Mouthpiece Diameter

[TUbajohn20J]

I use a PT 48 for everyday use, which is a very large diameter mouthpiece. The only drawback with it is that it's harder for extreme high register playing. But It's do-able, just hard. I like a big mouthpiece because I love the big tone..and it's what I chose that works best with my Willson 3100. For sousaphone, I use strictly a Conn Helleburg, it has that sharpness in the attack that I need.

[Doug Elliott]

First of all, I am a trombonist and mouthpiece maker. I also understand embouchures in ways most people don't. My perspective is from my personal experiences as a player, teacher, and from helping thouands of people choose mouthpieces over the years, especially trombone and euphonium. I honestly don't know for sure if my ideas about mouthpiece needs and preferences apply equally to tuba (and trumpet), but I suspect it's exactly the same situation.

There are several different embouchure types, relating to overall facial structure and the resulting playing configurations. The most common type pretty much requires larger diameters to function properly. The next most common is the opposite - they do much better on smaller diameters.

I have no doubt that your preference for large mouthpieces is related to your particular embouchure type. Go with it, and your embouchure will live a long and happy life.

[TexTuba]

If you prefer large-diameter mouthpieces, why would you change it? I don't think anyone can truly answer your questions because everyone is so different when it comes to their face. Overbite, under-bite, big lips, thin lips, etc. Maybe I'm oversimplifying the subject, but if you have a mouthpiece or mouthpieces that you like then what's the problem?

[Wyvern]

I would say play on what suits YOU. I am the other way around - I play on a PT-90 and occasionally think I should use something bigger and have experimented with quite a few. However, I just do not feel comfortable and think like my tone is unfocused, so always go back to the PT-90.

Having wasted a lot experimenting with different mouthpieces I have decided to just stick with my faithful PT-90.


As the old saying goes "if it is not broke, don't try to fix!"

[tbn.al]

For me the size issue relates almost entirely to flexibility. I use as small as mp as I can and still have the ability to jump around on the horn successfully. For my tuba playing this works out to be a 33mm. I play a 3/4 and a 4/4 BBb and it seems to function about the same in both horns for me. Any larger and I begin to lose the tonal center any smaller and the flexibility issue rears it's head. Range isn't an issue as for me it is the same on a PT-88 as a Bach 30E.

[iiipopes]

If you wear a 46 long suit, you don't go into a store and try on a 42 regular, even if the fabric and style are what you're looking for. Everybody is different. I could say the same thing in reverse. Anything larger than a 1.28 internal cup diameter has me flagging out. So I don't experiment with larger mouthpieces to see if I can get a "bigger" tone. I can't. If it ain't broke, there's nothing to "fix." That's why mouthpieces are made in all shapes and sizes, because one does not fit all.

But the experience of knowing what to expect out of different mouthpieces is valuable.

[Rick Denney]

What Doug said.

If you have trained your full lip structure to be inside the rim, why would you expect that training to disappear when you suddenly put some of it outside the rim? It seems to me that the embouchure outside the rim must be strong and firm, and the lips inside the rim must be able to be fully relaxed. The leakage of that relaxation from the inside to the outside is the hallmark of those of us with weak embouchures, with a range of attendant ill effects, principly an unfocused tone. And the lack of flexibility of someone applying firmness inside the rim also causes a range of ill effects, including a pinched tone. A mouthpiece of a different size is not a solution in either case--a stronger embouchure outside the rim is the solution. I believe that's why Jacobs insisted on using a bare rim against the lips when free buzzing--to isolate the portion of the embouchure that must be firm from the portion that must be relaxed.

I tend to the weak embouchure problem, and too small a rim exposes more of that weakness to the outside air. People like me who have flabby embouchures often like big mouthpieces as a result, with the result that big mouthpieces might be associated with a flabby and unfocused sound, but that doesn't mean that big mouthpiece rims are bad, or small rims are good.

Use what works.

Rick "who learned for himself that the rim must fit the face and the dominant embouchure type while sitting in Doug's shop" Denney