Posted by TubaRay on February 05, 2004 at 12:36:52:
In Reply to: Mike FInn posted by jello on February 05, 2004 at 02:10:09:
I just bought the 3-H at the Army Band conference this past Saturday. I am extremely happy with it so far. Generally, I am not one to switch mouthpieces very often. I played on a Conn Helleberg for about 15 years and switched to a PT-48 about a year ago in an effort to "supercharge" the sound of my Miraphone 186-CC. I liked the PT mouthpiece a lot as it really improved my sound in a large ensemble. I continued to use the Helleberg when playing in The TubaMeisters(tuba-euph quartet), where I was looking for a little lighter sound. Since I play the upper tuba part on my CC horn, I don't really need to be the foundation sound of the ensemble.
With the purchase of the Mike Finn 3-H, I believe I have found a mouthpiece that gives a full, rich sound and is also comfortable for me. The slightly rounded rim of the Perantucci has never felt comfortable to me, even though I have used it for a year, now. So my initial reaction is that I really like the Mike Finn.
I struggled with the idea of spending the bucks for another mouthpiece, while at the conference. Lord knows I have a substantial collection of them, most of which I will never use. However, I decided to give the 3-H a try. Mike Finn was extremely easy to talk with and offered insight, and models, to show the basic design of the mouthpiece. I was allowed to go off in a corner and it a try. With the help of the now famous Rick Denney, I determined that it was likely to be a good investment. Amid the wonderful accompaniment and backdrop provided by the elephant room, he thought it sounded better when compared with my PT-48. I decided to purchase the mouthpiece with the idea that I would either: a)like the mouthpiece and later sell some of my present stock, or b)not like it and sell the MF3-H. Well, at present it looks like I will likely keep the Mike Finn mouthpiece.
Next item on my agenda will be to assess how the 3-H blends with the tuba-euph quartet. I guess there will be more on that later. Perhaps there will be a mouthpiece sale in the future. We'll see.
Ray Grim
The TubaMeisters
San Antonio, Texas