Posted by Joe S. on July 25, 2000 at 19:29:31:
In Reply to: What do you want out of a music store??? posted by Todd on July 25, 2000 at 17:59:00:
I stock the 69C4 Schilke tuba mouthpieces in my store, since they are virtually identical to the highly popular classic Mirafone C4, and I can offer them at a fraction of the Miraphone price (AT) $55. (discount net to customer) I order most of the 69C4's standard, and with some I pay extra and order them with a custom larger throat to my specs, and pass the slightly higher cost on to the customer without any extra profit. I consider the 69C4 to be a fantastic tuba mouthpiece for dinky F tubas like the small Yamaha, and my special order larger throat model works superbly on larger F tubas, such as B&S/PT/VMI Meinl Weston/Melton, and also EEb tubas.
I, as a Schilke dealer, find it difficult to get motivated to order too many of the other Schilke tuba mouthpieces, as none of the others are particularly popular (with no offense intended to those who use the 66, 67, etc.) Their other "special custom" series tuba mouthpieces remain fairly unknown in the world of tuba players, and the pricing plan on those doesn't offer much of a profit motive. Frankly since Scott left, I wonder if much of any of that "custom" stuff is available ("Arnold Jacobs" models, et al). If they are, I would be glad to have one drop shipped to someone - on a "no-return-and-if-you-don't-like-it-stick-it-on-ebay" basis - at a very modest mark-up.
Of course I offer other brands, but your questions seem to be oriented towards Schilke specifically.