Another mouth piece question/advice...

[ewirz]

I'm the lucky new owner of Tuba Guy's Cerveny 701. Love to horn! So my question....tried my old conn helleberg with fairly good results but needed a little better lower end. Tried a Bach 7 and the horn came alive. Very centered across the range, low end is beautiful. But...I still like the rim of the conn, I don't feel the Bach is as articulate. Any thoughts or suggestions? I like the deeper more bowl of the back with the bite of the conn....
Thanks
Eric

[Mark E. Chachich]

You might want to try a Bach 12, it is slightly smaller than a Bach 7. If I remember correctly this is the mouthpiece that Connie Weldon used.

best of luck,
Mark

[Heavy_Metal]

Also look at the Canadian Brass Arnold Jacobs signature model, and the Miraphone Rose Orchestra. Same inside diameter as the Bach 7 with similar cup shapes, but narrower rims.

[Ulli]

I play my Cerveny 701 with a Giddings&webster Bayamo.
Ulli

[WoWwYnAtoR]

This is precisely why I like the modular 3 piece mouthpieces like the Blokepiece, Parker mouthpieces, and Doug Elliot. Once you know what type of cup(s) and/or rim(s) you would like, all you have to do is look through these three websites.

Once the maker’s cup is decided upon, then pick out the rim. Parker and Sellmansberger (aka Blokepiece) are both made by Houser mouthpieces, are made of stainless steel, and their rims are interchangeable. They also have a nice spec-sheet available through Houser’s website http://www.housermouthpiece.net/tumo1.html that shows overlays of the different rims, cups, and shanks. I’m not sure if it has been updated with the newest one or two products, but a quick call to these extremely helpful and knowledgeable gentlemen would not only clear this up but would also help you start off on the right track.

In my recent mouthpiece hunt, Joe Sellmansberger was very helpful in answering the questions I had about the available options and how to accomplish what I had in mind. I liked his designs and what they did for my sound and playing best and I now have two different ones for different situations. I got one through phone order and that transaction went as smoothly as the one I bought in person at the tuba conference. I’m sure if you got in touch, you would wind up with exactly what you’re looking for.

[Bacchanalia]

I couldn't agree more. There's a strong argument for finding a rim profile that generally "just works" for YOU. Then put a cup size/shape underneath that for the particular task at hand (big ensemble/quintet/whatever). When you add the ability to take it a step even further and change the shank (different outer size for different receivers or inner profile/taper for effects) you end up with exactly what you need for any given situation.

Also agree that Joe is super to deal with, knowledgable, and just a good guy.

I've got two complete MP sets of his and I'm about to order a couple more shanks. Playing some config of Blokepiece everyday and I'm very happy.

My $.02

[ewirz]

Thanks all for the advice. Much appreciated!
Eric

[eutubabone]

The JK 3A has a similar rim to a helleberg. Works great on 5/4 and 4/4 horns, but for me, when I had the 691 6/4 CC it was too big. Try it on your 701, maybe you'll like it. The Bloke Symphony is an awesome mouthpiece also.
It also depends on the size and shape of your oral (and sinus ) cavities. What would be great is if a person did research on matching the mouthpiece shape to the oral cavity shape for optimal resonance and response. This would require many hours, if not years, of research, similar to what the principal horn player of the Cleveland Symphony did with the pictorial embouchure studies book that came out and was popular back in the 60's & 70's in the universities. I can't remember his name, I'm having a temporary" senior moment"... oh, there it is...Phillip Farkas.

[Lee Stofer]

The Mike Finn MF3-H has a nice deep bowl, Helleberg-style rim and plenty of weight, which might be just the thing for the Cerveny.

[Doug Elliott]

I make many different rim sizes and shapes, including the flat Helleberg shape in 4 different sizes. All of them are interchangeable on all 7 of my cups. The deeper ones are very similar to the typical Helleberg cup shape.

[Untersatz]

why not have a good repair-guy with a metal lathe flatten out the rim on the Bach 7 until it resembles a Conn Helleberg rim, have them buff it nicely, and then get it silver plated somewhere?

Why not just ditch the Bach & the Helleberg............and get the last tuba mouthpiece you'll ever need?
I think Joe was being a bit too modest here & at the same time NOT trying to push his wares (mouthpieces) so
I'll do it for him. The Blokepiece Symphony is the best mouthpiece I have ever played on before. And by what the OP
is describing

I like the deeper more bowl of the back with the bite of the Conn

You can put together a Blokepiece Symphony with whatever rim you like & talk about low range........The Blokepiece
Symphony has the best low range of any mouthpiece I've ever owned. So yes, you can have the deep bowl style cup
like the Bach AND the flat (semi-falt) rim of the Helleberg all in one mouthpiece = Blokepiece Symphony
Get with Joe & he can hook you up with a flat or semi-flat rim & I think you'll end up with one of the best playing
mouthpieces available today!

[WoWwYnAtoR]

+1 for the Blokepiece! I love my symphony and orchestral grand!