big bass trombone mouthpieces

[TubaHeavy]

The bass trombonist at my high school school wants a bigger mouthpiece and he uses a bach 2G right now. any recommendations for him? I don't have a clue on bass trombone mouthpieces and i thought you guys at Tubenet would.

[Carroll]

I'm looking for a bigger shoe... mine is a 10. Any suggestions?

You are asking strangers to recommend a personal choice for yet someone else. He should order some, experiment with them, and buy the one that fits him the best. A 1 1/4 is bigger than a 2, and a 1 is bigger than that.

http://www.wwbw.com/Bach-Large-Shank-Tr ... 43941.wwbw" target="_blank

[imperialbari]

Of course the one-eyed dog is right!

Yet I have been through that process and ended up with my current result 12 years ago.

For me the main considerations are about cup diameter and rim profile. Backbores are something I change myself, if the mouthpieces are not out of steel. Most standard bassbone cups are deep enough.

I in general prefer flat rims with sharp edges. I use Denis Wick 12C for small trombones and his #4 series for baritones and larger trombones. But he didn’t and doesn’t make wide enough cups for bassbones. At least not for me. Hence it was a revelation for me, when I found the Yeo signature made by Yamaha. I call it the best bassbone mouthpiece in the DW series, only it is not made by DW. I modified the backbore to be more open, but for a couple of smaller bore arrivals in my collection I bought the replica version of the Yeo signature. No gold, but the silver plate is good, so I have no reservations against recommending the replica version.

My recommendation doesn’t exclude the need for at testing by the player.

Klaus

[tbn.al]

I personally prefer a very large mp for bass trombone, but that's not important. He needs to play some and see how it works for him. If he stays with Bach he can go to a 1 1/2 which is what I played in college. Bigger than that are the 1 1/4 and 1.0. To get any bigger, and I'm not sure that would be wise, you have to leave Bach. A Schilke 58 is about like a Bach 1 1/2. Their 59 is about equal to a Bach 1. I play a 60, but would be a huge mp for the typical HS player.

[Chadtuba]

Depending on the situation and the music I use:

Denis Wick 0AL
Schilke 59 with the backbore bored out to the size of a 60 (or so told by the guy I bought it from here on Tubenet), this is my main mp for bass bone
LOUD LM-30 http://www.loudmouthpieces.com/display_product.php?id=5 This bad boy is huge and rarely gets used but when I do use it I can crank out those pedals like nobody's business

All of these are considerably larger than a 2G but again get used for varying situations.

[TubaHeavy]

Alright thanks guys, ill let him know what he should check out.

[tubaguy9]

GW's are pretty big, when you're talking about the bigger end of them. As far as bass bone mp's go, the Nor'Easter is the biggest bass bone mp I know of...it's huge. I play on a Chinook, but it takes some getting used to.

[bort]

Of course the one-eyed dog is right!

Dog? That's Danger Mouse!

[imperialbari]

Of course the one-eyed dog is right!

Dog? That's Danger Mouse!

Sorry for inflating your ego!

K

[bort]

Zing!

[Bob Kolada]

I use a JK KBP2C ("shallow" 30mm contra mp) most of the time on bass trombone. I do have a Yamaha 60B that I like to use for big band and such- it's probably around a 1.25G, has a wide rim, and is somewhat shallow. I play a 2A on contrabonebass trombone and occasionally on my small Eb tuba (nice sound there!).

I played a Schilke 60 for years on bass but this 2C is so much better for a really big mp on bass. It does sound rather broad but is less tubby than the 60 was.

[Doug Elliott]

You got the answers I would expect on a tuba forum.

[imperialbari]

The information provided by the true pro’s is just so generous and feverable.

K

[MartyNeilan]

Serious answers from someone who has actually played bass trombone for a number of years (and even gotten paid some of the time):
Do not go too big. Period. You will have no high register, and you will not sound like a bass trombone (the term "slide tuba" is derogatorily used on trombone websites.)
IMHO, the Schilke 60 is too big. So is the Bach 1, which also has a ridiculously thin rim and paper thin side walls on the cup.
The Yamaha Yeo is a modified 60 that is a just a hair smaller and also has a better high register. However, mere mortals still struggle with it.
My opinion - the Griego .75 is the largest orchestral mouthpiece that still sounds like an orchestral bass trombone. The .5 crosses the threshold where it starts to lose some "presence" in the sound.
The largest piece with a slightly more commercial sound is the Ferguson Jeff Reynolds, which is based on an old Larry Minick design. Again, that is right on the border for being too big for a commercial sound, but the size of it works in favor for a tuba player. (The regular Ferguson L is probably a better size choice for someone who just plays bass trombone.)
A lot of guys are of the opinion anything larger than a 1.5 is too big, and there are a ton of 1.5 variants out there to try. Remember, a bass trombone is still a trombone!

[iiipopes]

The low brass professor at the regional university is a bass bone player. I don't remember exactly what he recommends to his students, but it isn't that large. Like said above, it's still a trombone. I'm thinking a Schilke 59 is about the largest mouthpiece to still get a real "bone" sound, and there are now many variants on the 1 1/2 G theme.

If he wants larger than that, he might as well play cimbasso or tuba, because it won't be bass bone tone.

I'm sure you'll find a lot of lively debate on tromboneforum.com about what he should do.

[JTJ]

Here you go, over 1,200 responses on this thread:

http://tromboneforum.org/index.php/topic,23254.0.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

"Who in their right mind plays a Bach 1 1/2G ??"

The answer is in there somewhere.

John

[Donn]

Kelly's 1 1/2G is officially discontinued, so a couple dollars off the already modest price. As usual, an inexpensive way to try, and a uniquely useful mouthpiece.

[Bob Kolada]

Serious answers from someone who has actually played bass trombone for a number of years (and even gotten paid some of the time):
Do not go too big. Period. You will have no high register, and you will not sound like a bass trombone (the term "slide tuba" is derogatorily used on trombone websites.

I don't know if this is directed at me (does it matter either way? ), but I've gotten paid plenty/most of the time on bass trombone. It's actually probably about the opposite for the tubas I've owned so there's no brag here.
A contra mp probably isn't the best thing for most high schoolers, but I really don't care what other people play on and got over what other people think of my horns and stuff long ago.
I think a (fictional, unfortunately) 2E-ish on bass and a PT60 or the like on contra would be just skippy for me. The C can be a bit broad sometimes but I can make it work.

[Lee Stofer]

Why don't you tell your young bass trombonist friend this; Instead of spending his/his parent's money on another mouthpiece at this time, make sure that the mouthpiece he now has is clean, with a round shank, get trombone lessons for 6 months and practice hard, and if his instructor thinks he should try a different mouthpiece, he will tell him, and it will very likely be money well-spent. If you friend is not serious about playing bass trombone well, then he should not waste his time or money. If he is serious about playing, this could be the start of something great for him.

[TubaHeavy]

Don't shoot the messenger, just simply trying to help a friend out. Ill let him know about all the opinions and recommendations, and i know i should have went to a trombone forum, but unfortunately i was too lazy. thanks again.