A few days with the Sidey Classic in brass

[imperialbari]

In the beginning of March I ordered and paid the Sidey Classic mouthpiece in brass. A few days later I ordered the blokepiece, which arrived within less than two weeks, so I got worried when the Sidey piece didn’t arrive. As told I contacted Paul, who sent me a replacement, so that I shouldn’t wait longer than necessary. It later was told that the first sample never made it out of the US, and it hasn’t been traced yet.

PayPal sent me a notification making it possible to trace the second sample. Very oddly the tracking told that an attempt had been made to deliver it at my house last Friday very early in the morning. That wasn’t true, but then the Danish and American postal computers maybe don’t speak too well together. Anyway I could fetch the mouthpiece at my local post office this Monday against paying import taxes.

I specifically wanted a large mouthpiece with a flat rim and a sharp edge for my contrabasses. The goal to achieve was a better response in the low range than given by the PT-50 with its round rim and next to none edge. The Sidey Classic has a very flat and not too wide rim with a sharp edge. It has thin walls and is very lightweight for such a big mouthpiece.

The response is very good also in the low range. The sound is brighter below the open second partial than with the PT-50. Maybe a loss when I play on my own, but probably a great bonus for the clarity in ensembles. I darken the sound with my weights anyway.

I gave it a try on my 981 Eb, but there I much better like my Mike Finn 3H. No disappointment at all, as I never had expected such huge mouthpiece being the real thing for a bass tuba.

The blokepiece still is my tool for my smallest tubas in F and Eb, but it was surprisingly good on my Martin CC also. There the Sidey Classic is even better, so there it won an extra application.

Despite its large size the Sidey Classic also works well in the high range on the contrabasses. And the often critical intonation in the 5th partial range has become more controllable.

For now my hunting for better tuba mouthpieces has been cancelled. Now the task is with me as I have gotten the combinations of especially flat rim and sharp edge with well shaped cups, that I wanted. I have some ideas about optimizing my weights, but time will tell.

Klaus

[skeath]

I darken the sound with my weights anyway.

Sorry I'm late to the party. What does this mean?

Thanks,

SK

[averagejoe]

I believe that he is referring to weighted valve caps.

[imperialbari]

I believe that he is referring to weighted valve caps.

I have some weights to be placed on mouthpiece stems. Most are from Denis Wick for trombone and cornet mouthpieces. One is a modified euph mouthpiece for trumpet and alto horn mouthpiece stems. One is a custom made brass ring for bass trombone and small stem tuba mouthpieces. One is originally a bronze nut for a boat engine from which a retired ships engineer with a lathe removed the threading. The hole is fairly large so that I use fittings out of a garden hose to place it on tuba, bassbone, and horn mouthpieces,

The effect of the weights is about removing the stray overtones from the sound. Any note has content of overtones not fitting into a chord with the note played. They are perceived as fuzz even if they are of lower energy than the desired overtones. The trick is to find the right amount of weight dampening the fuzz, but not killing the presence of the note.

Klaus