[Trombone-l] Mouthopieces

[Ray Horton]

If you go to Doug Elliott for a mouthpiece, he always asks you something 
like "What are you trying to accomplish?"


It seemed to me George has it accomplished already, but just wants to 
see if he is missing something everybody else is getting, talking about 
the 61/2 AL. 


I'll mention that there is often a "new mouthpiece syndrome" - a new 
mouthpiece feels great, sounds great, the world is brighter... for a few 
days.  Then everything is the same again, and your having the same 
problems you had before on your new (often bigger) mouthpiece.  One has 
to concentrate on the positive improvement to make it last, if, indeed, 
the mouthpiece is really a better choice. 


Now that Jeff mentioned the $40 price - I am big on the $20 Faxx 
mouthpieces for some of my students.  Here is what Hornguys.com says 
about Faxx:


-----------
These mouthpieces are faithful copies of Mt. Vernon Bachs, made by the 
maker of Superslick, the recently departed Chuck Slinkard. I found this 
out when I noticed the 5G size in his catalog, and asked about these 
"student" mouthpieces. He was adamant that these are made on a CNC 
machine he owns and are based on Mt. Vernon Bach mouthpieces he received 
when he helped to move the Bach factory to its current location. With 
very consistent in machining and plating, they are a great deal. Many 
players like these Faxx mouthpieces better than the Bach mouthpieces 
they were using before. I don't know why they cost so little, except 
that they are made in large volume for several manufacturers. Several 
people have asked me if Faxx mouthpieces come in other sizes than those 
listed below. They don't. For other sizes not listed below, like 11C, 
4G, just order the Bach 
<http://www.hornguys.com/tbnmps.htm#Bach%20Trombone%20Mouthpieces> model 
listed above. Faxx mouthpieces include a black plastic pouch. All sizes 
cost $20. Part number FAXXTB.* *
-----------


Note that the Faxx sizes (small shank 12C, 7C, 61/2AL; large shank 6 
1/2AL, 5G, 1 1/2G) - include all the ones we have been discussing except 
the small shank 5G.


I learned of the inconsistency of Bach sizes while in high school - I 
once had three 2Gs from different years at one time to compare and they  
were very different from each other.  The oldest, probably from the mid 
to late 50s, was huge. 


The 6 1/2AL and the other sizes go back farther than Glenn Dodson, but I 
can't find any pamphlets or Internet sources on that now.  Some very 
interesting players were behind the design of these mouthpieces.  Maybe 
somebody here has that info.



RBH



---------------

Jeff Albert wrote:
> On Dec 3, 2007 6:07 PM, Daniel Pliskin <daniel_pliskin at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> I think the more interesting question is how can it be that you don't know the answer to your question?  How can it be that you, a serious adult trombonist, haven't tried a bunch of mouthpieces, just for kicks?  How knows?  You might find that you totally LOVE another mouthpiece and all you have to do is try a few.
>>
>> DanP
>>     
>
>
> or , to play devil's advocate, you could be perfectly happy with this
> one, and if you start messing around, you could completely fry your
> brain on the possibilities.
>
> I'm all for changing gear when I feel the need.  My new Shires bass
> just arrived today, but I ordered it because I felt I could improve
> upon what I had before, not just because I was curious.  Granted I'd
> be much more likely to be curious with a $40 mouthpiece than a
> *%*&^$*% dollar bass trombone.  Really that's not a great example, I
> just had to drop a line about the new bass.
>
> jeff
>
>