Posted by Harold on March 12, 2002 at 00:15:53:
In Reply to: SM Euphonium Mouthpieces posted by Brandon Jones on March 11, 2002 at 22:47:48:
Brandon,
I useds a BB1 when I had my 2900 but found the rim too sharp for the amount of pressure I use. I then bought a SM3 (euphonium shank) and had a most comfortable experience. Since then, I now have a Besson Prestige, which came with a SM3.5 and a SM4.
I wasn't satified with the SM3.5, so I switched to the SM4 about 8 months ago and am quite happy with it. The rim is, of couse, very comfortable, the cup depth is adequate for good tone production, while the cup diameter is a bit smaller. Surprisingly, the tone has not suffered and flexibility is very good.
My opinion: SM mouthpieces,in general, are excellent, as they are designed by a euphonium player for euphonium players: that is to say, there is a range of these mouthpieces with comfort being paramount. By the way, the difference between 26mm and 26.4mm is slight. The Sm4 gives me a crisp response throughout my 3.5+ octave range.
Before SM mouthpieces I used Schilke 53 and 58 mouthpieces. The switch to an SM 4 was painless.
Hope this is useful information.
Harold