TromboneChat

Hello, I’m a trombonist on Long Island and I’ve been looking for places to try mouthpieces, but I’m having a lot of trouble finding places to do this. A lot of stores either don’t have a great selection, or won’t let you try mouthpieces. I was wondering if there was anyone else who has experience with this problem or if anyone else living in his area had a preferred place to go to try mouthpieces and equipment.  I don’t have money to keep making hit and miss mouthpiece purchases. With the few times I have been able to try mouthpieces, I’ve found that the pieces I’ve researched and want to try don’t live up to expectations, and pieces I never would’ve thought to try have been great, but I’m still trying to hone in on the tone and feel that I want. I don’t want to put money down on any pieces before trying them anymore.  Please help?

I have never found a mouthpiece that gives me a magical improvement in tone, but I do use different cup depths to brighten or darken the tone I have and/or to match with the kind of music and/or instrument I'm playing.

Find a mouthpiece that fits you well - is comfortable (rim not too big, not too small, not to narrow, not too wide) and practice to develop your tone.  Once you have a really good tone, then seek a mouthpiece that gives the color you want.

There is a member here, Doug Elliott, that is an expert at fitting mouthpieces for people.  Perhaps you could contact him for help.

Hey Matt - If you're on Long Island you could always make a trip down to Dillon Music in Woodbridge, NJ. They stock lots of mouthpieces and I think they have a week trial period on them also.

Quote from: NateR on Dec 20, 2017, 07:15PMHey Matt - If you're on Long Island you could always make a trip down to Dillon Music in Woodbridge, NJ. They stock lots of mouthpieces and I think they have a week trial period on them also.

This is what I was going to say. I did a mouthpiece test there a few years ago. Nothing complicated for me, just an A vs. B test, but they were amenable.

I just checked the website to confirm the week trial period... didn't see that, but I did find this:

QuoteFor [mouthpiece] consultations please call (732) 634-3399 or visit our brass store.
Vladimir is available Mon – Thurs 10:00 am to 3:00pm
Dillon's is the brass Mecca of the tri-state area. (That's how my college teacher described it to me.) If it's not too far for you (looks like it's 3 hours from Montauk), it's worth a trip if you've never been.

Can you tell anything useful from a short trial in a music store?

Why do you feel your current piece isn't working for you?

Do you have a teacher?   If so what does he/ she suggest ?   If you don't have a teacher...go have a lesson with a good working pro player and seek their advice, a much better use of the money another mouthpiece would cost!!

Quote from: Ellrod on Dec 20, 2017, 10:50PMCan you tell anything useful from a short trial in a music store?

Yes.  You can tell that there's no chance it will work.

Positive results take a lot more time.

Quote from: MattG1116 on Dec 20, 2017, 11:28AMHello, I’m a trombonist on Long Island and I’ve been looking for places to try mouthpieces, but I’m having a lot of trouble finding places to do this. A lot of stores either don’t have a great selection, or won’t let you try mouthpieces. I was wondering if there was anyone else who has experience with this problem or if anyone else living in his area had a preferred place to go to try mouthpieces and equipment.  I don’t have money to keep making hit and miss mouthpiece purchases. With the few times I have been able to try mouthpieces, I’ve found that the pieces I’ve researched and want to try don’t live up to expectations, and pieces I never would’ve thought to try have been great, but I’m still trying to hone in on the tone and feel that I want. I don’t want to put money down on any pieces before trying them anymore.  Please help?

Well, you can't really try mouthpieces enough. When I borrowed some mouthpieces from a store they usually count on me to buy one of them. To return everyone is not something that makes them happy. The same with instruments. You need to buy something in the shop now and then at least. I borrowed a lot of Bach, Yamaha, Laskey and Shilke mouthpieces from shops over here. A few I liked and some I bought but over time they just weas not a god fit. Then I found the Karl Hammond mouthpieces. It is something with his design that is allright with me. Very comfortable rims. I was so impressed that I invested in allmost ALL his tenor mouthpieces both small and large shank M, ML and L, sizes 13, 12 and 11. All are fantastic moithpieces. After several years now I have discovered that the 12 is my best fit so I've started to use that size on my  .525 and .547 horns exklusive, but...
just found out Hammond has added a 12XL and a custom 12MXL to his series, so I deceded to add those to my collection too. Did an order earlier today.

Mouthpieces is a lifelong seek. I'm quite happy with the mouthpieces I've got but you never know. What I know is ALL Hammondmouthpueces I've played are good and comfortable. Very few play them over here and they are not to find in any shop. It leaves me whith one option. Buy and try! I think it is worth it

/Tom

Quote from: MattG1116 on Dec 20, 2017, 11:28AMHello, I’m a trombonist on Long Island and I’ve been looking for places to try mouthpieces, but I’m having a lot of trouble finding places to do this. A lot of stores either don’t have a great selection, or won’t let you try mouthpieces. I was wondering if there was anyone else who has experience with this problem or if anyone else living in his area had a preferred place to go to try mouthpieces and equipment.  I don’t have money to keep making hit and miss mouthpiece purchases. With the few times I have been able to try mouthpieces, I’ve found that the pieces I’ve researched and want to try don’t live up to expectations, and pieces I never would’ve thought to try have been great, but I’m still trying to hone in on the tone and feel that I want. I don’t want to put money down on any pieces before trying them anymore.  Please help?

Well, you can't really try mouthpieces enough. When I borrowed some mouthpieces from a store they usually count on me to buy one of them. To return everyone is not something that makes them happy. The same with instruments. You need to buy something in the shop now and then at least. I borrowed a lot of Bach, Yamaha, Laskey and Shilke mouthpieces from shops over here. A few I liked and some I bought but over time they just weas not a god fit. Then I found the Karl Hammond mouthpieces. It is something with his design that is allright with me. Very comfortable rims. I was so impressed that I invested in allmost ALL his tenor mouthpieces both small and large shank M, ML and L, sizes 13, 12 and 11. All are fantastic moithpieces. After several years now I have discovered that the 12 is my best fit so I've started to use that size on my  .525 and .547 horns exklusive, but...
just found out Hammond has added a 12XL and a custom 12MXL to his series, so I deceded to add those to my collection too. Did an order earlier today.

Mouthpieces is a lifelong seek. I'm quite happy with the mouthpieces I've got but you never know. What I know is ALL Hammondmouthpueces I've played are good and comfortable. Very few play them over here and they are not to find in any shop. It leaves me whith one option. Buy and try! I think it is worth it

/Tom