Matching Mouthpiece with Tuba

[Benjamin]

How can I make sure that the mouth piece I get will be able to play in the Tuba I have. I own 2, I have a Barington BBb and a Miraphone CC. My Barington swollows all my mouthpieces except my PT 48. I'm looking at getting a Helleberg Heavy Gold Jet Tone for my CC tuba but before I spit out $100 for it, I want to make sure it'll fit in it with no probs. So how do I check that?

Thanks,
Ben.

[Dean E]

How can I make sure that the mouth piece I get will be able to play in the Tuba I have. I own 2, I have a Barington BBb and a Miraphone CC. My Barington swollows all my mouthpieces except my PT 48. I'm looking at getting a Helleberg Heavy Gold Jet Tone for my CC tuba but before I spit out $100 for it, I want to make sure it'll fit in it with no probs. So how do I check that?

Thanks,
Ben.

I'm not experienced with those horns or mouthpieces. Your horns might have had the receivers replaced, also.

The way way I would get started is to take my mouthpieces somewhere there is a micrometer and measure the small ends of the mouthpieces, as well as the openings of the horns' receivers-then post here again. Or else buy my own vernier caliper from Sears or Harbor Freight.

Several on-line dealers will send mouthpieces on trial.

Also, the (free) Army Tuba Euphonium Conference (at Ft. Myer, Arlington, VA) in January would be a good place to try many mouthpieces in your horns

[The Jackson]

If your Barington swallows everything but your PT, then I think it's safe to assume that you should get a Euro shank mouthpiece.

I'm not sure what shank size Jet-Tone R&S's are. You should e-mail them and ask.

[SplatterTone]

I have the two sizes of Jet heavyweight in silver. They fit in horns to about the same depth as Yamaha and Kelly mouthpieces. Bach mouthpieces go in a little deeper.

[ken k]

ben, I have a silver R&S for sale on the for sale thread:

R&S Heavyweight TUHHII $45

Buy it then you will not be spendig $100.

If you really like it you can get it plated.

As was mentioned it sounds like you have a european receiver. The R&S will fit it, but it will go in a little farther than usual. I don't believe that will make that big of a difference.

ken k

[SplatterTone]

To give this some objective accuracy, I did some measuring. For measuring the tip, I measured a very small distance back (less than the thickness of a credit card) from the tip because the tip isn't absolutely square cut off on all the mouthpieces.

The tip of the Jet heavies measured about .522mm; same as the Bach and Yamaha. I posted earlier that the Bach goes in farther. While technically correct, most of the very obvious visual difference can be attributed to the shorter shank on the Bach. It goes in farther, but not that much farther.

I measured tip the Miraphone TU09, TU29, and TU33; all came in at .525.

Measuring up on the shank the width of a Compact Flash memory card:
Bach is .590mm. All the others are .595mm. This would suggest that the Jet heavy and Yamaha will go in the same distance as the Miraphone mouthpieces, but will have a little more wall clearance at the tip.

By the way, I rarely use a Bach 12, but if I do, I must be careful not carry the horn in a way that will let the mouthpiece fall out.

One comment I have on the Jets: I prefer the bigger one, but I think the thin rim makes it hard for me to keep my lips from getting blown into the mouthpiece and producing a dead, fundamental tone. Here is a recording with me in the band with the larger Jet on the Miraphone S191. You can clearly hear the lack of harmonic development in the tone. I tried it for a while to see if I could make it work. The idea of a mouthpiece that can double as a weapon has a certain appeal. Of course, YMMV.
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/FBC/03_11_07/lead_on.mp3

[ken k]

I will ditto what Mr. Splatter mentioned in that the heavyweight Jet-tones or R&S mouthpieces tend to emphasize the fundamental of the sound moreso than the highs. Or put in other terms, they seem to cover the articulations a bit, so the artix do not sound as crisp. Perhaps that is just another way of saying the same thing? or one aspect leads to the other? i had used it for awhile on my Boosey Eb which is a rather heavyweight horn in itself. if you have ever played Boosey's or Bessons you know they are built like tanks. I felt the result was was too heavy for that horn. On a particularly lighter horn or bright horn it may help hold the tone together a bit before it gets edgy.

ken k

[SplatterTone]

And in my measurement post, make that inches, not mm. Sometimes that one brain cell that runs around doing all the work gets too close to the cranial wall and shorts out.

