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Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 2:22 pm
by Emerickfalta
Hey Guys!

I managed to stumble upon an Alex 164 Bb tuba! The mouthpiece receiver is bigger than my euro shank mouthpiece. My AT5U barely fits in the receiver. I figured it must use a special mouthpiece, do you guys know what would work for it? I really don’t know where to start looking for something!

Thanks so much!
Emerick Falta

Re: Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 2:34 pm
by BBruce107
Hi there, sounds like your tuba has the older Alex shanks which were absolutely massive. I do know that Doug Elliot replicates these shanks and could make you something similar to your AT5U with the larger shank. A lot of the original mouthpieces for those big receivers are not made anymore (unless custom ordered which can cost a lot of money to do) so you may try to put the word out to see if anyone has one of these mouthpieces they are willing to sell.

Best of luck!

Re: Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 2:40 pm
by T. J. Ricer
I haven’t tried them, but apparently Kelly makes a larger-than-Euro-shank “Kaiser” for a couple of models: https://kellymouthpieces.com/kmstainles ... /index.asp" target="_blank

Re: Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 2:45 pm
by Tom
There was more than one Alexander sized shank. Matt Walters described them years ago, the relevant sections I've quoted here:
Matt Walters wrote: LARGE SHANK: This is a larger size that measures about .550" diameter at the small end of the shank. It works well on the larger European tubas. Especially horns with large diameter leadpipes like the "York" copies and most Alexander model 163 CC tubas. This is the size of our Dillon Music "L" shank mouthpiece and the new Wick 2XL.

KAISER SHANK: With a measurement of about .585" in diameter at the small end of the shank, this truly is a "Kaiser" size. It fits the largest Alexander model 164, a few one off model 163's, and some original York receivers we've come across. Anyone needing this size shank will need to get a custom built mouthpiece, or have an adapter made.
My opinion, having owned and played Alexanders for a long time now (and with both shank sizes), is that you will see the best results from a properly fitting Doug Elliott setup.

Re: Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 5:17 pm
by bort
Post a photo of your tuba!! :tuba:

Re: Alex 164 Bb Tuba mouthpiece

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 5:40 am
by TheBerlinerTuba
Hello Mr.Falta,

if there are any Tilz or Klier mouthpiece dealers near you, you can ask them for an adapter. Both companies have adapters just for this model of Alexander. If not, you can write them here:

https://www.mundstueckbau-tilz.de/

http://josefklier.de/?lang=en/