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My brother finally bought a bassbone (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=32060&p=282233#p282233" target="_blank).
He went with a Holton 181, because that was easily available and rather inexpensive.
Now, since he now has to buy a mouthpiece, do the TNFJ have any recommendations? Are there such a thing as a bassbone Helleberg (a mouthpiece that is easily available, affordable and kind of a safe bet regarding playability).

Some info: He usually plays his Bach 6 1/2 mouthpiece when playing his 2B and 3B. On his euph, he uses the same or some Yamaha that is slightly bigger. He also picks up my sousaphone and plays it with a Helleberg 7B with out any problems.

A few "Standards" to start from:

Bach 1-1/2 or 2G.

Schilke 58/59.

Yamaha Doug Yeo.

Tuba players often prefer the Bach 1G or Schilke 60, but they do tend to get a bit "tubby". I found a "leaner" 1G, but it was drilled out, which made the sound more focused (having more to do with the throat shape/taper than volume, I believe).

The Bach's tend to have a "softer" rim, while the Schilke's have more bite. If he plays on a Bach 6-1/2 now on a smaller tenor, I'd probably recommend the 1-1/2G. The 1G might also be fine since he is comfortable on the Helleberg 7B.

It's a bit more of a specialty piece, but I LOVE my Marcinkawitz Rickenbach. It's the biggest model that they had, and gives me a great, huge sound.
But as with everything, test around. Also, from what I've found on bass bone, bigger is better as long as you're putting the right air through the horn.

Bach 1 1/2G is a good starting point. it will give a nice clear focused sound and unless he would be playing a lot of pedal register work shouldn't be too small. Many guys like to go larger however, so the next size bach has is the 1 1/4G. The GM series (1 1/2GM, etc) have a larger back bore.

The Schilke 58 is about comparable to the Bach 1 1/2G but the rim is much rounder and has less bite. the 59 is 1 1/4G ish again with a rounder rim, and the Schilke 60 and Bach 1G are similar. Again these mouthpieces are similar but not the same or copies of each other, they have definite different characteristics in the rimn shape and throat and back bore dimensions.

The Yamaha numbers are similar to the Schilke sizes. The Doug Yeo signature model is a large 60-ish mouthpiece. People claim it has an easier upper register. I never worked with it long enought to come to that conclusion. They were just too big for me.

The Marcinkiewicz mouthpeice have a nice quick response and the are not much more expensive than the others.

ken k

Thanks guys. Now we know what to look for.