Posted by James W on March 01, 2001 at 12:06:21:
In Reply to: Question about those "shower heads"... posted by Dave on February 28, 2001 at 18:27:28:
I think that they are just charging what they think people are prepared to pay. In my opinion these mouthpieces do definately have a different sound, although this is less pronounced on a tuba than a smaller instrument (possibly because a tuba is already so damn heavy), and in fact the only time a use one regularly is doubling on trombone, and several people have commented on the difference in sound that it makes (I still have a standerd weight mouthpiece with the same rim and have played them back to back on the same horn quite a few times, as I tent to prefer the lighter mouthpiece for raucus, "brassy" stuff).
There is a good article on this at:
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3941/heavyhorns.html
Anyway (to get back to the initial question), I payed the extra for the difference in tone, and I guess that as long as other people do the same, the makers will keep on charging ludicrous proces for them.
James.