Posted by Jay Bertolet on October 28, 2001 at 23:09:09:
In Reply to: Re: Mouthpieces? posted by Lew on October 28, 2001 at 20:39:39:
I think this is really good advice. I recently went through this same exercise in trying to turn my 4/4 Rudy into a quintet horn. I tried all kind of mouthpieces on that horn. The result? I'm looking at smaller tubas for the quintet sound I want. I think that switching mouthpieces can work in some situations but if the horn is really dark to start with and you're looking for a bright sound, the change might be too profound to be accomplished with just a switch in mouthpieces. My concept these days is to focus on finding the mouthpiece that makes a given horn the most effective and then using the resultant sound and capabilities accordingly. I'm very cautious of trying to fit the square peg into the round hole.
That said, if anyone can make mouthpiece switching effective, Doug Elliot must be high up on the list. Give him a call and see what he thinks.
My opinion for what it's worth...