Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

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pherstbass
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Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by pherstbass »

Help! I’m in the market for my Edwards T-350 straight tenor with a .547/.562 slide. I have been playing bass trombone and tuba recently, and haven’t played tenor in about 10 years, and even then I played a Bach 42 convertible with a Bach Megatone 1.25G.
The megatone sounds great in the lower partials, but I struggle as I move up into the 4th. The two mouthpieces I have are a Marcinkiewicz 9BS, which sounds too old-timey for general use, and a Bach 5G, which obviously offers little support in the low register.
Any thoughts?

Thanks
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BGuttman
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by BGuttman »

That's an odd size horn to be playing straight. What kind of music are you playing? That could seriously affect what the ideal mouthpiece is.

A 1.25G Megatone is definitely NOT a tenor mouthpiece -- it's a bass mouthpiece.

I'm not sure what you mean about "old timey" in the sound of the Marc. 9BS. It's a pretty mainstream tenor mouthpiece. As to the 5G, I would not expect you to have a strong low register with it.

A consult with Doug Elliott may help you sort out what you need to do and where you want to go.
Bruce Guttman
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harrisonreed
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by harrisonreed »

Saying that a Bach 5G offers no support in the lower register suggests to me that you probably just need to practice a lot on your new setup. You should be able to play any note, down to a pedal C (if you had an F attachment) on a 5G. And up to an F5. About 5 octaves worth of notes.

Modern mouthpieces do not inherently sound old-timey, but players do.

Cup width should be independent from cup depth, so get a mouthpiece that is wide, like you've been playing on recently, and not that deep. Nothing wrong with a DE XT106N/G/G8 mouthpiece on tenor. In fact, it's a great setup.

But you probably just need to practice
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Matt K
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by Matt K »

Doug's 9 & 10 shanks tend to work quite well on 547/562 slides in my opinion. An XT104, XT105, or XT106 like Harrison mentioned with a standard depth shank like an XT G with a G9 or G10 would probably be ideal. But I've been on his pieces for year so I know they work for me, personally.
pherstbass
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by pherstbass »

I absolutely need more practice. It has been about 10 years since I’ve played a tenor. I have spent most of my time on bass trombone and tuba in jazz and drum corps environments. Never really played small.
I have been considering reaching out to DE as I was curious about the XT106/G/G9.
I’m realizing more and more my issue is psychological; I’m in love with the bass, and have yet to accept the inherent change in timbre when playing the tenor.
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Doug Elliott
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by Doug Elliott »

pherstbass wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 6:34 pm ...I’m in love with the bass, and have yet to accept the inherent change in timbre when playing the tenor.
That can definitely be an issue in any switching of instruments.

Check in with me if you want advice.
"I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two."
pherstbass
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Re: Mouthpiece for Dual Bore Tenor

Post by pherstbass »

Check in with me if you want advice
Thanks. Just did. And thanks to all who replied.
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