British/English shank tuba mouthpieces - which tubas?

[knarfman]

Matt Walters' piece on mouthpiece sizes was a big help to me when dealing with an old Eb:
viewtopic.php?t=10390&highlight=euro+am ... tt+walters

[Ulli]

I'm still looking for a Sidey SSH mpc with drilled down shank, fitted to my Boosey BBb tuba.

Ulli

[Wyvern]

All the old B&H Imperial tubas I have played had small shank receivers. They were made up to late 1970's/early 1980's. With the Besson Sovereign range the standard shank started to be used.

[iiipopes]

The 1971 Besson New Standard 3-valve comp I used to have had the smaller receiver and took a Wick 1 very, very well, indeed. What happened in the '60's was that Boosey/Besson quit making both high pitch (@453Hz) and low pitch horns. As far as I know, I agree that the watershed was at the point of the crossover from Imperial/New Standard to Sovereign. That's not to say there might be some really early Sovs using up old parts, or got the "wrong" part with a smaller receiver, and of course a lot of older horns have been switched, but that is my understanding.

Let's see: Denis Wick stocks the (no letter) line as standard. Mike Finn a couple of years ago ran a batch of his #4 mouthpieces with a .500 tip, and of course Perantucci has the .490 shank listed as "available to order." I don't know of any other mass produced mouthpiece that routinely comes in the smaller shank anymore.

+1 on Matt's article. The definitive guide.

[Kevin Miller]

I believe Schilke will make you an English shank mouthpiece as a special order.

[tubatooter1940]

My 1940 King Eb has the small shank. I was able to find a Kelly 24AW and a G&W Diablo mouthpiece for it.

[Ulli]

At time, due to the fact, that my SSH don't fit, I use a Kosikup 1 1/2.
With the MF4 I am not contented; for my matter of taste too shallow.

[phaymore]

With all this talk about mouthpieces "fitting" into receivers, what is you definition of "fit?" I have a mouthpieces that go all the way to the bowl on my Miraphone 1291. Is that fitting? I've played for a long time and have never really given it any thought.

Patrick

[cjk]

If you own an old Eb or Bb tuba made in the UK, are in the market for a new mouthpiece, and (perhaps you never used more than one mouthpiece with that tuba...??) are not sure whether your mouthpiece receiver is "standard" or "English" shank, here is a way to tell:

The old "English" shank tuba mouthpieces featured SMALLER shanks than "standard" shank tuba mouthpieces. The "English" tuba mouthpiece shank was just about the same exact size as the "bass trombone shank" or "large bore trombone shank" mouthpieces.

If a "bass trombone shank" mouthpiece fits nicely into your old English-made receiver, you probably need to order an "English" or "British" shank tuba mouthpiece. If, however, a bass trombone shank mouthpiece "falls into" your tuba mouthpiece receiver, you should order a "standard" shank mouthpiece.

I believe British manufacturers started offering some tubas with "standard" shank receivers in the 1960's, and (maybe) by the 1970's even more British-made tubas sported factory "standard" shank receivers. I'm not an expert on that topic, and (for the purpose of this post) this really doesn't not need to be delved into historically here.

Here's another way if you don't have access to a bass trombone mouthpiece.

If you have a tape measure that has inches on it, an "American" shank is ever so slightly larger than 1/2 inch (.520 inches). An "English" or "British" shank tuba mouthpiece has a shank that is ever so slightly smaller than 1/2 inch in diameter (.490 inches).

Or if you're using a Wick mouthpiece without an "L" in the model name, you'd need one of these "English" or "British" shank tuba mouthpieces.