If I think about the money I have spent on the purchase of mouthpieces since I started playing back in 1965, I realize that with that amount I could easily buy a new mid-range instrument. For some years now, I have been using exclusively K&G mouthpieces, with which I find myself beautifully: I have about fifteen, distributed among the 5 instruments in my possession (2 euph, French tuba, trombone and baritone), which vary between cup size, depth, shank diameter and manufacturer updates. Some of them have been modified in the external diameter of the stem to be able to adapt them to the receivers (New Standard with receiver for medium stem and French tuba for GAP and intonation). I remember that at the beginning of my adventure in playing the euphonium (self-taught, after 9 years of flicorno contralto - tenor horn in the Anglo-Saxon nomenclature), I bought a Bach 7C mouthpiece in a shop to match the instrument that made me available the band, a real dog, with a really horrible sound and intonation, despite which I managed to get a lot of satisfactions, such as the victory in some competitions at local and national level with the band. Later I bought a proprietary euphonium and from there began the collection of mouthpieces to search for the holy grail, blaming it for my obvious musical gaps. In short, I moved from 7C to 61/2 AL, then to a pair of Courtois mouthpieces supplied with the instrument, the various Shilke, Denis Week, SM, Alliance and finally K&G. Over the years I have always increased the size of the rim, going from the initial 24.75mm of the 7C, to the current 26.7mm of the K&G 3D. I tried to go further with the K&G mouthpieces for bass trombone, with the 28.4 of the 0D, but this rim size proved excessive. I can be able to play the euphonium with the K&G 1D (27.7 mm), in some contexts that require a dark sound and a low register (even if the high one doesn't suffer anyway), but I have found the optimum with the 3D + ( 26.7mm), which I use on the 2 Bessons and the French tuba. On baritone and trombone I play with the K&G 4 and T4C, 26.2mm which is an unusually large size when compared to what most baritone and trombone players use but I, with smaller cup diameter mouthpieces, just can't to play.
Last edited by franz; 07-25-2022 at 05:00 AM.
2007 Besson Prestige 2052, 3D+ K&G mouthpiece; JP373 baritone, 4B modified K&G mouthpiece; Bach 42GO trombone, T4C K&G mouthpiece; 1973 Besson New Standard 3 compensated valves, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece; Wessex French C tuba, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece.