Good Jazz Mouthpiece

[tuba kitchen]

I use a schilke helleberg II. I mostly play bass lines in a 4tet, play in a really big and loud big band and in the orchestra, all on c-tuba with this mouthpiece. if you do more soloing and high stuff I would suggest something smaller.

[tuba kitchen]

some stores allow one to take mouthpieces home and try them out for a limited period of time. here in germany one can order mouthpieces from bob tucci, try them, and send them back. brasswind might do this as well but i'm not sure. i tried some at custom music but i did it in the shop.

[ThomasP]

I am not aware of anyone in the MJT Project changing mouthpieces just because they play jazz.

That being said, none of them play big mouthpieces (again, that I'm aware of). So I don't think you'd want to improvise on a PT-88 or 50. But something smaller should suit you fine.

With other instruments players will/can play on exactly the same equipment and just change their sound other ways to fit the situation.

[fpoon]

What kind of horn are you playing on?

[tubajoe]

I am looking for a nice mouthpiece for jazz playing.

-Will

I think a tuba mouthpiece works best. Trombone mouthpieces always fall out of my tuba.

Seriously, just play what is comfortable and what is flexible. In that setting flexibility and agility are usually more important than girth and volume.

Just use (and play) what feels good.

[iiipopes]

Like everything else, it depends on your horn, your embouchure, and your particular style. Both of these are possible: a King tuba or sousaphone with an old King 25 mouthpiece in New Orleans, and a Miraphone with a C4 in a club in Manhattan, and everything in between and cross genre. The only thing I can say is you may be "the" bass line, so something that gives good definition is probably better, this generally includes mouthpieces with a rounded cup for more overtone development.