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I like a PT-50 if I'm playing something obnoxiously low, but I like to use the Wessex Nickles that came with my horn as my daily driver. Always looking to try other gear so I'm curious what you guys use/ recommend.

I use a Warburton 30D with my Yorkbrunner.

Generally I have only played a few York style tubas and I found that going too big will become very tiresome and too "woofy" so typically when I am on a big tuba like that I use a medium funnel of geib cup to give a bit more clarity to the sound. It all depends on what sounds good to you and to your colleagues next to you in the low brass section of the orchestra. I would suggest trying a Giddings Diablo, Laskey 30G, or similar. It might be an adjustment but I think (of course very subjective and opinion based) you'll find the clarity easier and you won't have to work as hard.

Canadian Brass Helleberg all day.

Maybe I’m just taking the Arnold Jacobs placebo pill but it seems to do the job.

Probably any Helleberg style mouthpiece would function, though I’d be interested to know what kind of mouthpiece (if any) the original Jacobs York would have been supplied with.

I play a real York. Primarily I use a Monette 94 Parana and when I want a different response I use the Arnold Jacobs Canadian Brass. Both very suitable for what and how I play.

Interesting to see three votes for the CB helleberg. Does anyone have experience with the Dillon Roylance on a york style 6/4 CC horn? How about the Dillon Olka? It's my understanding that the Dillon Roylance is supposed to be similar to the almighty Laskey 30H. I wonder if Gene still uses the 30H as his daily driver...

Don't forget the Schilke custom adjustable cup - Jake's fallback piece for when the Helleberg was too deep.

This is insanity!!

The Arnold Jacobs Canadian Brass is under 33mm and therefore can not possibly work.

I regularly play a real 6/4 York (albeit in BBb), and I've found success with a G & W Caver Lite, euro shank.

Awegner2 wrote:Interesting to see three votes for the CB helleberg. Does anyone have experience with the Dillon Roylance on a york style 6/4 CC horn? How about the Dillon Olka? It's my understanding that the Dillon Roylance is supposed to be similar to the almighty Laskey 30H. I wonder if Gene still uses the 30H as his daily driver...

I played on an Olka CB2 for a bit with my PCK (while not exactly a true York 6/4 it is close). I really loved the sound and eveness I got out of it. However when comparing with my Laskey 30H I and others preferred the clarity of the 30H. I have played the Roylance, it is indeed very similar to the 30H however there were a few very slight preferences for me with the 30H.

Laskey 30H is in the mail headed my way. Hoping to spend some quality time with it over the holiday.

The question should be what mouthpieceS to use. Mr. Jacobs used many - here is what I wrote in Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind:

Depending on the music being played, Jacobs also used different tubas, including a BB♭ tuba and the smaller F tuba. Primarily, he used his York CC tuba and altered the sound by switching mouthpieces, often using several mouthpieces in a single concert to achieve the proper sound for particular compositions.

“I own fourteen tubas and forty different mouthpieces. Within our trombone section and in our hall, we have quite a large range of dynamics, so my choice of instrument and mouthpiece are equated together. It is based on whether I need a certain strength in the fundamental of the tone. If I use a mouthpiece that makes a horn too bright, then the trombones intrude into the overtones, I am not left with anything—I tend to disappear. So I have to find a mouthpiece that brings out the fundamental and lessens the overtones a little bit. Otherwise the balance in the sections would be lost.”

“There are certain established rules such as a very large tuba played with a very large mouthpiece is going to have a very strong fundamental in the tone and rather weak overtones, a phenomenon that can be measured by electronic analysis.

