Posted by Barry Guerrero on September 28, 2001 at 02:16:46:
In Reply to: Eb Tuba Mouthpieces posted by Allan on September 27, 2001 at 21:45:38:
The *correct* m.p. is the one that feels good to you, and helps you to do what you want to do on the horn. That said, what is it that your using the horn for? If your using your horn as more of a bass instrument in bands and/or orchestras, you may just want to use anything that people normally use for CC and BBb tubas - say, anything from a Conn Helleberg 7B, to something really big like a Dennis Wick 1L. If your using your Eb more for soloing; chamber music; euphonium parts, etc. then you'll probably want to use nothing bigger than a Helleberg 7B (for example), or perhaps something even smaller. I also play Eb tuba, and I recently just picked up a Miraphone TU13 "Winston Morris" F/Eb m.p. It's probably just a wee bit wider than a Helleberg 7B, but is also much shallower and has a relatively small throat bore. It really helps me to cut the Vaughan-Williams Concerto down to size, but it's also a bit *bright* sounding for general purpose playing.
If you don't mind shallower cup m.p.'s, a think that a good, all purpose m.p. to use on an Eb tuba is the either the Yamaha "Jim Self" model, or the Marcinkiewicz ETU1 "Jim Self" model. Both m.p.'s are very, very similar. If you're addicted to deep cup m.p.'s, then I might suggest either an old Miraphone C2, or the newer Miraphone copy of the C2, which I believe is now called the TU09. I'm not familiar with your Warburton 30M, but Warburton has a very good reputation. I'm also not the least bit familiar with the Parantucci PT's, as they just don't make their way to the left coast.
Main thing: trust your instincts, but stick with one m.p. long enough to really get to know it.
Barry Guerrero
san Francisco