[Benjamin]

Thanks, I use TU 21 in my Miraphone. I'm pretty sure I can send the jet tone back if it don't work. I bought the BBb like 4 years ago. It was a little cheap guy like $2500, just so I owned my own Tuba. When I got old enough to get a job I saved up for a really really nice Tuba, I figured, since I was buying a real nice one, one not make it CC for the heck of it. I think alot of colleges make you play that anyways don't they? I'm just a Sr. in High School so IDK.

[iiipopes]

I highly recomned the new Miraphone TU23 mouthpiece....

"New" TU23 = "Old" C4

"New" TU21 = "Old" C3

Regarding the Miraphone, how is your breath support and volume? Mine is only average. So when I called Matt Walters he recommended the Curry D cup. It's a hybrid cup that seems to interact favorably for moderate applications with a Miraphone. After having Vladimir reshape the rim from it being rather wide to the profile of an 18, which I'm more used to, it is absolutely perfect for me for my community band and other band oriented applications.

The Curry comes in your choice of cup diameter, so if you're used to a Helleberg, you can get it in 1.26, 1.28 (what I play) 1.30 or 1.32 inches.

Here's the deal, however: the throat is .325 and the backbore is engineered for a tad of resistance for the average player. If you put a ton of air through your horn, you might think it to be a tad "stuffy" or "restrictive." However, I need that little bit of feedback in order to get all the help I can with breath management. And little bit it is, no more restrictive than a Bach 18 or my Kelly 18, but definitely a feel there compared to something like a Wick 1. It also gives you a tad more overtones due to the slight rounding at the bottom that a Miraphone can use, without sacrificing breadth or core.

It's not for everyone, but for an average player, Matt's recommendation was, as usual, spot on. You might contact him with your concerns, especially with the money involved.

Here's what is most lacking: Matt @ Dillons, Roger, Dan, Dan, Lee, bloke, (I just know I'm going to leave someone out I shouldn't, I just can't think of them all right now -- sorry) some of the other distinguished contributors to this forum, and about that many others are about the only ones who are on top of what is really out there that works and doesn't. A good referral from a person who knows his stuff, even if it needs a little bit of tweaking, will, in the long run, be the most cost effective and get you towards your potential as a player than any self-directed safari.

I see weekly the rejects from other people's self directed safaris in the "for sale" section. And yes, I've purchased some I've had to turn around as well because the looked good on paper or on screen. The Curry would probably have been the last mouthpiece I considered, if simply because I was not familiar with it. For someone else, it could be any other brand or model, which will all fit someone perfectly. But a piece of well seasoned correct advice from the right person goes much farther than all the internet surfing, even if it's a place you can "buy all you want and return them if you have to."

Oh, I'm not trying to be deprecating to the top quote. Far from it. I appreciate it. I also put in my two cents as what works for me, and we all should, because someone out there will have a similar enough playing style, and I enjoy learning about other people's experiences, especially from a equipment perspective. I'm just merely pointing out that the "New" TU23 isn't really new at all.

[Benjamin]

The Miraphone I have is this guy right here.
http://www.tubaexchange.com/product-det ... MIR-TE186B

The Helleberg is pretty good, I use it when I play Sousaphone for marching band, and when I'm playing on a BBb that is not my Barington. I think I'll stick with the TU-21 and wait till I can get a Jet Tone to try, cause I have a great sound on my Miraphone with the TU-21.