Mouthpiece Query

[Donn]

There are lots of choices in that realm.

... including the Kellyberg, a fairly economical polycarbonate plastic Helleberg. I mention this not just because it's cheap (there are other good cheap mouthpieces like Faxx), it can be a very useful backup mouthpiece, because it's light and durable and you'll forget it's in your coat pocket or whatever, and it's good for extreme weather conditions where the cold of a metal mouthpiece will paralyze your lips. So money well spent even if you don't otherwise learn much from playing it.

Schilke 66 is a really great mouthpiece, though.

[caa62]

For what it's worth:

I have both a PT-88 (Euro shank) and a PT-88s (American shank) that I use in my DBB-641 (YBB-641 clone), which is an American shank. The PT-88s is noticeably better.

[Tubaryan12]

Shank size is not important.

The guys who say that always have the tiniest shanks.
That's NOT what she said

Thanks guys for making my evening.

[Musical_Eagle]

I currently use a Schilke 66 and my tuba instructor says that the mouthpiece to go if I am wanting to go bigger is the PT-50 which I'm right now considering it but I'm not too sure and just currently sticking to my regular mouthpiece. Any suggestions for this? I'm thinking I may want to go bigger but I'm not too sure about it.

Since you list that you play on a front action piston valve horn that has a relatively shorter leadpipe, I would suggest a Helleberg mouthpiece. If you're looking for something a little smaller than that, maybe a Schilke Helleberg II. Scott Laskey also makes mouthpieces of this style, and they can be had in different rim diameters so you can get exactly what fits you best. Whichever direction you choose, my current understanding of how thing work suggests that a funnel style cup (like a Helleberg) should be a good option for your current equipment. There are lots of choices in that realm.

Thank you very much for the advice Mr. Bertolet. I'm personally looking for something slightly bigger and not excessively large (I once played my instructor's custom mouthpiece made by his uncle and that was a fun one to try back then but it was massive).

Here's some other info/ questions that I have for anyone else willing to kindly offer advice for:

1. I'm a pedal split player so often I have to change my mouth's position slightly to get them to easily speak but I've played larger diameter mouthpieces and that seems to help some but I don't want to be too wide to sacrifice range and flexibility.

2. I'm a fairly decent tuba player whose interested in learning about tuba physics and such so what does the short leadpipe mean because I don't know how much that effects it (I'm a high school player not interested in going pro)

3. I also am interested in the funnel vs bowl shape for mouthpieces on how that affects playing since I never was aware of these things until recently.

Thanks for all the help,
Eagle

[Donn]

You may already know this, the leadpipe is the tapered length of tubing that makes the transition between the mouthpiece receiver, and the valve bore. I'm saying valve bore because I have tubas with a tuning slide in front of the valves, and my guess is that we wouldn't consider that part of the leadpipe. Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong on that. A short leadpipe means the valves are closer to the mouthpiece. It was interesting to hear about the mouthpiece ramifications. I suppose rotary valve tubas are as a rule more likely to have a long leadpipe, so this follows what seems to be a common notion that they like a bowl mouthpiece.

Another idea I've heard about the funnel vs. bowl choice is that it may depend in part on embouchure type.