for all you tbone doublers out there..

[iiipopes]

Hey tbnal: in addition to your other mouthpieces, you could also try a Wick 4 or 5, as they are the about the same diameter as your 30E as well.

[tbn.al]

in addition to your other mouthpieces, you could also try a Wick 4 or 5, as they are the about the same diameter as your 30E as well.

Yeah, but I've already cut the Effer mp down to a bass Trombone shank, and it works really well. The facility I gained with that one little change is remarkable. I don't want to destroy any more good tuba mp's.

[bububassboner]

Large bore tbone Wick 4AL
bass bone Douglas Yeo
euph Wick 4AL
tuba all it says is ALEXANDRE(yes spelled that way)

[iiipopes]

The small shank Wicks are the true .490 small shank, and they probably fit your bass bone receiver without modification.

[ken k]

i just can not imagine using a cut down tuba mouthpiece in a bass bone. It just can not sound characteristic of a trombone. i used to have a small receiver on my Boosey & Hawkes Eb tuba and ocassionaly I would put my Denis Wick 4 mouthpeice in the bass trombone (just for kicks, never on a gig) but it never sounded good at all. I guess perhaps I am a bit more picky about my bass bone sound, since I was a trombone player first and then started playing tuba later in college. I actually played a pea shooter tenor in HS (3B) and then was a bass bone major in college. I do not even like my sound with a shilke 60 or a douglas yeo piece in it. it is just too spread and the artix are too woofy, not at all a clear characteristic trombone sound. I hate trombones that sound like euphoniums. Don't get me wrong I love the euphonium, but a trombone should not sound like that. That is why there are two different instruments in the concert band and in brass bands. If they were supposed to sound the same tthey wouldn't have bothered writing different parts. I know three fabulous euph players whom I often play with in local bands or in my tuba/euph quartet "2BAS2EU", but I hate it when they play trombone. They sound like they are still playing their euphs.

The "tuba on a stick" sound concept just doesn't do it for me, especially in a big band setting. The bass bone has to cut with some edge and blend with the tenors, which are usually smaller horns. I guess in an orchestra where there are no euphs, the bones tend to get broader tones, but I feel many of the tonal concepts are getting too broad.

Ken "OK I will get off my soap box now" k

[iiipopes]

Different horns, different mouthpieces, different embouchures and playing styles -- vivre la difference!

[Sandman333]

Marching trombone- YSL-643R single trigger tenor - Kelly 5G
Jazz Bass- also the YSL-643R single trigger tenor - Bach 1G

Hopefully soon I'll be getting a real bass.

[tbn.al]

Ken K wrote, "i just can not imagine using a cut down tuba mouthpiece in a bass bone. It just can not sound characteristic of a trombone. i used to have a small receiver on my Boosey & Hawkes Eb tuba and ocassionaly I would put my Denis Wick 4 mouthpeice in the bass trombone (just for kicks, never on a gig) but it never sounded good at all. I guess perhaps I am a bit more picky about my bass bone sound, since I was a trombone player first and then started playing tuba later in college. I actually played a pea shooter tenor in HS (3B) and then was a bass bone major in college. I do not even like my sound with a shilke 60 or a douglas yeo piece in it. it is just too spread and the artix are too woofy, not at all a clear characteristic trombone sound. I hate trombones that sound like euphoniums. Don't get me wrong I love the euphonium, but a trombone should not sound like that. That is why there are two different instruments in the concert band and in brass bands. If they were supposed to sound the same tthey wouldn't have bothered writing different parts. I know three fabulous euph players whom I often play with in local bands or in my tuba/euph quartet "2BAS2EU", but I hate it when they play trombone. They sound like they are still playing their euphs.

The "tuba on a stick" sound concept just doesn't do it for me, especially in a big band setting. The bass bone has to cut with some edge and blend with the tenors, which are usually smaller horns. I guess in an orchestra where there are no euphs, the bones tend to get broader tones, but I feel many of the tonal concepts are getting too broad.

I guess that was aimed at me...so. After having lots of trouble getting the bottom of 6 and 8 part trombone choir literature played to my satisfaction, I began to look for some answers. The word from the pros seemed to be, cheat, lie, steal, fake or anything else to get the part played. Nobody cares about your sound if the notes aren't there. If I could have played the parts in that range, F below the staff and down an octave plus, I would never have gone to the Effer mp. The shallow cup of the 30E does help to maintain a characteristic Bass Bone sound, and the pitch is more centered and controlled. My other troops say they prefer tuning to the effer mp. Give a listen to a group called Spiritual to the Bone. Willis Howell is using a Holton Body with two Thayers and a Effer mp. A quite appropriate sound for that setting. I'll just keep on cheating, thank you very much, because I like the result.

