mouthpiece recommendations

[BrassKicksArse]

I'm looking for a new mouthpiece, as I find my pt88 is too much for my playing. I usually play on a miraphone 186, and I feel like it sogs up my sound. I was thinking of maybe a funnel cup piece, like a pt36 or a pt50. The closest music store around here only stocks helleberg, so trying before I buy isn't really an option. What would you all recommend?

[TubaRay]

I believe the Helleberg 120 should work very well with a Miraphone 186. There are certainly other options, most of which cost more money. I also like the Mike Finn 3H. If you want to spend more money, try a Blokepiece.

[Billy M.]

If you have the spare cash, I'd recommend the Blokepiece Symphony. I find it works really well to the point where you're no longer fighting the tight lower end notorious with Miraphone 18X models and the sound comes out clear and easy. Plus the luxury of the mouthpiece is that parts are interchangable. If you don't like the rim there are plenty of different options offered.

Give bloke a call and you'll find he's easy to work with and has really good recommendations.

[TheTravellingTubist]

I would recommend the PT36. I've played on both the 36 and 50 and while I like the 50 for the dark sound it allows, the 36 is superior in regards to flexibility. Personally, I can do a lot more on the 36 than on the 50.

[iiipopes]

What size cup diameter and rim geometry do you prefer? The mouthpieces discussed so far go from 1.26 inches to 1.32 inches. They are very dissimilar in cup geometry and throat size as well.

Owning a 186, I have found that mouthpieces with smaller than a .320 throat tend to make the upper register flat. A mouthpiece that is too deep of a funnel, like a Wick 1L, will cause woofiness to the tone.

Being a moderate 4/4 tuba in both size and tone, it works best with the broad range of mouthpieces that are also moderate: 1.28 to 1.30 cup diameter, moderate depth and moderate throat. Remember that it originally came with a rather bowl cup mouthpiece, although I don't know if it was the C3 or C4 (or whatever the current TU number is) that was originally supplied.

I would suggest, since all tuba players need one anyway as a spare, to start by getting either a Kelly 18 or Kellyberg. Study it and your PT88 with the tuba to see what you like and don't like about them detail by detail: cup diameter, rim profile, depth, throat, tone, etc. Then you can start narrowing your choices from the universe to a reasonable number.

The Miraphone Rose Orchestra is not in vogue anymore, but that is a viable choice. Two players in my community band, one with an older "stovepipe" bell and one with the newer "vanilla" bell both sound good with this mouthpiece.

I prefer an older 2-piece blokepiece Imperial with a .080 spacer and 32.6 modified helleberg rim. It just fits me and my playing best. It may not fit you.

Once you get a better idea of your preferred rim and cup geometry, the other blokepieces, with all their options, provide great choices.

The original "grenade" shaped LM7 from a few years ago had great tone and intonation, but the slots were so tight I was constantly pulling slides, for example, C 4th valve was fine as the tonic of a C major chord, but I had to pull for C as the major third of an Ab chord. With other mouthpieces, it was an easy lip - no pull necessary.

A Schilke Helleberg II was good; I just didn't like the feel of it. A Griego XL was too "trombone-y." A Taku was great, with good tone and intonation; I just liked the Imperial better.

Before I changed the bell from the detachable St. Pete upright, I used a Curry hybrid cup. Great tone and intonation, and it was my main mouthpiece for several years. But it didn't intonate well with the Besson bell.

A bowl cup worked well with the wide flare detachable recording bell I had. I have a Kanstul 18 modified to 1.28 if you would like borrow it - PM me. The Kanstul has a deeper cup, more like a Kelly 18, than a Bach 18.

I don't think a Conn Helleberg 120S can bring out all a 186 has to offer. It sounded dull to me when I played one. YMMV.

I never found a Perantucci that I liked enough to make it a main mouthpiece on a 186. Other tubas and sousaphones, yes, but not a 186.

There are many other potentially good mouthpieces out there that I don't have experience with, so I can't comment on others.

The whole point of this digression is that a safari may be in order. I was lucky. I found out early that my preferred cup diameter and rim geometry is 1.28 with a modified Helleberg rim. So all the mouthpieces I have listed are 1.28 cup diameter, or where options are available, I played the 1.28 variant. Your mileage will vary. Many players prefer something with a 1.30 cup diameter.

There will never be a "perfect" mouthpiece. You may end up with two or three (or more). And just when you think you have found a great mouthpiece, you will have a change of ensemble and/or repertoire, and start all over.