Sellmansberger mouthpiece from Don Harry

[bisontuba]

HI-
Now THAT is an endorsement!!!! Having just heard Don yesterday play Tubby The Tuba with Buffalo Phil.-which was his usual fantastic level of musicianship/beauty of sound-I can only say that Joe's mouthpiece must indeed be wonderful, especially knowing the quality of Don's original Helleberg mouthpieces. I think I need to order one of these myself.
Regards-
mark
jonestuba@Juno.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

[imperialbari]

I like my own blokepiece version #1 (sharp edge, flat & narrow rim, moderate backbore opening). I will not argue against Don Harry at all.

Only nobody should interpret the blokepiece as a variant of the Helleberg concept. Not even bloke associates its cup profile with anything Helleberg.

Klaus

[Rick Denney]

Mine arrived on Friday, along with the synthetic washers that have changed my life. I've only had about five minutes with it so far.

On the B&S F tuba, it provides even more clarity than the Mike Finn 4, and it also opens up the lower register greatly without adding fuzziness to upper register stuff. My only concern at this point is that it makes me sound a little too much like me, while the MF4 makes me sound like someone better than me. I may revise that preliminary conclusion, and the improvement in the lower register may require me to overcome that problem in other ways.

On the Holton, it has a similar effect to the Stofer Geib in providing an abundance of clarity and crispness. Power is still an open question, but then Joe's mouthpiece wasn't intended for really big tubas.

I have become so attuned to the Stofer Geib on the Holton and the MF4 on the B&S that anything that could force me to contemplate a change would have to be pretty good. I tried several mouthpieces at the Army Conference, and found I could reject them in 30 seconds. Joe's mouthpiece refuses to be rejected.

Rick "with much more to consider" Denney

[cjk]

While my skills as a player pale in comparison to many of the posters above,

I like Joe's mouthpiece quite a lot. When one came up for sale "barely used" from the first production run, I bought it so I could have a spare. I've only liked two or three mouthpieces enough (in 19 tuba playing years) to want a "spare".


--Christian

[tubashaman2]

.

[TubaRay]

From younger newbies who have posted, including myself, people who are "professionals" who are often times right on what they say often tend to get all the notice from younger players who view this, and people who state good stuff are often ignored because they don't have a title.

And what is your interpretation of this bit of information?

[tubashaman2]

.

[Matt G]

Sorry for the confusion,

I think younger posters are more responsive and open to professionals and might now know who he is, a VERY FINE player

You bring up a good point. However, there are many posters here who are not professionals, but nevertheless can offer some very valid points about both equipment and musicality. While most of the players "in the know" will not discredit someone like Mr. Harry's comments, it also creates a chasm between the "pros" and the "nots".

In some ways the older BBS software was better for this "world" of people. Everyone participated on even ground. With rankings, avatars, and titles, it skews the conversation. Sometimes it's a positive outcome, sometimes not.

[eupher61]

Put it this way....you ain't gonna be a prof at Eastman if you ain't got the ability to back it up, both playing and teaching.

Frankly, with the amount of competition for college gigs any more, it seems insulting to question the stature of ANY college teacher.

Guess you just blew any chance of an assistantship at Eastman!

[eupher61]

As I have said, I have used mine as my main F mouthpiece since it came out of the box, literally the night it arrived I used it on a performance with zero adjustment time.

the flat, sharp, Hellberg style, pachy?

[winston]

.

[Rick Denney]

Okay, I've finally had a chance to spend an evening practice session with the new mouthpiece (still the first version, I believe, though I just received it on Friday). I figure the vast majority of adult tuba players likely to read this thread fall in between Don Harry and myself when it comes to ability, so perhaps my opinion will illuminate the other end of the solution space to those for whom such illumination may be more relevant.

(Translated into little words for those who need it: I'm not worthy to post in Don's thread, but I'm going to anyway, for the sake of other amateur hacks like me.)