[ken k]

Ken K wrote, "i just can not imagine using a cut down tuba mouthpiece in a bass bone. It just can not sound characteristic of a trombone. i used to have a small receiver on my Boosey & Hawkes Eb tuba and ocassionaly I would put my Denis Wick 4 mouthpeice in the bass trombone (just for kicks, never on a gig) but it never sounded good at all. I guess perhaps I am a bit more picky about my bass bone sound, since I was a trombone player first and then started playing tuba later in college. I actually played a pea shooter tenor in HS (3B) and then was a bass bone major in college. I do not even like my sound with a shilke 60 or a douglas yeo piece in it. it is just too spread and the artix are too woofy, not at all a clear characteristic trombone sound. I hate trombones that sound like euphoniums. Don't get me wrong I love the euphonium, but a trombone should not sound like that. That is why there are two different instruments in the concert band and in brass bands. If they were supposed to sound the same tthey wouldn't have bothered writing different parts. I know three fabulous euph players whom I often play with in local bands or in my tuba/euph quartet "2BAS2EU", but I hate it when they play trombone. They sound like they are still playing their euphs.

The "tuba on a stick" sound concept just doesn't do it for me, especially in a big band setting. The bass bone has to cut with some edge and blend with the tenors, which are usually smaller horns. I guess in an orchestra where there are no euphs, the bones tend to get broader tones, but I feel many of the tonal concepts are getting too broad.

I guess that was aimed at me...so. After having lots of trouble getting the bottom of 6 and 8 part trombone choir literature played to my satisfaction, I began to look for some answers. The word from the pros seemed to be, cheat, lie, steal, fake or anything else to get the part played. Nobody cares about your sound if the notes aren't there. If I could have played the parts in that range, F below the staff and down an octave plus, I would never have gone to the Effer mp. The shallow cup of the 30E does help to maintain a characteristic Bass Bone sound, and the pitch is more centered and controlled. My other troops say they prefer tuning to the effer mp. Give a listen to a group called Spiritual to the Bone. Willis Howell is using a Holton Body with two Thayers and a Effer mp. A quite appropriate sound for that setting. I'll just keep on cheating, thank you very much, because I like the result.

Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out. I guess if you are constantly down in that extreme low range in that particular tyoe of ensemble it might work, but I couldn't imagine playing a 3-4 hour band concert or big band gig on it. Or playing above the staff such as on a regular bass trombone part often does. That is where I am coming from.

ken k

[windshieldbug]

Nobody cares about your sound if the notes aren't there

There, in a nutshell, is 90% of the advice of this BBS...

[tbn.al]

Ken K wrote, "Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out. I guess if you are constantly down in that extreme low range in that particular tyoe of ensemble it might work, but I couldn't imagine playing a 3-4 hour band concert or big band gig on it. Or playing above the staff such as on a regular bass trombone part often does. That is where I am coming from."

Go back and read my original post. I use a Schilke 60 for normal stuff like Big Band, Concert Band, or Symphony. The bottom part of a trombone choir is anything but normal work. You very rarely get in the staff much less above it. When you have pedals in the normal repretoire, they are usually just depth charges for which you can prepare, not 8th note runs and quick skips like you get in tbone choir. Also the composers write them for shock effect and nobody is trying to tune to the pitch. There is a dedicated bass part for that. The bottom part of tbone ensemble requires a stable, listenable, tuneable pitch to lay the other parts on top of. You are the bottom bass part, much like a tuba or string bass. You have to leave the chainsaw at home. That is where the cut down tuba mouthpiece comes into it's own, and I don't ever use it anywhere else.

[djwesp]

After spending years on a bored and drilled 51D, I finally tracked down one of these mouthpieces with a tuba rim and a trombone cup.


WOW, amazing difference. The hornguys don't reccomend the TT for the Bass Trombone, but it works great for me. The tuba mouthpieces and churada were way to dark, and bass trombone mouthpieces were way too thin on the rim.


With the TT mouthpiece I keep my rim (so i don't sound like crap on my tuba after I play bass), I get a much brighter sound with the trombone cup, and the mouthpiece sounds great in a euph too.


I ordered one right after I test played on it for a day. Turns out to be great for me considering the adjustment was really hurting my tuba chops and taking away practice time from my primary instrument.