Mouthpiece shank measurements

[bort]

Ok, I know this is posted somewhere, but I can never find it.

Can someone remind me of the common measurements for a standard tuba mouthpiece shank?

I guess the most important measurement is the diameter at the tip of the shank. Anything else relevant could be helpful as well.

Thanks!

[Donn]

Probably Matt Walters' Tuba mouthpiece shank sizes, a description.

That's kind of our standard reference. He sure knows more about this subject than I do, and my measuring skills are slim, but I measure classic American mouthpieces from Conn and Schilke at what he calls the "European" .530 diameter. There are tubas that take a small shank, where the "standard" small shank is a little big, so we may guess that there are smaller smalls. Etc. So there's some variation. Doug Elliott probably is the expert at making shanks that fit various tubas.

[bort]

Thanks Donn, that's what I was missing.

[Doug Elliott]

Here are the numbers I have always used, which don't agree entirely with Matt's or Bloke's.

.490 British small ( a little smaller than bass trb)
.498 (bass trombone)
.520 American (from the Bach catalog)
.530 Medium or Miraphone (Matt calls this European)
.540 European (what old PT mouthpieces used to be)
.550 Hirsbrunner
.560 some old MW's
.570 Alex (smaller of the big ones)
.590 Alex (larger of the big ones)

Most of those are Morse taper .050 per inch but old European instruments sometimes had .040 taper and Alex's are usually around .030 or .020

I can make any of these sizes and tapers, and many more for other instruments.
I think the fit is important to the way the instrument plays.

And then there's insertion depth which is obviously related, but actually a different subject. All of the above numbers are based on a 1" insertion depth. Not significantly more than an inch, because many receivers change taper beyond that point.

[bort]

Thank you, Doug!

I'm about to order another Thein mouthpiece, and was asked about shank size. My Alexander was retrofit with a standard receiver... And Thein usually just makes Euro shanks. They don't make very many mouthpieces to begin with, so...

[Donn]

Thein usually just makes Euro shanks.

As in PT Euro?

[bort]

Have to measure, but 99% sure it's .530

[cjk]

Have to measure, but 99% sure it's .530

If you don't already have a pair of digital calipers, I'd suggest you pick up a pair. Mine have been extraordinary useful far beyond measuring tuba stuff.

[Doug Elliott]

"Standard receiver" ...which standard?
"Euro receiver" ... which Euro receiver?
"PT Euro" ...which PT Euro?

Tubas are so much fun to work with.
It's all a guessing game.

[bort]

Stock measurements provided by Thein:

Thin side: 0.525 inch
Thick side:0.613 inch
Length: 1.818 inch

So basically, between American and European.