Posted by What works for you.. on August 16, 2003 at 09:14:45:
In Reply to: 24AW > helleberg? posted by Wondering.... on August 15, 2003 at 19:10:21:
You should play the mouthpiece that works best for you, rather than rely on others recommendations.
Which Helleberg were you playing? Conn Regular, Conn 7B, Shilke H, Schilke 66, Schilke H-II, Arnold Jacobs, Floyd Cooley, Canadian Brass? You get the idea: there are many Helleberg variants.
If you were playing a regular Conn Helleberg, and found you sound better on a 24AW, perhaps the smaller rim diameter made a difference? The 24AW is (for a Bach) a deep cup, fairly close to the Helleberg 'funnel' approach, but with a big cushion rim instead of the sharp Helleberg rim. If you determine smaller rim diameter is source of improvement, but don't want the larger rim, you have several options: Conn Helleberg 7B and Schilke Hellebeg II (similar to the 7B) are among the most popular.
On the Conn 20K, for many years the standard issue mouthpiece was a Conn 2. That mouthpiece looks like a funnel (the Schilke 66 can be had that way too) and is what I would call a Helleberg hybrid: according to UMI it has the same cup as the Helleberg 7B, but with a large cushion rim.
Over the years, I have played both 24AW and Conn 2 on Conn 20Ks, and found that I liked the Conn 2 better. It felt more open, and spoke more easily for me. Now, I play a Schilke Helleberg II on both BBb and F tubas, and a Conn 2 with my 20K - I like having the cushion rim when I'm standing around (as at TubaChristmas) or marching with a sousaphone.
Of course, your mileage may vary.....