Mouthpiece Library for Private Teaching

[ATXEuph]

Hey guys!

I've taught euphonium lessons privately in Austin, TX for the last 7 years and currently have 75 private euph students. Around Christmas I always have a bunch of parents ask me what a good mouthpiece upgrade would be for their kid. Pretty much all of the schools I teach in start their beginners out on the Schilke 51D (probably a topic for another post), and students usually want to try something new once they get to high school. I'm not a big equipment guy, so I have very little advice to give on the subject apart from "try before you buy". Over the next few years I would like to acquire a range of mouthpieces in different sizes and models so that my students can do just that. What are the top mouthpieces that I should own as a predominately high school lesson teacher? (Most of my students play on compensating Yamahas or Willsons)

[MichaelSchott]

The 51D is a great mouthpiece for high school players. If they have a lot of talent they want to consider a mouthpiece with a larger bore. For example the Denis Wick 4 or 4AL. The BB1 mouthpiece which can be hard to find is based on the 51D with modifications suggested by Brian Bowman. This is but a small sampling of available mouthpieces.

[TheJH]

Wick 5AL, 4AL (and 4,5A(B)L I guess), and comparable Yamaha, Schilke and Bach variants.
The 5 size is a good transitioning size between the smaller (6 size) and larger (4 and up size) mouthpieces. They give more room to work with but aren't complete air hogs like a lot of 4 sizes, especially the Wick 4AL (personally speaking). They're a good middle ground.

[enhite]

I've found that mouthpieces can be instrument specific. For example, a Schilke 51D is a great match for my Besson New Standard but works less well in an Adams E2. A Wick 4AL works best for me in that instrument. And, for me, neither of these would be appropriate for a Conn 24i (or similar instrument), which has a brighter "American baritone" sound. (I last used a Bach 5G for this instrument.) You must be a caring teacher to want to create a library of test mouthpieces.