Mouthpiece Advice

[Steef]

Since a couple of weeks I moved from the trumpet to the sousaphone.
At the moment I am using a Denis Wick 3SL. This mouthpiece I get from the one in bought the sousaphone.

I am thinking that this mouthpiece is too big for me for starting to play the instrument.
Should I start on a Conn Helleberg 7B or could you please advice me which mouthpiece should be better?

[opus37]

The Wick 3SL is a shallow small mouthpiece in the spectrum of tuba/sousa mouthpieces. Sousaphones usually do a little better with a shallow mouthpiece so the Wick is fine there. The 3 is a rather small mouthpiece for tuba and sousaphone. If you're playing a BBb it is really small. I suspect you are just not used to playing a tuba. Practice and play the mouthpiece you have for 6 months diligently and then ask your teacher for advice. Likely you'll be getting a bigger mouthpiece.

[Steef]

I am playing a BBb, so you said the Wick 3SL is too small on the sousaphone?

[opus37]

Most BBb Sousaphone players use a much larger mouthpiece than a 3SL. That being said, everything is relative. I'm saying if you think this mouthpiece is too big and you have only played sousaphone for a few weeks, you likely need more experience on the sousa before changing mouthpieces. When you get that experience, you will likely go bigger, not smaller.

[Donn]

It's early to say. That could be a fine mouthpiece for your purposes, or not. One thing I think we can safely say, it's a relatively unusual mouthpiece. If it's easy to get an inexpensive clone of one of the more common mouthpiece models, like that 7B, the slightly larger Helleberg 120S, Bach 18, etc. ... I'd do it.

[Heavy_Metal]

From the Vincent Bach Mouthpiece Manual:

"The Cup: Diameter

We recommend that all brass instrumentalists—professional artists, beginners or advanced students; symphony,
concert or jazz band—use as large a cup diameter as they can endure and a fairly deep cup. A larger mouthpiece with a fairly deep cup offers the advantages of a natural, compact, and uniform high, middle and low register, improved lip control, greater flexibility, and avoidance of missed tones. A larger-sized mouthpiece will also offer greater comfort, making it possible to secure a good tone quality even when the lips are swollen from too much playing.

Splitting tones may be an indication that the mouthpiece is too small or perhaps too shallow. A small cup diameter does not permit the lips to vibrate sufficiently, preventing the player from producing a rich, full tone. The lack of tone volume tempts a player to exert more lip pressure and to force more air through the instrument than the small mouthpiece is capable of handling, creating a shrill tone."

This is the best discussion of cup sizes I've seen. My own experience bears it out. YMMV.