Miraphone 186 BBb - which mouthpiece do you use?

[rodgeman]

I have recently obtained a Mirafone 186 BBb. This is going to be my principal tuba as I love playing it.

I currently use a Conn Helleberg mouthpiece.It is funnel shaped and I was thinking on going to a bowl shaped mouthpiece for Community Band. The reason is that the music requires more low/loud parts (F/Eb/and one has a D below pedal Bb). I practice and can play them but am having issues projecting. I am looking for suggestions and I realize there is no magic mouthpiece.

I am just curious as to what mouthpieces other use on this model tuba. I have searched the forum on this topic and am just looking for current information.

All comments are appreciated.

[scottw]

I have recently obtained a Mirafone 186 BBb. This is going to be my principal tuba as I love playing it.

I currently use a Conn Helleberg mouthpiece.It is funnel shaped and I was thinking on going to a bowl shaped mouthpiece for Community Band. The reason is that the music requires more low/loud parts (F/Eb/and one has a D below pedal Bb). I practice and can play them but am having issues projecting. I am looking for suggestions and I realize there is no magic mouthpiece.
I am just curious as to what mouthpieces other use on this model tuba. I have searched the forum on this topic and am just looking for current information.
All comments are appreciated.

I used the Conn Helleburg and liked it.
I used the Wick 2-L and liked it.
I currently play the Blokepiece Symphony with #2 rim and love it.
Each 'piece has a little different quality to it, but it all comes down to what you want to hear in your brain. I doubt there are many "bad" mouthpieces which can be used with a 186, just different. Enjoy the horn!

[iiipopes]

I echo Bloke's statement that just about any mouthpiece will work on a 186. And indeed, I have used many mouthpieces on mine just to see what they do, not because I was looking for any "holy grail" type tone.

That said, when I needed a good all-round mouthpiece I contacted Matt Walters for a recommendation. I told him I was primarily a concert band player, that I have moderate techique and my breath support isn't as good as it used to be. He recommended a Curry D cup for my upright St Pete bell, which is a hybrid cup and moderate throat and backbore. It gives a great slightly darker broader tone that still has excellent definition in the low register that really carries a concert band in a medium to larger hall. For outdoors in good weather with my recording bell, I use a custom mouthpiece designed by Kanstul which is like a deeper version of a Bach 18, but with a 1.28 cup i.d. and a slightly smaller throat than a Bach 18. For outdoor inclement weather I use a Kelly 18. For any solo or high tessitura stuff I used to use a PT34, which with its slightly larger throat and shallower cup is a great solo mouthpiece, but I had some pitch instability with it over time, and it's a little grainy in the bottom end, so now for high tessitura I found a Bach 18 that is surprisingly smooth toned.

I used a Wick 1L for awhile. Great broad tone, but a little indistinct with articulation in the lower end, and its large throat required more air than I was able to give it. I tried a Wick 2L, and I personally couldn't get a good center to intonation, but my son sounds great on it. A Wick 3L got a little small for me, but sounded good. A Shilke 67 had a great smooth tone, especially from the midrange on up, but was a little light in the low end. A Conn 2 had "whangy" tone. A LOUD LM-7 had great consistent tone and razor-sharp intonation, but the slots were so tight I was "riding throttle" on the valve slides a little more than I prefer. But if I were playing with a wire choir, it would be on my short list. A PT-82, which sounds great on really big-throated tubas and souzys was a little stuffy to me. A Conn Helleberg 120S does work well, but to me it doesn't bring out the full potential of the horn. I'd really like to know how Mike Finn's version of a Helleberg does; I'm sure it's great. Going the other way in sizing, an R&S Jet Tone Helleberg and a Kellyberg really give great low end, but start to flag in the midrange unless you have a little larger embouchure and breath support than I do; then they sound fine; that's why I prefer a 1.28 cup instead of the more common 1.30 for a lot of these kind of mouthpieces.

The C4/TU23 gives great presence, and with an older stovepipe is a classic combination. The Rose Orchestra is very similar to the Curry D cup, but the feel was just not exactly to my liking. Just personal preference. A lot of guys get really good results out of this mouthpiece.

Now, it also depends on what variant of 186 you use. If you have an older "stovepipe" bell, a more rounded mouthpiece will give better definition for "point-and-shoot." If you have one of the newer 17 3/4 bells which approaches the tuba version of tonality analogous to a Bach 37 trumpet bell, then I'm not sure there is any reasonable mouthpiece out there that won't at least sound passable. The recording bell variants like a deep bowl cup for projection with depth of tone, and my St Pete upright large throat/small rim bell can sound darker, with a hint towards the east towards Alex.

The bottom line in all of this is there are two BBb tubas in the tuba world that are truly pick-up-a-mouthpiece-play-and-forget: the King 2341 and the Miraphone 186. Maybe not someone's ultimate ideal of tuba tone or preference of feel on a mouthpiece. But if all else fails, it will get the gig done. That's why, whenever the threads periodically pop up, especially among younger players, "What tuba shall I get," the first response is:

186!

[Bob Kolada]

I used a Bach 18 on a 185 for a few months and then on a 187 for about 2 years. Worked fine for me though I've never been one to dissect mouthpieces. If it has a comfortable rim and is roughly the size and depth I want for the horn and music, it works for me.
More specifically, though I'm not a 186 fan I had no unusual problems not attributable to not practicing the horn with the low register.

[jamsav]

Laskey 30 G - for most playing..ocassionally Blokes Symphony , and if I want dark dark, GW Bayamo with my 17.75 186 . III Popes is all over it !! js

[Rick Denney]

I am using it on my F tuba now at it worked better than the PT 65 I was using.

The old PT-9 is the same as a new PT-64, and was intended as an F-tuba mouthpiece from the start.

For the OP:

For a Miraphone, a Helleberg-style mouthpiece works fine. A Geib-style mouthpiece works fine, but if you go edge, it will go edgier. A Bach 18 isn't a bad choice. A Rose Orchestra (Miraphone-made) is a good choice in the Helleberg tradition. But the C4 was the archetype mouthpiece for a 186.

If you want a big, bottomy sound but with lots of bite, the three mouthpiece that come to my mind are a PT-48, a Geib (Lee Stofer makes a definitive example), or a Sellmansberger Symphony.

Rick "who also likes a Doug Elliott T cup with a 6 backbore on a 186" Denney