Thin-rimmed mouthpieces?

[bort]

What are some brass (not stainless) mouthpieces with very thin rims?

I like a lot of things about the Baer MMVI that I'm using now, except that:
1) the rim is wider than I prefer
2) it's stainless steel

Any thoughts?

[Donn]

How thin?

Is shape part of the question?

The chart doesn't have this dimension for everything, but Denis Wick 4L wins at 6.89mm, followed by PT88 at 7mm, Conn 120S Helleberg at 7.3mm, then a bunch slightly wider.

[doublebuzzing]

Helleberg variants? Jacobs Heritage, Finn 3H are two.

[Doug Elliott]

My Narrow tuba rims are .26" or 6.6mm wide.
Lots of players have faces that aren't big enough for standard width rims.

[doublebuzzing]

Yes, Doug has rims that are narrow with a flat spot on top that are real nice. That along with one of his R cups is very much like a Helleberg.

[bort]

Great, thanks guys!

Probably looking at something like 7mm or a little less. I really like a lot of things about the Conn Geib, but the throat is just too narrow for me.

Doug, I'll have to check out your Website!

[tubacorbin]

I'm a fan of the Dillon Olka CB-2. It has a fairly narrow rim and is an all around great piece.

[Doug Elliott]

Yes, Doug has rims that are narrow with a flat spot on top that are real nice. That along with one of his R cups is very much like a Helleberg.

I also have narrow rims that don't have the flat spot on top. I used to play on a flat rim like that myself but I switched to my regular narrow which is a lot more comfortable, for me.

[cjk]

Old Marzan mouthpieces have quite narrow rims. The Sellmansberger/Houser #2 rim is similarly narrow.

[Art Hovey]

Geib.

[vespa50sp]

How thin?

Is shape part of the question?

The chart doesn't have this dimension for everything, but Denis Wick 4L wins at 6.89mm, followed by PT88 at 7mm, Conn 120S Helleberg at 7.3mm, then a bunch slightly wider.

I've used a DW 4, Bach 24 AW and Conn 120 clone in my Eb rotary. I've been settling toward the using the Conn the most, but it's because of the width, depth of the cup and the throat more than the rim. Given that the 24AW has a comfy fat rim. I understand that is why British Brass players like it.

[bort]

Someone please sell Brett a GOOD/USED (two piece style...whatever) version of my Symphony cup mouthpieces with Symphony back-bore, standard shank, and a large inside diameter (33.2") #2 rim.
(It's all the characteristics for which he's screaming out for...other than the easy-to-scratch rim surface he desires.)

Scuff the rim against a board...or against a shiny shower stall tile, etc for a while...until the surface of the rim feels more like a one-week-old to one-year-old plated brass mouthpiece's rim.

bloke "good 'grip', and all that..."

It's definitely on the list, Joe... and it's not just the rim against the lips feel, I just think that stainless mouthpieces (at least G&W ones) feel just like cold, hard (duh) steel. I do plan to try it again, just maybe not first.

Geib.

Actually, my basis for comparison here is your old Conn Geib. I think it's great, except the throat is smaller than I prefer. The Geib makes a very pretty sound... but for force and power, it's not the right tool on my tuba. The Baer does a much better job of that, but I don't like the rim as much.

Bach 7
Dr. Fred Young

I used a Bach 18 for about the first 10 years that I played the tuba (HS through college, and then a bit more). It is still the most "old hat" mouthpiece for me. Don't like it as much as other options nowadays, but if it was all I had (as was the case in my first 10 years), then I'd be fine with it again. I tried the Young mouthpiece once, and didn't much care for it. Maybe it just takes a lot of getting used to.

I'm a fan of the Dillon Olka CB-2. It has a fairly narrow rim and is an all around great piece.

Thanks! Another very good suggestion, and I forgot about that. I tried one at Dillon Music a few years ago (Matt handed it to me and said "Here, try this..."). I didn't buy it though, because my tuba was still too new to me, and changing both tuba and mouthpiece at the same time seemed like a bad idea.

[doublebuzzing]

I know you don't want Stainless but just FYI the GW Taku, Caver, and Bayamo have a slightly more narrow rim than the Baer MMVI.

[k001k47]

I had a Marzan - no model, I'm guessing their "large", as it was rather deep - mouthpiece a while back that I bought from Lee Stofer at an ITEC Midwest conference. It had a wide inner diameter narrow rim. Never really used it because my face likes wide round rims. Bloke's narrow rims are the narrowest I've played on.

Wish Id've kept that old Marzan on my shelf of stuff I never use so I could sell it to you cheep.

EDIT: read through the thread, and both things I listed were already mentioned. So, uh. . . +1 to both those suggestions, I guess.

[bort]

Cool cool cool... thanks guys.

Long ago, I owned a *tiny* Marzan tuba mouthpiece. Never was sure what it was supposed to be used for, because it was a very small shank and didn't fit in any tuba I ever owned. I bought it cheap, then sold it cheap years later.

I later tracked down a Willson WT-1 mouthpiece, which was shaped like the Marzan mouthpieces... it was kind of an odd bird to me, and I didn't really like it. That was silly, because I bought it from someone in Australia... had it shipped to me... and then I sold it shortly thereafter to someone in Singapore. A well-traveled mouthpiece, for sure!

[cjk]

Cool cool cool... thanks guys.

Long ago, I owned a *tiny* Marzan tuba mouthpiece. Never was sure what it was supposed to be used for, because it was a very small shank and didn't fit in any tuba I ever owned. I bought it cheap, then sold it cheap years later.

I later tracked down a Willson WT-1 mouthpiece, which was shaped like the Marzan mouthpieces... it was kind of an odd bird to me, and I didn't really like it. That was silly, because I bought it from someone in Australia... had it shipped to me... and then I sold it shortly thereafter to someone in Singapore. A well-traveled mouthpiece, for sure!

I figure WIllson made the Marzan mouthpieces due to the identical shape. There was at least a large and a small one. I have two, one large and one small. The large one has a 33mm inner diameter, a narrow but squarish rim, a very Geib-ish cup, and a throat around 8.4 mm. The small one's inner diameter was under 32 mm but the rim shape and width are the same as the larger one, but was still fairly deep with a big throat. I assumed it was for an E-B tuba. I considered the smaller one to be kinda 24AWish with a super narrow rim.

You really need a Sellmansberger Symphony. Get one with a #2 rim in Lexan if you're opposed to the steel. The black lexan is slicker than the clear IIRC.

[rudysan]

My friend and former teacher is playing a Mike Finn 3 on is Willson rotary CC with excellent results (he is an excellent player too...). Just get a Mike Finn 3H for the thinner and flatter rim.

[Worth]

My friend and former teacher is playing a Mike Finn 3 on is Willson rotary CC with excellent results (he is an excellent player too...). Just get a Mike Finn 3H for the thinner and flatter rim.

I've settled on and am very much enjoying my Mike Finn 3H for quite some time now on my W900.