TubeNet

Hey there!
I grew up as a macho Salvation Army and Marching Band player in high school and college, had a 15 year or so hiatus, got a sousaphone, and now have a great time with various HONK! bands.

This weekend I had a great time with School of Honk at HONK!TX, but I noticed something I don't remember from my youth, even when I'd do hour after hour of Christmas Kettles; my insider lower lip is sore, I think because of the lower part of my mouthpiece pressing it against my teeth.

Dunno why I don't recall this much from my high school/ college days; now I have a short mustache, though tend to shave off my soul patch, dunno if that has anything to do with it, but that's more external anyway.

Any remedies? I guess I could try a different mouthpiece or positioning... I remember high school players with braces using wax, though there's not exactly a place to put it.

Most times aren't playing with such prolonged intensity as this weekend, so I can get by, but I was just wondering if any one had any thoughts.

You could try a different mouthpiece rim. For me, rims that are too narrow or too wide or too narrow or wide of an inner diameter can cause problems with my teeth cutting into my lips.

Yeah, the mouthpiece I use is an old one from my youth, don't know how to identify it properly, but if memory serves (I think its the only I've used since I restarted) it felt more comfortable for the lownotes... I should figure out where i can testdrive some alternatives in the Boston area...

Facial hair can be a factor. It's been discussed here on TubeNet several times. My low range playing drops off noticeably if I'm not clean shaven. Could be that you have to apply more pressure to get a good seal.

Is the front surface of the teeth smooth or are there some pressure points that would be under where the mp sits? On my face in particular the lower part of the mp actually sits over the lower gum, but even at that it does get tender when my chops are exhausted and can no longer form the "doughnut" (that pillow of muscle) that provides a bit of a cushioning effect. All sorts of abuse can happen when muscle fatigue sets in and the tendency then is to use more pressure, which can be the culprit.