Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

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Art Hovey
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by Art Hovey »

French Tubas.jpg
French Tuba Mouthpiece.jpg
The dimensions are in centimeters. Bernard was the tuba professor at the Paris Conservatory, considered to be the authority on the French tuba back in his day.
Correction: The overall length is in centimeters, but the diameters are in millimeters.
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Last edited by Art Hovey on Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PhilSloan
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

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I'm joining the party a bit late but I have an F. Besson French C made in 1911. The mouthpiece it came with when I discovered it was likely the original but has absolutely no markings on it. Even though it has a smaller receiver, I managed to play it for quite some time with a standard bass tuba mouthpiece. I tried my bass trombone mouthpieces but the low register was just not playable for me. Eventually I just played the mouthpiece that it came to me with.
Fast forward a few years … I am fortunate to be friends with Mike Finn and had switched to his MF "H" for my 3/4 Rudy Meinl. He actually had a special order small shank "H" that the customer decided they didn't want and I was able to purchase it from him for my French C. It works well for me and I have the luxury of the same rim and cup for either tuba.
* It took me a while to find it again but I came across this Doctoral Dissertation that makes the argument for use of the French Tuba in works for historical accuracy. Included is a section discussing mouthpiece choice and comparing the author's original mouthpiece vs the Schilke 51D and the Roger Bobo Tenor Tuba mouthpieces.
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67 ... N-2017.pdf
Rudy Meinl 3/4 CC
F Besson French C
Conn 88H Tenor
BAC Elliott Mason Tenor
Bach 50B Bass
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Art Hovey
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

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Thank you for the link to that interesting dissertation. Does your original 1911 Besson French C mouthpiece have a cup shape similar to the one in Bernard's illustration?
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by DonnieMac »

I used Bach bass ‘bone MP’S. Today I would use a set of Doug Elliott Mp;s. Generally I toggle through 2 to 4 MP’s on each horn until the “right” one clicks in.
The Antone Courtois French Tuba I ordered in Paris had 3 pistons for each hand. The fingering chart was amazing. Intonation was always an issue. One guy played it to perfection: Floyd Cooley.
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

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Dave Roberts
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by Dave Roberts »

I play a Wessex French C and use a Denis Wick OAL. Works very well (minimal pitch adjustment too).
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TinyDancer
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by TinyDancer »

I use a Denis Wick 5 (not 5L!) on my Wessex TC236 and am quite happy with it.
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by zwad »

On my Wessex TC 236, I use a Rath CB0B which is a contrabass trombone mouthpiece with a bass trombone shank. The cup size rivals small tuba mouthpieces. This mouthpiece worked for me because it gave the biggest sound while still centering and preserving intonation, even in the high range. Many other bass trombone and tuba mouthpieces that I tried with long shanks or deep cups such as the GW Nor’easter seemed to make the whole instrument play flat.

https://youtu.be/DsBLXt8y3K4
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Snake Charmer
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by Snake Charmer »

You sound great with it!
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PhilSloan
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Re: Mouthpiece for French Tuba?

Post by PhilSloan »

Art Hovey wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:55 pm Thank you for the link to that interesting dissertation. Does your original 1911 Besson French C mouthpiece have a cup shape similar to the one in Bernard's illustration?
My apologies for taking so long to reply. There are some distinct differences. The cup in his illustration appears to me to have an undercut under the rim. Mine is more of a slightly elongated bowl shape. The dimensions vary as well. I don't have a micrometer so I had to eyeball using a ruler. The overall width at the rim for mine appears a bit wider, at 48cm. The opening is wider as well at approx 33.5cm vice his 29.5. The aperture for the shank is a bit smaller with an opening of approximately 8cm that tapers out to about 11cm at the bottom. The overall length is about the same, around 93-94cm.
Rudy Meinl 3/4 CC
F Besson French C
Conn 88H Tenor
BAC Elliott Mason Tenor
Bach 50B Bass
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