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I've been playing on a Conn Helleberg 120, and I like the tone and bite I get with it. I do find that in the lower register, I play sharp and really need to drop my jaw to get it in tune. I've read that larger throats on a mouth piece can cause this. Is there a manufacturer who makes a similar rim and cup size, Helleberg style mouth piece with a slightly smaller throat size I should try? I'll be using this on a Miraphone 186 CC Tuba.

It has been my experience that a smaller throat constricts the air, causing the upper register to be flat. YMMV.

I suggest you practice dropping the jaw, relaxing the throat, and think a big, easy "OH" as you work on intonation instead, in conjunction with proper breath support exercises involving the intercostals and abdominals, what we used to call, "breathing from the belly button," and exhaling in a controlled manner over time. Tuba playing, as opposed to trumpet playing, (yes, I do both) is more about controlled volume of air as opposed to velocity of air. Slow down the velocity, but keep the air stream steady, as you center down into the pitch, keeping the back of the tongue low so that the mouth cavity is not constricted, which will increase the velocity of the air stream, also causing the low register to go sharp.

The Helleberg 120S does not have that large of a throat in the grand scheme of things. I think it is about the same 8.2mm/.323"/"P" drill bit size that many mouthpieces are. The TNFJ will please correct me.

Thanks for the input, I've been primarily a Eupher, with an occasional parade on Sousaphone but over the last couple of years I find myself more and more being asked to play Tuba. I can get the lower register in tune but it doesn't feel all that natural to me yet. I'll keep working with the Helleberg, and try some of your suggestions.

There you go, I think your main option is to make it work. A large Helleberg style mouthpiece with a smaller throat than the Conn 120 is not to be found, I think; even smaller mouthpieces will sometimes have larger throats, e.g. the Conn 7B I'm fairly sure has a larger throat than the 120. One exception is the Miraphone TU11. I've never seen one. It's supposed to be a bass tuba (F tuba) mouthpiece, so almost certainly not the answer to low range issues, but it's a narrow throat.

But if you want to experiment with a different mouthpiece, it sounds like you're old enough to do so responsibly. My guess is that poorly understood parameters like "backbore" are as significant here, so ... you almost might pick something at random. I'm a Helleberg style guy, but I know there are more than a few who think the 186 and similar tubas like a more bowl shaped mouthpiece - which almost automatically seems to come with a narrower throat, by the way, no idea why.

There is always the Miraphone Rose Orchestra mouthpiece which is a little bit of a hybrid mouthpiece, but has the very deep helleberg-ish cup, 8.2 mm throat, and, of course, was designed for the 186 to support large ensembles. Two gentlemen I play in Community band with have Rose Orchestra mouthpieces with their 186's: one has the old "stovepipe," and the other the new "vanilla" bell, and the mouthpiece seems to work equally well with both of them.

Donn has a point. It's not always the throat, it can be the backbore taper that doesn't interface well to the leadpipe.

If the OP doesn't start getting better results after working on embouchure and breathing, or only marginal results, then it wouldn't hurt to experiment with a mouthpiece, but since the OP already has a real 120S, the next step in the safari is @ $100 to $200 investment to get something different enough to actually be able to feel and hear any sonic differences.

Check out a Sidey SSH Classic Helleberg in either stainless or silver plated ...
Mark