Reynolds Dr. Young mouthpiece specs?

[Shockwave]

I'm not patient enough to wait for a Reynolds Dr. Young to present itself on ebay, so I fired up the lathe and made a mouthpiece. Starting with a brass bar, it took about 4 hours of continuous thinking and cutting (not necessarily in that order) to make a mouthpiece, and it's a monster. The cup inside diameter is 1.5" and the depth is 3" with an internal shape like an elongated helleberg. The bore is 3/8", and because I misread my own drawing (doh!) and cut the shank too small, I had to skip cutting a backbore. Wrapped with some electrical tape and plugged into a tuba the mouthpiece plays, but it's too big to make a consistent seal around my mouth. The sound is BIG but since it's a bell-front tuba the tone is still clear. I think I'll try again and make smaller diameter mouthpiece with the same cup depth, though it is really difficult to cut a smooth taper on the entrance to the throat 3" down inside there. My normal mouthpiece is only 1 5/8" deep, a piece of cake.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has specs on the Dr. Young model: cup diameter, cup depth, cup shape, and bore size.

Thanks,
Eric

[Tom]

I have one (it's not for sale, so don't ask), but not here with me, so this is the best I can do...

The Dr. Young model is like a giant french horn mouthpiece...I don't know if they tried to build it to scale or not, but that's exactly what it seems like.

It's pretty wide...not 1.5," but it's probably about as wide as a PT50 or PT88 (just thinking off the top of my head). The rim is really pretty nice from what I remember...narrow and a good cross between rounded and sharp.

It's deep...inches deep...3 inches wouldn't surprise me at all.

The sides are straight...plain and simple.

The backbore is huge...big enough to slide a pencil through.

Just my guesses...I got mine for fun and really don't play on it too much, but like I said, it's not for sale.

[dtemp]

Stupid question: What Dr. Young is this named after?

[Chuck(G)]

Stupid question: What Dr. Young is this named after?

Dr. Frederick J. Young, the owner of this instrument:

http://www.penn.com/~youngfj/

FWIW, I understand that Dr. Young's mouthpiece has undergone several revisions, so you might want to contact him for exact measurements of the current version.

My Reynolds Dr. Young is basically a funnel on a pipe.

[Rick Denney]

FWIW, I understand that Dr. Young's mouthpiece has undergone several revisions, so you might want to contact him for exact measurements of the current version.

He might even have one he'd be willing to sell. I have heard (I'm not sure if it was from him, but at least second-hand) that the Reynolds Dr. Young is not exactly what he had in mind. I've seen one of his later mouthpieces, and it is not as straight on the sides as the Reynolds. On the example I saw (made in the last ten years), there is no taper to the backbore: The size of the opening at the tip of the shank is carried right through the throat.

On an instrument that provides plenty of resistance, it might not be too bad. But if the instrument is as open-blowing as most folks today want them to be, it must be like blowing a didgeridoo. Dr. Young's tuba, even though one supposedly never has to press more than one valve (plus the switch valves), must have some resistance to it.

Rick "who has only been able to imitate bodily noises not usually acceptable in mixed company with the Reynolds mouthpiece" Denney

[Doug@GT]

Anybody have a pic they could post? It'd be interesting to see what this mpc. is all about...


RA

Is this it?

[Chuck(G)]

Is this it?

Eh-yup. That'd be mine with plain ol' Bach 18 sitting next to it (on my Oregon Ducks towel).

[MartyNeilan]

Holy cow! I thought that was a tenor trombone mouthpiece next to it, based on the size difference. That thing is HUGE - does it substantially lower the pitch of the tuba?

[Tom]

On the example I saw (made in the last ten years), there is no taper to the backbore: The size of the opening at the tip of the shank is carried right through the throat.

If there is a taper on the Reynolds model, it's very little. I don't have any way to really "verify" what I'm seeing, but it seems like there is no taper to it...as in the mouthpiece has c. 3" straight sides going into a cylindrical backbore. As Chuck described it, a funnel on a pipe.

Holy cow! I thought that was a tenor trombone mouthpiece next to it, based on the size difference. That thing is HUGE - does it substantially lower the pitch of the tuba?

They "stand taller" than any other mouthpiece I have...the picture is not playing tricks on your eyes! It does lower the overall pitch of the tuba a noticable amount. I keep mine around for fun...I can't imagine making it my main mouthpiece!

[Shockwave]

Here's a couple pictures of the mouthpiece I made beside a 24AW. It looks like a heavyweight mouthpiece, but it's really not that heavy.



And here's a view into the abyss...



Cup diameter 1.5", depth 3", curved sided funnel shape. I need to grind a tool to do the throat transition better.

-Eric

[Tubatoad]

Any chance of trying that monster out? I've been looking for bigger mpc's for a long time, and that looks just about right. Shank diameter might not be perfect yet, but the cup dimensions look like what I've been searching for.
I think my Cerveny has a European shank receiver...