Originally Posted by
bbocaner
Be careful with the nomenclature "European" with regards to Tuba mouthpieces, as that generally refers to a shank that is slightly LARGER than standard, meant for certain big German tubas and for players who want to adjust the receiver gap by using a larger mouthpiece shank that doesn't go as far in to a standard receiver.
Yes, but I'm not sure that "European" generally refers to the larger european shank (which seems, for example, to be the standard Perantucci shank). "European shank" is genuinely ambiguous. The older meaning pertains to a shank very close in size to the current bass trombone (large trombone) shank such as found in the Wick trombone 'L' models. This was also used on old American instruments, but I have no idea of when the changeover to what we now think of as the "standard American shank" took place.
The 1924 Buescher tuba I just acquired has the "small European" size receiver and finding a mouthpiece by which it plays overall in tune is proving to be challenging. Sticking my Schilke 66 or TU-17 in it produces a great tone, but plays about 30 cents flat. A bass trombone mouthpiece fits in it perfectly well, but my Wick 3AL and even 2NAL leave some notes a few cents flat in the middle of the staff. They also make it sound like (surprise) a bass trombone rather than a tuba. This is not a really small tuba, by the way. The bell is 17", the horn is about 33" tall, and the bore leaving the third valve is about .750".
I have (currently) four mouthpieces ordered "on trial" (!!). A Wick 3 and a Wick 5 are said to be "on the boat" (apparently there aren't any of these in the US at this time). In the interim, I also have a Schilke 60 (which I absolutely loved for bass trombone) and a Bach 30CB on the way. One of these (I'm hoping for the Schilke or the Bach) should work. I've done extensive leak tests on the horn and even mic'd the cylinders and pistons. It does not have any leaks (other than some very minor leakage through the valves which I believe is not significant). But I understand that these old Eb instruments can be very sensitive to mouthpiece choice.
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)