Yet another upgrading thread

[Bearitone]

I currently play on a 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece and am looking to upgrade to a mouthpiece that will make my upper register have a better tone. The 6 1/2 AL doesn't really produce the beautiful sound I am wanting for anything higher than a high G, and I usually have to play high A's or higher. But today I received a piece that requires me to play a B flat below the staff so I can't compensate low range for high range. (if that's possible)

[Asianeuph]

The first mouthpiece I got after my 6 1/2 AL , was a Schilke 51D. What horn are you playing on?

[DaveBj]

My Jinbao came with a 6.5AL clone, which was cool, because I'd been playing with that mouthpiece ever since college. Then I got a Wick 4ABL and played with that for a while. Then I had been reading about the Wick 4ABL Heritage, got one of those, and played it for about a year, until a couple months ago. Eventually I didn't like my high register, went back to the regular 4ABL, and had much better results up high. This month was my first lesson back on the 4ABL, and my teacher said I was sounding the best I had ever sounded.

That said, mouthpieces are a very personal thing. Anyone else's mileage may vary.

[ghmerrill]

Warning: I am not a euphonium player (ignore the current avatar -- that's me using the euph to play Tuba 1 parts at Tuba Christmas last year). However ...

A couple of days ago I finally got the euph out after several months and started playing it again. Just as an exercise, I've been going through the string bass cues in "Russian Christmas Music", which is a kind of walking bass line that goes down to the F an octave below the staff. But then I started in on the Euphonium 1 parts in the Tuba Christmas music -- which seem to top out at about that G you're talking about. After not playing the horn for so long, the G isn't there for me right now, but the F is. And I know that the G and above will come with practice. This was all on my Doug Elliott mouthpiece which I would characterize as very "3AL-like", but just a smidge smaller.

I have always found the 3AL to be very comfortable and manageable FOR ME. But I'm not recommending that here. I think that if I played euph full time (and not as a tenor tuba or bass trombone), and I didn't have my DE mouthpiece, then I'd likely end up with the 4AL or something very much like it. It does seem that quite a few very good amateur and professional players use that mouthpiece or something like it. A lot of amateur players cling to the idea that they need/want a relatively small mouthpiece in order to work well and easily in the high register. Personally, I think that often amounts to going with a crutch instead of physical therapy that might require more effort. But again, mouthpieces are a very personal thing.

[Bearitone]

I play on a school owned Yamaha 321. (I am a junior in high school.)
I do plan on going to try out mouthpieces soon and I think I'll add the Wick 4ABL to the list of mouthpieces I'll try.
I also want to try the Schlike 51D since it seems to be quite popular, and maybe the SM4U and SM4X?

[daruby]

Since you play a Yamaha 321 and it is a tenor shank horn, your choice of contemporary mouthpieces for euphonium is somewhat limited. The Schilke 51D is available in smaller shank, but the Wick 4ABL and SM4U/X are not. The Wick 4AY is a popular choice for the Yamaha 321, but BEWARE, it is much larger than a Bach 6 1/2AL. The 51D has a slightly larger rim size than a 6.5AL but a much deeper cup and more open backbore. A Bach 5G is another choice that is in between the 6.5AL and 51D.

[Asianeuph]

I think BB1 is in small shank to. I really enjoy the BB1 over my 51D

[Bearitone]

Since you play a Yamaha 321 and it is a tenor shank horn, your choice of contemporary mouthpieces for euphonium is somewhat limited. The Schilke 51D is available in smaller shank, but the Wick 4ABL and SM4U/X are not. The Wick 4AY is a popular choice for the Yamaha 321, but BEWARE, it is much larger than a Bach 6 1/2AL. The 51D has a slightly larger rim size than a 6.5AL but a much deeper cup and more open backbore. A Bach 5G is another choice that is in between the 6.5AL and 51D.

Well, that's disappointing. I don't think I should make an enormous change, so I guess I'll try the 51D and hope for the best.

Thank you, everyone.

[Pat]

Practice has a better chance of improving your high note tone than a mp switch. I've fallen into the hardware trap many times, when the real answer was to work on my long tones!

[tonewheeler]

Since you play a Yamaha 321 and it is a tenor shank horn, your choice of contemporary mouthpieces for euphonium is somewhat limited. The Schilke 51D is available in smaller shank, but the Wick 4ABL and SM4U/X are not. The Wick 4AY is a popular choice for the Yamaha 321, but BEWARE, it is much larger than a Bach 6 1/2AL. The 51D has a slightly larger rim size than a 6.5AL but a much deeper cup and more open backbore. A Bach 5G is another choice that is in between the 6.5AL and 51D.

The Wick 4AY was the first mp I obtained for my old Yam 321. I'd played on a Bach 6 1/2 all through highschool and college. The Wick is a bigger mp, but IMO, it totally opened up my sound on the 321.

[DaveBj]

The Wick 4AY was the first mp I obtained for my old Yam 321. I'd played on a Bach 6 1/2 all through highschool and college. The Wick is a bigger mp, but IMO, it totally opened up my sound on the 321.

Filed for future reference. I've got a JBEP-1111 coming, which is a small-bore instrument, and I am going to want a larger mp than the 6.5AL clone that it will probably come with.

[Bearitone]

4 Week Review:
I decided to go with the Schilke 51D, and it's amazing how much it opened up my sound and improved the way I sound.
At first I was barely able to play the high G, but after about 2 weeks my full range recovered.
However it did made me extremely flat to the point where most notes registered about half a step flat. I am still working on this, but it seems to not be too bad of a problem if I do a good, long warm up before playing.

Thanks for the help!