[Trombone-l] Mouthpiece advice

[Daniel Pliskin]

I get pretty good tone with a bored-out Bach 3 mouthpiece on a 0.500"-bore trombone, but I aspire to play quietly in small groups.  If I ever get into a situation where I need blare, I suppose I'll switch to a smaller mouthpiece.  Perhaps I get away with such a large mouthpiece because I'm such an old windbag, oops, I mean I've got great lungs.  And perhaps I can get away with such a large mouthpiece because I've got lips that have been pumped up by 35 years of playing oboe and English horn.  

But I'm certainly glad we haven't gotten into that old fable, "large lips, large mouthpiece/small lips, small mouthpiece".  That philosophy would have put Satchmo on tuba and JJ on piccolo trumpet.  


I've owned several Bach 7C mouthpieces and have never found them to be worth a damn.  I've also never liked a Bach 6 1/2 AL (small-shank).  I gave my Bach 5GS to a friend.  It was too bright for me.  But Kelly plastic 5Gs and 6 1/2ALs are both pretty good.  

Getzen 6C (small-shank) and Bach 5 (small-shank) are great mouthpieces.  Conn 3 is a pretty good mouthpiece as are E-Z-Tones.  There are loads of great mouthpieces, in all sizes, out there.  There are also lots of duds.  And some of the duds are the same make and model as some of the great mouthpieces.  

And while playing on a really wrong mouthpiece can make it really hard to get the tone you're after, I don't think that changing mouthpieces is such a major hurdle, other than perhaps financially.  If you try a few dozen mouthpieces and like one, it may be a just what you need to get that tone you're after.  It might also probe to be a letdown, after a few days, but only time can tell.  I probably own about 30 mouthpieces, many of which I got with used trombone I bought.  I bought others used.  I have no problem switching between 3s, 4s and 5s.  It's all a function of how warmed up I am on trombone.  

But also, don't the kids try each other's mouthpieces?  Don't they go down to the local music store and try mouthpieces?  Why can't they play a mouthpiece they fell in love with, rather than playing what a teacher told them to play?   

DanP
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