This all started when I bought a used Parker/LaDuke mouthpiece off TubeNet. Having read some reviews, I was intrigued, and it was in my “sweet spot” of around a 5 rim size. I tried it out before a rehearsal and several friends whose ears I respect preferred it to my Giddings Kadja. Their comments were that the Parker had a more vibrant and interesting sound and projected better. The Parker also had dramatically better intonation. The only downside was losing a little volume below the bass staff. The Kadja is a cannon below low F.

After several weeks with the Parker I was pretty much thoroughly hooked. I am a big fan of the feel of stainless steel rims so I emailed Dave Houser (who makes the mouthpieces for Parker) and asked if any of the other regular depth Parker 5G rims had the same contour. He replied that the 5G 50M rim had the same contour, so I ordered a Parker 5G 50 mouthpiece to try on my large bore tenor. Listeners could not pick a clear winner between it and the Ferguson 2 I had been using but the feel of the stainless rim, which felt exactly the same as my euphonium mouthpiece won out for me.

I got curious about other options so I asked Dave Houser for the thread and junction measurements and then emailed Doug Elliott. Doug said the thread matched his XT cups and the junction was very close but not exact. This led to trying an Elliott C+ cup and D2 shank with the Parker 5G 50M rim for small bore tenor. You can barely feel that the Elliott cup is a tiny bit larger at the junction but I could not notice any issues when playing. As promised by Doug, the C+ cup works a trick for small bore. In addition, he sent a long a D Alto shank to try with the C+ cup on my alto. Having some additional chop room with a shallower cup than my Wick 10CS seems to be another winner.

There was one last world to attempt to conquer, my British baritone. The Parker rim with an Elliott F cup and F3 shank gives a lovely sound and really improved the intonation. It has made the baritone a lot more fun to play.

I never thought I had much of a problem switching rim sizes but playing everything with the same rim works, at least for me, every bit as well as Doug Elliott claims. Covid induced free time fueled by the money I haven’t been spending on gas and concert tickets has yielded at least this benefit.

One last note. While the Parker 5G rims work on the Elliot XT cups, the Elliot XT rims don’t work on the Parker cups. The Elliott rims are a bit deeper and have a couple additional threads. This leaves a gap between the cup and rim when it is screwed on tight.