Houser Imperial

[Michael Bush]

Like many here, I've been through a lot of mouthpieces. At this point, I have three keepers. All were made by Houser, and two are blokepieces. It's not about brand loyalty. They just work.

[Michael Bush]

the sound is ...mailable

Yea, it's worth forty-four cents, anyway...

[tubalamb]

In agreement with everyone so far about the Imperial mouthpiece.

I've been using it for awhile now with my MW 45-SLZ and love the sound. The combination reminds me of a Houston tubist's 3/4 Alex CC that I had the privilege of trying out a few years back. For me, it's perfect for quintet and chamber settings. I use the Symphony on all my contrabass horns, and the fact that I can use the same rim all my setups is a big plus in my book.

[tuba114]

I've heard great things about these Blokepieces!What type of Blokepiece/Sellmansberger set up would you guys suggest for a Mel Culbertson Neptune CC and a Meinl Weston 2182/2 F?

[tbn.al]

Wow! Very nice Robert. You say that was Frankie? Sure sounded like the Wizard to me. Maybe it's not all in the horn afterall. You guys are going to talk me into one of Joe's pieces yet. Must not succumb......must be firm!

That is the Corley transcription isn't it?

[pwhitaker]

This might sound a bit blasphemous:

I modified a Bloke Imperial by having the throat enlarged to 11 mm which effectively made the backbore a straight shot through the the shank - similar to the Dr. Young mpc's. I then got a Tommy Johnson rim from Hauser and I've been using this with great results on my old 6/4 BBb recording bell Holton (1941). The shallower cup allows for greater clarity and flexibility while the open "backbore" seems to give more character to the the timbre. People who know this horn have commented favorably on the sound I now get with this setup.

On my old Eb Conn I'm using the LM12 which seems to open up the false tones and pedals on this 3 valve horn - go figure.