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Hello, I just purchased a stainless steel, standard shank Giddings Alan Baer MMVI tuba mouthpiece, but I am having a problem with it. When I insert it into my horn (King 2341) and give it a twist to lock it in place, it does not want to lock into place. I am sure that I ordered the standard shank version of it. Can anybody let me know what the problem is? If I lay the horn down on my lap with the mouthpiece pointing down, the mouthpiece falls out.

How well does it seem to fit? Inserted all the way, is it loose at either end - can you wiggle it a little, or is it perfectly solid?

It's possible your tuba just doesn't like stainless steel.

The entire shank of the mouthpiece goes into the receiver. If I move the mouthpiece it wiggles very slightly.

Sounds like you need a Euro shank or bigger.

Is it a new style (1-piece Bell) 2341?
Those receivers are a little bigger than the older ones. That’s why Bloke carries the “P” shank for his mouthpieces. It’s between American and Euro.
Euro will probably fit.

juarez2000 wrote:The entire shank of the mouthpiece goes into the receiver. If I move the mouthpiece it wiggles very slightly.

If it wiggles when it is pushed all the way in - it sounds like your receiver is slightly out of round. A few turns of a mouthpiece receiver reamer should clean this up IF in fact it is the issue.

In tubas it's very common for the taper in a receiver to be wrong - and also the taper on the shank on some mouthpieces. Anytime they don't agree there will be some wobble unless you jam it in tight enough to stick. But if the shank goes "all the way in" that's the wrong size shank.

I am using the newer model king 2341. I think Kirley is probably correct. Before, I was using a standard shank pt-50 and it fit perfectly in the receiver

Perantucci's standard size is reportedly the larger European standard, and their size that fits US standard receivers is "S" for "Small". So it's predictable that a standard shank PT-50 would be larger than a G&W standard shank.

"The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from." (Andrew Tanenbaum)

The "expanded leadpipe" configuration is the way almost all trombone receivers are formed. And it eliminates the "gap" issue because there isn't any. But soldering the oversleeve on distorts the taper. There's no really good solution, especially when that area is manufactured sloppily in the first place.

This is somewhat out of a proper time frame, but I bought an early production "new model" 2341 in 2002. My old Bach 18 that had always fit any American-receivered tuba rattled around in it. I had to have it reshanked to get it to fit. It was one of a half-dozen problems with the instrument. Later I bought a couple of Euro shank mp's, and they fit acceptably well but didn't go in as far as I felt they should have.

If you ordered it directly from Giddings, I'd reach out to Ivan and ask to exchange to a Euro shank. My Giddings is a Euro and fits my new-style King 2341 perfectly.