“If we have the same situation of a very large tuba, and the player is put into a situation where he needs to lighten the tone, this could be done very easily by using a shallow-cup mouthpiece. If he has to do a solo or play some very sprightly music where actually too much weight in the tone would be in the way, the smaller cup mouthpiece would dramatically alter the quality of tone coming out of the tuba. If the player played with somewhat the same embouchure and with the same tuba, the introduction of a shallower cup will immediately enhance the overtones and decrease the amount of fundamental in the tone. I use this procedure a great deal myself when I am playing with a large tuba, one that would be very adequate for a Prokofieff Symphony and the Ring operas of Wagner, but if I have to go on the stage with that tuba to play a French work, Berlioz or something very spirited and light, I immediately will switch to a shallower cup mouthpiece, and the difference in the quality of tone is amazing. We are simulating the change to smaller equipment, even though we are still using the same tuba, we very definitely have an altered quality due to the mouthpiece.

“As soon as I would use the smaller cup mouthpiece, I would gain tremendous projection to the audience because of the increased overtone content and weakened fundamental, but it would be much more recognizable because I would be the soloist. I would not be fighting all sorts of sounds intruding in my overtones. The weakened fundamental would be of no disadvantage and the enhanced overtones would give much more soloistic character to the tone,” Jacobs concluded.

lowtones425 wrote:I’d be interested to know what kind of mouthpiece (if any) the original Jacobs York would have been supplied with.

The largest standard mouthpiece York made at the time was an “AL-TRU || 76" BBb Bass Mouthpiece (large).

"Does anyone have experience with the Dillon Roylance on a york style 6/4 CC horn?" . . .

I don't own a York copy, but a B&S "Neptune" rotary CC instead. It's perfect for the wind ensemble playing that I do. Anyway, I just received a Dillon Roylance and used it in a 7 piece brass rehearsal today - people who meet on Saturday mornings. It was perfect for that setting. It has a Helleberg style funnel cup, but the rim is flat with a reasonably strong bite. That rim is a bit wider than with the standard Helleberg: 32.9mm, I believe. I would say it falls in between the standard Helleberg and the old "Chief" Helleberg. The sound was maybe a tiny tad 'brighter' than I generally like, but perfectly acceptable. I can not comment on the throat - it just seems normal to me. I have three other pieces that work well too. The Roylance reminds me of the Miraphone Rose Orchestra, but with a flat Helleberg style rim.

I have a Sellmansberger "Grand Orchestra" cup that did have a 32.6mm "Profundo" rim. With that rim, this m.p. blended perfectly with BBb tubas. However, I just received a Sellmansberger #2, 32.9MM rim for it, which is allegedly the same width as the Roylance. I'm really liking the 32.9 width, so I'm thinking these two may become my main mouthpieces for the Neptune. I'm guessing this set up will get a bit 'darker' sound than with the Roylance (I love the feel of the Roylance!).

I've used a G&W Baer MMVI quite a bit on the Neptune. It's a bit wider and shallower (funnel style) than the above two pieces. I think the rim is 33.2mm. I recently used it in a jazz band concert at Cabrillo College and it sounded perfect in that context. With the extra dense stainless steel and extra 'meat' on the shank, this piece gets a relatively 'dark' sound for being sort of L.A. style (wide and shallow).

Another piece I like quite a bit is the Stofer Geib. I think the width is similar to my Roylance (maybe a tiny hair wider), but has the characteristic, pear shaped bowl of a Geib. The throat is a tad smaller than usual, which keeps it from being an 'air hog'.

There you have it. I would like to get this list narrowed down to just two pieces, but will probably end up keeping all four. I can't compare the Roylance to the Lasky 30H because I've never played a Lasky 30H. I once owned a Laskey 28G (Euro) and absolutely hated it. For whatever reason, it didn't work anywhere as well as my Stofer Geib. I also was using a Kanstul Geib for a while, but it was just too big - a true 'air hog'. The sound was bit more lively and 'brighter' than I like too. I feel the Stofer Gieb is superior.

Keep in mind that all of the above mentioned m.p.'s are all Euroshank. I used "perfect" five times, so I guess I'm just the perfect tuba player

What do you think if I used a Giddings Webster Diablo Mouthpiece on a York cc?