I didn't have the same reaction as did Wade--I didn't have the instant reaction. I found that the more warmed up I became on F tuba, the more Joe's mouthpiece revealed its potential. I'm not sure it's the sort of mouthpiece that tolerates long absences. But after the better part of an hour, when I went back to my other mouthpiece, about a minute of it was all I could stand. Joe's mouthpiece delivers the Power Sound, but only when I really center the pitch. Once I got used to it, I started getting giggly. The low range was there from the start, but it took a while for the rest of the range to start to sing.

I used to use a contrabass tuba mouthpiece in my Yamaha 621 because it made the low register play like a contrabass. But it robbed the upper register of resonance and clarity, and it only took me about a 1-1/2 decades to realize it. When I realized what I was missing, I went to a real F-tuba mouthpiece, and just relearned the low register. It was worth it. But Joe's mouthpiece gives back some of that big-mouthpiece power without losing the focus and clarity. In fact, it increases it.

But it is so clear that it doesn't provide anything to hide behind. I think that's what took a little while to get used to. I'd say it took me about 45 minutes.

We'll see if I'm still giggling after a month. Unlike the vast majority of mouthpieces I try, this one gets the extended test. But it's me taking the test more so than the mouthpiece. Can I live up to what it reveals?

Rick "a little scared of mouthpieces that make me sound like me" Denney

[cjk]

How would one go about ordering a "blokepiece"?

You can probably send a private message to bloke. Here's a pic and some specs which I dug up searching for blokepiece just in case you were wondering.



cup width - 1.3" (33 mm)
rim width - .27" (6.9 mm)
rim style - semi-flat / semi-thin
cup depth 1.18" (30 mm)
cup style - vintage/classic Waldkraiburg bowl
throat - .335" (8.5 mm)
throat style - extended reverse taper to flare
smallest diameter of backbore - .325" (8.25 mm)
backbore exit diameter - .44" (11.2 mm)
shank style - American
body design - lightweight
material - stainless steel

[eupher61]

sorry Pachy...I was under the impression that there were 2 different blokepieces. Misunderstanding on my part, and I pulled you in on it. Oops!

[skeath]

OK, let's start over.

Are the blokepiece and the Selmansberger two different mouthpieces, or the same one? Does one contact Joe or Bloke about them?

Thanks for the clarification.

SK

[imperialbari]

OK, let's start over.

Are the blokepiece and the Selmansberger two different mouthpieces, or the same one? Does one contact Joe or Bloke about them?

Thanks for the clarification.

SK

blokepiece is the nickname for the mouthpiece(-s) designed by Joe Selmansberger of Mid-South Music in the greater Memphis area.

To add to the confusion Joe has changed the design from the original one, which is the one specified above here, and as I get it, is the one made in two production runs by Houser. Joe has a revised version where the still narrow rim has been rounded and the backbore has been opened.

My sample is the original design with the flat narrow rim with a fairly sharp inner edge. Exactly these features are important to me. I recognise that rounded rims are kind on a big warm sound, but for me they don’t give the same exactness to the attack, especially not in lower dynamics.

I understand the pro users of the blokepiece in their liking of this mouthpiece also for their larger tubas because they are physically stronger than I am. They are able to play with a higher wind pressure. If I want a full resonant sound from my piston BBb basses, I need a larger, especially deeper, cup. Yet I have turned to use the blokepiece on my old German CC, which gets more alive and better in tune than with a Helleberg type mouthpiece.

Klaus

[skeath]

Thank you for the history!

Sandy Keathley

[TubaRay]

Just for the sake of complete clarity, Sandy - Joe Sellmansberger is bloke.

Well, now you've done it...

RC

Now what are we going to do? The secret is out!

[sloan]

Just for the sake of complete clarity, Sandy - Joe Sellmansberger is bloke.

Well, now you've done it...

RC

Now what are we going to do? The secret is out!

We re-assign the name "bloke" to someone else, of course.

This time, be sure not to tell anyone...

[Rick Denney]

We re-assign the name "bloke" to someone else, of course.

This time, be sure not to tell anyone...

Whose turn is it?

Rick "the original Bloke is retired and living in Patagonia" Denney