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Thread: Mouthpiece Recommendations for trombone doubling

  1. #1

    Mouthpiece Recommendations for trombone doubling

    Hello - long time reader of the forums, but a first time poster.

    I play euphonium in a military band as a reservist, and have been tasked with playing a lot more trombone lately. My current euphonium set up is a Deg BB1 on a Yamaha 641 (my horn) or 642 Neo (government-owned). I had decent luck with a Wick Heritage 4AL when I was playing more trombone in the past, but at the time I was using that same Wick, an SM4, or SM4U on euphonium. My current trombone I have on loan is a Conn 88H, and my work is a mix of concert band and brass quintet.

    In a perfect world, I would like to find something that feels similar to the BB1 but with a shallower cup more suitable for trombone. Decent options off the top of my head:
    - Bach 5G
    - Wick 5BL
    - Schilke 51

    Other thoughts? In a perfect world I would lean towards getting a Doug Elliott configuration with the same rim and different cups/shanks for each instrument, but that may be a bit cost prohibitive.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Anderson, Indiana
    Posts
    270
    I've read that Dennis Wick developed the 4AL to get the sound he wanted from the Conn 8H and 88H trombones. Although I use a 4AL on euphonium, it doesn't work for me on trombone. (But then I'm light-years away from the musician that Mr. Wick is.)
    When I recently switched from euphonium to trombone in a community band, I wanted to better match my sound to that of the principal trombone player who was using a Wick 6BL. I tried the Bach 5G, the Schilke 51 and several other mouthpieces. I finally settled on the Remington mouthpiece that came with my Elkhart Conn 88H. ("The Chief" knew what he was doing.) Good luck in your search.

  3. I had a lot of success with the Giddings Boreas:

    https://www.gwmouthpieces.com/produc...one-mouthpiece

    It’s similar to the feel of a 5G. There are also a ton of other Giddings offerings in or close to that size. They are a bit on the expensive side, but I find the stainless steel to respond quicker and helped me make a more characteristic trombone sound more easily than a brass mouthpiece. Nothing wrong with a good old Bach 5G either!

  4. #4
    An important key to trombone/Euph doubling that Martin touches on is that it’s essential to have a clear concept of a distinct characteristic sound for each instrument. Without this distinction, I found my trombone sound was “euphonium on a stick”. There are others I’ve heard whose euphonium sound is very tromboney.

    Mouthpiece makes a difference, but the sound concept makes more.

    Don Winston

  5. Currently I play a 51D on euph and a Greg Black 4G-5G M (for medium weight) on trombone. Although...I can’t find a super great reason for playing different mouthpieces. Because of what Don said, if you have a very strong concept on each horn, that’s half the battle.

  6. Quote Originally Posted by djwpe View Post
    Euphonium on a stick
    This is hilarious, and unfortunately a pretty accurate description of my trombone sound!

    P.S. upvote on Hiram’s Greg Black suggestion. Those are great Mouthpieces.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
    Posts
    523
    Quote Originally Posted by Ajeasley View Post
    Hello - long time reader of the forums, but a first time poster.

    I play euphonium in a military band as a reservist, and have been tasked with playing a lot more trombone lately. My current euphonium set up is a Deg BB1 on a Yamaha 641 (my horn) or 642 Neo (government-owned).
    I use the BB1 on euphonium (Mack Brass, which is a clone of the Yamaha 641/642), and a Bach 6.5AL on my Bach 36B trombone. The BB1 rim may be closer to the Schilke 51 rim (I've read that the BB1 is a tweaked 51D), but I have found that switching between the BB1 and 6.5 AL is pretty easy.
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
    See my avatar: Jazz (the black cockapoo; RIP) and Delilah (the cavapoo) keep me company while practicing

  8. #8
    Thanks for the feedback everyone! I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment of compartmentalized concepts for euph and trombone - when I was playing both on a fairly regular basis, I like to think that I was pretty good with this delineation. I was able to get a hold of a Schilke 51, so we'll start there.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    New Jersey, U.S.A.
    Posts
    155
    I am also a trombone/euphonium doubler, and play bass and alto trombone as well, so finding the 'right' mouthpiece was important. I really liked the trombone sound I was getting from my Hammond 11ML, so I went with that. I actually hadn't played baritone/euphonium since H.S., but I finally decided to get back into it about a month ago. I found that getting a good "euphonium" sound was definitely helped by going up a bit on the cup size. I picked up a Hammond 11L, and it seemed to work a lot better.

    Of course, it also depends on the Euphonium, as if you are like me, and tend to look for used instruments in need of some love, med/euro shanks are often encountered.

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