Yamaha YEP-321 Euphonium Mouthpiece Receiver

[bassclef]

I seem to remember on the old version of this forum that it was a "popular" modification to this instrument to have a large shank mouthpiece receiver swapped on in place of the stock small shank receiver.

Does anyone else recall this, or had it done on their own instrument, or am I making this up?

I looked on the Yamaha parts portal but it looked like the receivers on their euphoniums aren't sold separately from a 3-4 part leadpipe & mounting assembly.

I like the 321 a lot, but I'd love to have more mouthpiece options without having to have something custom made with a small shank.

[sungfw]

Yes, swapping the receiver is a common mod. Any repair tech worth her or his salt should be able to do it without breaking a sweat. Don't bother with the Yamaha receiver: there's nothing magical about it and it'll be a darn sight more expensive than a receiver from Dillon, Tuba Exchange, JP Sterling, Wessex, Mack Brass, etc.. Heck, a decent tech may have a used receiver in their parts bin.

[derekcgullett]

It’s definitely worth the conversion especially if you’re after a bigger sound. Most of my work on euphonium is orchestral so this conversion was the right move. As long as you get a quality receiver from somewhere and you get to use the mouthpiece you’re most comfortable on you’re golden.

[spencercarran]

The 321 is quite a small euphonium, so I'm not really sure how much bigger you can go on the mouthpiece (vs readily available small shank pieces like Schilke 51D or Wick 4AY) before winding up with something unbalanced.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I did this modification about 20 years ago on my YEP-321 and it plays spectacularly! There is a Yamaha euphonium model that (I believe) is presently only sold in Europe and maybe Asia?? It is a NON-compensating 3+1 valve arrangement (4th valve located on the side and played with the left hand) with a bass shank receiver. Other than the 4th valve and the receiver/leadpipe, it is exactly the same dimensions and bore size as the 321. I don’t have the model number available right now, but if you snoop around the Internet a little bit, you can find it.

Anyway, if you can buy the combined mouthpiece and leadpipe for that model as one complete unit. It fits perfectly on the YEP-321 with no shifting of any parts. It is definitely the way to go on that modification. Again, my YEP-321 with that large shank receiver/leadpipe is a superb instrument.

[CalgaryTbone]

I used to own a 321 with a Yamaha 621 leadpipe on it - great improvement. I've played several - all very good. I've also played some where just the receiver was changed on the existing leadpipe, and they played OK, but I found them hard to play soft on. Something about the large receiver opening into a smaller leadpipe made it tough to control the PP dynamics. Ymaha sells the 621 (large shank, non-compensating) leadpipes and it's an easy job for a good repair person to swap it for the standard pipe. Add the plug-in 5th valve, and those horns compete quite well with the compensating models. A main tuning slide trigger (for tuning) of some kind is also a great upgrade.

Jim Scott

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I used to own a 321 with a Yamaha 621 leadpipe on it - great improvement. I've played several - all very good. I've also played some where just the receiver was changed on the existing leadpipe, and they played OK, but I found them hard to play soft on. Something about the large receiver opening into a smaller leadpipe made it tough to control the PP dynamics. Ymaha sells the 621 (large shank, non-compensating) leadpipes and it's an easy job for a good repair person to swap it for the standard pipe. Add the plug-in 5th valve, and those horns compete quite well with the compensating models. A main tuning slide trigger (for tuning) of some kind is also a great upgrade.

Jim Scott

Thanks Jim....yes, the YEP-621 was the model I was thinking of. I remember seeing three or four of those horns here in the states back in the 1990s, but then they vanished. I guess there was not much of a market for them here. It looks like those horns are available in Europe. Availability of parts for Yamaha instruments can be unpredictable. A person might need to go through a European retailer to get a YEP-621 receiver/leadpipe.

https://europe.yamaha.com/files/downloa ... W-257R.pdf

bassclef......if you can get a mouthpiece receiver/leadpipe from a YEP-621, you will be set. In my opinion, it turns the YEP-321 into a lean, mean performance machine.

[Kdanielsen]

I used to own a 321 with a Yamaha 621 leadpipe on it - great improvement. I've played several - all very good. I've also played some where just the receiver was changed on the existing leadpipe, and they played OK, but I found them hard to play soft on. Something about the large receiver opening into a smaller leadpipe made it tough to control the PP dynamics. Ymaha sells the 621 (large shank, non-compensating) leadpipes and it's an easy job for a good repair person to swap it for the standard pipe. Add the plug-in 5th valve, and those horns compete quite well with the compensating models. A main tuning slide trigger (for tuning) of some kind is also a great upgrade.

