Can anyone recommend a mouthpiece that will give me a more focused sound on my King 2341 than a GW Taku lite?
I've had the horn for 6 years and love it. I used a PT-36 for a while, but it didn't sound right. The Taku is great for large ensemble playing, but I struggle sometimes with my quintet and in etudes/solos focusing the sound.
Does that even make sense?
It's like the tone is TOO dark for the lighter styles often played in brass quintet. I don't get articulate pops when walking bass lines in Dixieland tunes.
I'm curious to know if anybody has a suggestion for anything to brighten the tone up a bit.
Mouthpiece? Leadpipe? Sacrifice a chicken? I'm open to almost anything.
The new LOUD Tommy Johnson mouthpiece is very bright. I use it on my 6/4 Holton for Traditional Jazz,
MISERICORDE, n.
A dagger which in mediaeval warfare was used by the foot soldier to remind an unhorsed knight that he was mortal.
- Devil's Dictionary - Ambrose Bierce
Fry the chicken, put it on the plate with biscuits & gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and beans - Enjoy - follow up with pecan pie and ice cream.
As to the mouthpiece issue, a comfortable rim that is thin-enough to allow for flexibility while having enough "bite" on the inside for secure, clean attacks, coupled with a relatively deep bowl shape to give full resonance, and a backbore that is not overly-large, should be the combination to achieve your goal.
I know that my mouthpiece offers all of this specifically, but there are others out there that may give similar results. At the Army Band show, I purchased a Parker-Hitz modular mouthpiece, which is made by Houser, of stainless steel. The rim is marked, M.D. C4 L.A. 32.6mm. To me, this mouthpiece does not behave like the other stainless-steel mouthpieces I've tried. I need to try it out more to see just what it will do, but I have noticed that it does possess great flexibility and clarity. What I want to see is what (if anything) this design had to sacrifice in other parameters to achieve this feel.
In response to the comment about trying to darken the sound of a Mirafone 184, there is only so much that can be done to change the character of an instrument, as the owner found out. However, I'll say that I've had a great time playing King tubas over the past several years with the right mouthpiece ;^)
Fry the chicken, put it on the plate with biscuits & gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and beans - Enjoy - follow up with pecan pie and ice cream.
As to the mouthpiece issue, a comfortable rim that is thin-enough to allow for flexibility while having enough "bite" on the inside for secure, clean attacks, coupled with a relatively deep bowl shape to give full resonance, and a backbore that is not overly-large, should be the combination to achieve your goal.
I know that my mouthpiece offers all of this specifically, but there are others out there that may give similar results. At the Army Band show, I purchased a Parker-Hitz modular mouthpiece, which is made by Houser, of stainless steel. The rim is marked, M.D. C4 L.A. 32.6mm. To me, this mouthpiece does not behave like the other stainless-steel mouthpieces I've tried. I need to try it out more to see just what it will do, but I have noticed that it does possess great flexibility and clarity. What I want to see is what (if anything) this design had to sacrifice in other parameters to achieve this feel.
In response to the comment about trying to darken the sound of a Mirafone 184, there is only so much that can be done to change the character of an instrument, as the owner found out. However, I'll say that I've had a great time playing King tubas over the past several years with the right mouthpiece ;^)
If you want to keep the same inside cup diameter as your Taku:
Curry hybrid cup. Keeps my tuba from being too dark also. Nice round sound.
PT82. Bowl. Bright. Kind of the tuba analog to the Schilke 14A4a trumpet mouthpiece.
Bach 18. The Kanstul version. Works really well with "American" bells. Ask for my personalized model in their CNC library which has the same depth, but 1.28 diameter cup instead of the stock 1.26.
Kelly 18. Same reason.
As mentioned above: Geib cups have "bounce" in the tone and can help with definition.
now, if you go up from the 1.28 cup to the 1.30 cup, there are more mouthpiece models out there than Carter has pills.
MikeW wrote:Someone mentioned the old King 26. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Mike Finn 3 bears a striking resemblance to the King 26.
Keep in mind: the King 26 has not been made in more than a generation or two. Finding an example in good condition is rare. It has @ 1.26 cup, like a Conn Helleberg or Bach 18. The rim is wide and rounded. But it is the best fit for a King tuba for all round playing, if you can deal with the rim. There was one in fair condition just recently on eBay, and may still be.
Bell played one - a lot. Don Butterfield's mouthpiece was a "skeletonized" (Bob Giardinelli's term) King 26 which he used on all those recordings. I used one for years and still do, along with a Sear Helleberg, and a Zottola 1.25A Frank made for me for which he matched the King rim inside chamfer. I used it to "clean up" the sound of Martin and give it a little more "edge" on the circus band. I used the 26 on the Gary Lawwrence Sizzling Syncopators record (which you can find on ebay amazingly) and was very pleased with the sound; so were the reviewers. Also Lew Waldeck used a King 26 with his Conn Donatelli BBb for years with the City Ballet in NYC and sounded great.
Terry Warburton made me an improved King 26 ( he altered the entrance to the throat with a more gradual taper) I still use today. It has a Bach-style shank instead of the Morse taper King used. Fits more horns, etc. Unfortunately this was made on the old equipment in Terry's old place that was destroyed in the fire. I don't think Terry would have any record of the CNC settings for it today. He certainly could replicate it exactly again; the guy's amazing.
As I used to do a lot of jobs that required endurance (continuous dance band gigs in NYC, circus, and a lot of band concerts, etc.) I found the King 26 enabled me to play all day pretty comfortably on either my 1240 (in those days) or my King sousaphone.
I've often felt that the King 26, along with the original Conn 2 (John Fletcher & Harvey Phillips made a lot of good music with that once common mouthpiece) would be well-worth reviving. I use a Conn 2 with my new Jin Bao EEb - with a tip of the hat to the late Fletch. It works.
Reality check - at the time the King 26 went out of production (for reasons unknown) its list price was $14.00!!
Mark Heter
Mark Heter
Mark Heter
1926 Martin Handcraft 3v upright bell front action ; 1933 Martin Handcraft 3v bellfront; King 2341 (old style); King top-action 3v; Bach (King) fiberglass sousaphone.
I recently acquired an old King 2341 and I'm trying out a variety of mouthpieces. Right now I'm using a Conn18, which seems to work pretty well, all around.
Uncle Markie wrote:Reality check - at the time the King 26 went out of production (for reasons unknown) its list price was $14.00!!
King, or rather UMI, the successor to King Musical Instruments, successor to the H. N. White Co., "modernized" to Bach taper and was assimilated by the Cyborg with all non-Bach derived mouthpieces being discontinued.
