I have played mouthpieces on the larger side for a pretty long time. In college I spent 4 years on a Wick SM3.5. When I picked the instrument up again 6 years ago I stayed with the SM3.5 for a year. Then I spent a couple years going back and forth between a 3AL and an SM3U, before spending most of the last 3 to 4 years playing the 3AL. In those days I was playing daily and in pretty good shape.
I got a Doug Elliott mouthpiece last Fall with a 105 rim, roughly the size of a 3AL as far as I understand. For various reasons, I only play a few times a month these days, and I have found that I wasn't very happy with several aspects of my playing (mostly interval accuracy/flexibility, endurance, intonation). Obviously the biggest problem is reduced time on the horn. But I decided to buy a plastic Kelly 51D just to kind of dip my toes into a smaller mouthpiece to see what differences I noticed and to see if going small was something I was interested in. It could all be in my head, but in general it seems that I can play with much less effort on the small mouthpiece and I don't seem to get as tired. I always felt that my low range suffered on smaller pieces, but with practice I seem to have a pretty functional range from low F up to a high C (above high B-flat), which for the playing I do now is sufficient. It does seem to have a smaller sound than then DE105 setup.
My plan is to keep playing on the Kelly 51D and try to really focus on making the best sound I can on the small piece for now. Then I want to ultimately size up a bit, but not up to what I had been on. I'm thinking to a DE102 rim. Can anyone share any of their experiences on going larger to smaller mouthpieces? Not really looking to change my mind, just curious to know what others have experienced.
Andrew