LT 101 & Bach 5G alternatives

[NickHomes]

Hi everyone and happy new year!!!
I need your invaluable advice and experience for the following question.
I have been playing with a Best Brass 5B mouthpiece (Cup diameter Ø 25.75 mm / Deep cup / Ø 7.10 mm bore) for a few months now. I like the low-range, I really like the middle-range and above all I love big, orchestral sound it gives me. However, I have realized that in this moment of learning in which I find, it might be better to move to a 5G size since I have not yet consolidated the air column and it is difficult for me to fill the mouthpiece in long passages, legato, etc. some notes end up a bit poor: I have to improve my lung capacity and my way of blowing and maybe a mouthpiece as big and deep as the Best Brass is not the best idea right now... I think a conventional 5G (I think a little shallower) could be good for me (I have a 5GS but I don't like it at all...) to finish consolidating my playing. An acquaintance has offered me a DE LT 101 G-Cup and I think it could be a good alternative to the Bach. I have also heard good things about the Bach Artistan 5G and the Griego Alessi (although I don't know which model would suit me better...); I would like not to sacrifice the big sound and the repertoire I do is exclusively classical/symphonic.
What experience do you have with these sizes and mouthpieces in this kind of repertoire?
Thank you very much to all of you!!

PS. I am playing with a Shires Q30 (yellow brass bell).

[Bach5G]

Once upon a time, the alternative would have been a Schilke 51.

But maybe sticking with the BB and working on the problems you’ve identified is the answer?

[NickHomes]

Once upon a time, the alternative would have been a Schilke 51.

But maybe sticking with the BB and working on the problems you’ve identified is the answer?

Thank you very much for your reply! Of course I will continue to work on the question of breathing, airflow, etc. (I don't claim otherwise) but I think I took a "risky" step going from a Schilke 50 directly to the BB and I think that maybe for this "early" moment of my learning it was not the smartest idea. I will try the Schilke 51, thanks! If anyone has more info on the Artisan 5G or the LT 101 G for what I'm talking about, I'd appreciate suggestions. Best regards!

[Doug Elliott]

The LT 101 and G cup is probably a good choice.
You didn't say how old it is or what shank it has, but my new G8 shank is outstanding and would be a good upgrade for it.

[NickHomes]

The LT 101 and G cup is probably a good choice.
You didn't say how old it is or what shank it has, but my new G8 shank is outstanding and would be a good upgrade for it.

Hi Doug,
Thank you very much for your quick respons! It is indeed a year 2015 G8 shank. I may consider keeping that mouthpiece and buying your new shank if you think it's worth it!
best regards!

[Doug Elliott]

Email or message me

[christianjgilbert]

Out of curiosity Doug, how would you describe the difference between the old and new G8 shanks. I picked up an LT102/G/G8 (also marked 2015 on the shank) from the classifieds a couple months ago, and while I like a lot about how it plays, it feels like it backs up on me too much for my liking.

[Doug Elliott]

Over the years I have gone through a lot of tweaking of my backbores. That's one reason I put the year on them.
Over the pandemic I really did a lot of experimenting and made adjustments on all of my backbores, in some cases going through as many as 20 different versions of one backbore to get it how I wanted it to play.

I'm not going to describe the actual differences, but it doesn't take much change to seriously affect the way a backbore responds and sounds. It feels more open, puts out more sound easily, and focuses better.

Anything stamped 2022 with a star is the final version. For 2023 I'm not putting the star on them, just 2023.

[Matt K]

I have a 2021 G8* and a G8 from a similar vintage to yours. I recently did some shifting of my equipment and I was running into what someone might reasonably call “backing up” on my G depth. I can back up that the G8* helps a lot in that regard.

That said, I also find that going shallower helps on that particular setup and stopped the “backing up”. So I’m using an E8* on that setup now. Which, to be fair, that’s also been my go to depth for awhile, but I thought the G might be useful for getting back into playing some orchestral rep. (Doug, when I asked you about if you made an E5 a couple weeks ago , that’s what I was trying to figure out, but a large shank 525 pipe w/ the E8 ended up working perfectly).

Doug recently finished a SYM piece for me and a G10 (and a G9 I already have) so I’ll have all three large shank sizes and I can see if the shank plays better for me on that depth or if I really just like the focus of something slightly shallower.

[harrisonreed]

What's the deal with the G10 shank? Is that design set now and for sale? I've been interested since last year!

[Doug Elliott]

Yes, G10 is all set now and I have a couple in stock.
I just couldn't make them for a while because I needed to make the blanks.
I'm away all this week, get to me next week.

[harrisonreed]