Jim Scott

On the way back from my last euph gig I resolved to do just this. I have a Wessex Dolce that is just not cutting it pitch wise (the 321s ive played have been much better). It’s also super stuffy in the compensating range. The 321 has a thunderous low range. It’d be perfect with the pitch finder and 5th valve. I’ve always felt the compensating euphs were stuffy down low (including all the nice ones).

If anyone has a good lacquer 321 they want to swap for a Wessex Dolce (in need of polishing…) let me know.

[JohnL]

The 321 is quite a small euphonium, so I'm not really sure how much bigger you can go on the mouthpiece (vs readily available small shank pieces like Schilke 51D or Wick 4AY) before winding up with something unbalanced.

It's not so much a matter of rim/cup size as it is a matter of throat and backbore. You can get a small shank mouthpiece with a really large (1.5G-ish or even larger) rim and cup, but the throat and backbore can only get so large before you run out of metal.

[Kdanielsen]

I used to play the 321 at the shop I taught at with an xt I cup and I6 shank (quite deep and large). Played awesome.

[bassclef]

The 321 is quite a small euphonium, so I'm not really sure how much bigger you can go on the mouthpiece (vs readily available small shank pieces like Schilke 51D or Wick 4AY) before winding up with something unbalanced.

It's not so much a matter of rim/cup size as it is a matter of throat and backbore. You can get a small shank mouthpiece with a really large (1.5G-ish or even larger) rim and cup, but the throat and backbore can only get so large before you run out of metal.

I do a lot of pit orchestra work, so that's where 95% of my euphonium playing happens which admittedly isn't that frequent. I'm not looking to size up to a mouthpiece that a full-time dedicated euphonium player might choose to match with a larger instrument. With the 321, I've had great results sound wise with the same mouthpiece I play on large tenor. I like my my sound on it and so do the people who call me to play it.

When I played Storks (4.5), it wasn't a big deal to order a small shank version as they run about $70 or so new. Now that I'm on Greg Blacks, and loving them, it'd take nearly $300 to get a small shank edition of my chosen large bore mouthpiece (4.5G). I'm thinking it might be better to put that money into altering the horn and perhaps improve the way it plays/sounds as a byproduct. My 321 is in really good shape so this doesn't seem like a bad investment.

I appreciate both of your thoughts on this

[bassclef]

I used to own a 321 with a Yamaha 621 leadpipe on it - great improvement. I've played several - all very good. I've also played some where just the receiver was changed on the existing leadpipe, and they played OK, but I found them hard to play soft on. Something about the large receiver opening into a smaller leadpipe made it tough to control the PP dynamics. Ymaha sells the 621 (large shank, non-compensating) leadpipes and it's an easy job for a good repair person to swap it for the standard pipe. Add the plug-in 5th valve, and those horns compete quite well with the compensating models. A main tuning slide trigger (for tuning) of some kind is also a great upgrade.

Jim Scott

Thanks Jim....yes, the YEP-621 was the model I was thinking of. I remember seeing three or four of those horns here in the states back in the 1990s, but then they vanished. I guess there was not much of a market for them here. It looks like those horns are available in Europe. Availability of parts for Yamaha instruments can be unpredictable. A person might need to go through a European retailer to get a YEP-621 receiver/leadpipe.

https://europe.yamaha.com/files/downloa ... W-257R.pdf

bassclef......if you can get a mouthpiece receiver/leadpipe from a YEP-621, you will be set. In my opinion, it turns the YEP-321 into a lean, mean performance machine.

Thanks guys! I'm taking a couple horns in for a cleaning this weekend and I'm going have my tech order a 621 mouthpipe assembly.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I think that is your best path forward bassclef. I have converted a few different tenor receiver and European receivers to bass receivers on baritones/euphoniums. I really believe this particular plan will give you a great playing instrument. I also did the other type of conversion on a YEP-321 (expanded the small end of the leadpipe and changed only the receiver) and it was not as successful.

I really hope you are able to get that YEP-621 part. I just received some Yamaha parts this week for a bass trombone project. I ordered these parts over 4 months ago!