, and plenty of sound. More like what you are used to.

Between those 2 I would always choose the 22....and it's not even a close contest.