What is your opinion of the PT-88 mouthpiece?

WoodSheddin · Post by **WoodSheddin** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:51 am

just curious

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:52 am

good for a few things,not good for most things...

bort · Post by **bort** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:44 am

Too big to use for everything. Is there another PT mouthpiece that is proportional to the PT-88, but just a little smaller? I think it's a little too wide/deep for me, but I like the rim and the cup shape. Any thoughts?

JHardisk · Post by **JHardisk** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:46 am

I use the PT88+ exclusively on my CC tuba. I've got an 88 with a nylon rim for my sousaphone as well.

I have yet to find another mouthpiece that allows me the room and flexibility to get around on the big horn.

Adam C. · Post by **Adam C.** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:40 am

I have to work way too hard when using a PT88.

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:06 am

I have a PT-88 that I tried with my King Bill Bell BBb. I found it too large for me to handle and get a good sound. I use a Doug Elliot R cup instead.

TonyZ · Post by **TonyZ** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:14 am

The PT 88 is a great mouthpiece for the right person. I have used it on many big rotary tubas and found that it really gives some voice to those horns. I have also used it on my Willson 3100 BBb and found that it is too much. That horn needs a funnel shape for greater control, and the horn is big enough to be resonant without the BAM (big-a**-mouthpiece.) I have used the 88 on my Willson Eb, and it makes that horn sound much bigger than it is. IF that mouthpiece fits you, your horn, AND you practice a TON (I know John H. does!) then it works. Any mouthpiece can suck in the wrong situation. In fact, most of mine do!!!!

Philip Jensen · Post by **Philip Jensen** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:37 am

I used one for a year and really liked it. As an amatuer, for most of the music I play it was great. When the music got up in the register a bit I did have some problems. I attribute this to a lack of time on the mouthpiece. I'm fairly sure that if I had the time to really strengthen my embochure, any range issues would have disappeared. When I did have enough free evenings in a row to do some more serious practicing I could really tell the difference.

I switched to a Bayamo (Ivan's biggest size) which I liked the sound of even better, but still had the same range issues. It was also not a forgiving mouthpiece (for my level of playing) where I could skip using it for a week and then pop it in and expect to perform as I had (not from lack of playing, but, say I decided to play just my Eb for a week).

I now use the Alan Baer CC (a little smaller) and it sounds better still and is much easier for someone at my level to use proficiently enough

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:31 pm

I don't own a PT-88, and I probably never will. A 33mm cup is just too large for me. 32.5mm with a Bach style rim sits perfectly on my face and embouchure without strain. 32mm I feel cramped. I know, how can I tell the difference. Well, my friend blindfolded me and put the mouthpieces in one by one and I could feel it, and he could hear it. So I have a Wick 1 for my Besson and a Kelly 18 for my souzy. Identical rims.

For those who have the chops and lungs, go for it! But remember that a standard Conn Helleberg is @ 32mm cup. At some point, there just isn't any more embouchure muscle to put in the cup. Depth and contour have more to do with the tone than diameter. So to play a large diameter cup just for the sake of having a large mouthpiece is inefficient at best, and can actually be a detriment to your playing from incorrect breathing, overcompensating the muscles in your embouchure, etc. It's kind of like trying to use a high-rise manifold with only a Holly 650. Not enough air can get through the carburetor (your lips) and the mixture loses velocity and puddles out in the manifold (your mouthpiece) on the way to the motor (your tuba) and won't run smoothly until you really wrap it out at too high rpm (volume to the point of breaking up) Play only the largest cup you feel comfortable with, and that you don't feel you are constantly adjusting on your face other than the usual range adjustments, if that's your style.

That actually happened to a friend's 1971 Mustang. After he couldn't get it running with the manifold that was on it when he bought it, a Wieland highrise, I told him to get a matching Edelbrock set of 650 cfm carb & Performer manifold to bolt on the stock Windsor 351, and if it didn't work, I'd personally pay him for it. Well, when he got it together, of course it ran like a bat out of hell!

You do have to match at least your mouthpiece to your physique to get the most out of your instrument.

TexTuba · Post by **TexTuba** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:31 pm

The PT-50 is bigger. I prefered the 50 over the 88. The 88 was too uncomfortable for me.

Ralph

JB · Post by JB » Thu Jun 22, 2006 5:09 pm

Anonytuba wrote:I use a PT 88 with a smaller back bore and it works really well for me. This is a fairly new mouthpiece in PT line...

What PT number MP is this?

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:00 am

bloke wrote:It sorta reminded me of the old Holton "Revelation" 52 or those (literally, obviously) Deck "face-buster" 'pieces. They're just too big.

As I was reading these comments about oversized mouthpieces, it crossed my mind that I'm playing one with a 33.6 mm spec. Made me wonder if I was kidding myself about my odds of making it work - but you're on record as having played the same Marcinkiewicz H series yourself for a while, so apparently 33.6 mm vs. 33.5 mm doesn't tell the whole story.

Tubadork · Post by **Tubadork** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:52 am

SRanney · Post by **SRanney** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:41 am

Love it.

Used it on a CC 186-5U for many years in solos, brass quintets, tuba quartet/ensemble, large orchestras and symphonic band settings; used it on a CC PT-6P for a semester in tuba ensemble/rep class; current usage is on a 4/4 Bb Amati in small(ish) wind ensembles.

I have no problem with the size of the mouthpiece nor getting a focused sound. It's always been comfortable and has been my go-to mouthpiece since high school (I'm now 31 and no longer as serious as I used to be). Now that I've divulged myself of my tuba collection (sigh...), the PT-88 is my sole mouthpiece and has always given me a big, fat, resonant, focused sound in the 4/4 and up sized horns I've played.

SR

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:49 pm

7B? Hmm. Must Be. Come to think of it, Kelly's 'berg mpc is 33mm. And while we're on Perantucci's, I haven't heard any follow-up on Kelly's development of their version, called the KT-50. Has anyone else?

Sean Greene · Post by **Sean Greene** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:00 pm

[quote="SRanney"]Love it.
/quote]

Word, G-Sp. I use it on my CC tuba, too and am able to play everything I need to with a good sound. It works best for my face and how I play my horn.

Sean Greene

Lee Stofer · Post by **Lee Stofer** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:27 am

Alas, it is always what works best for the individual and their completely unique face.

When I switched from euphonium to tuba in my freshman year of college, I started out on an old Holton "Revelation" 52 mouthpiece. My teacher did not like my choice, and had me buy a Bach 18 and play it for a month. At the end of the month, he was dissapointed at my lack of progress and had me bring the very large Holton mouthpiece back into a lesson. It was then decided that I just did better, in any range, with a larger mouthpiece.

A PT-88 is a heavier-weight, somewhat bulbous-looking version of the Bruno Tilz M10, also sold as the Rudolf Meinl RM-10. I have played on the RM-10 since 1985, and consider it as a standard. When I want to play on a large mouthpiece, I have an old Hablowitz mouthpiece with an approx. 35mm rim that works well for me. It has a tremendous opening, a very rounded rim, a medium-deep bowl, and a relatively small backbore. When I showed it to Doug Elliot, he said he had never, ever seen anything like it and took measurements of it.

I have found the RM-10/Pt-88 to be a very effective mouthpiece in many situations, and will particularly open-up the low register of a sousaphone (Trio of National Emblem march, anyone?).

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