Mouthpiece recommendations for my King 3BSS?

[eln]

My 3BSS is my main horn. Found a couple mouthpieces that work, I feel like I'm close to the sound I want, but each one still works against me in some way.

I busk, my needs are:

• Solid mid-low range (Bb2-F4). I want to get loud and have strong articulations w/o taking way too much energy
• High range that's not a struggle (up to C#). Would be nice to slip between partials easily too
• Sound concept: razzy, brilliant, lots of character (but of course with the nice core that comes with the 3BSS silver bell)
• Not important: section blend, soft playing

And here's what I've tried:

Bach Corp 7C

• Easily accessible high range. By default the sound is more on the sweet / buttery end, and making it brighter takes some a lot of air / lip. But sounds great.
• Low/mid range takes a lot of finesse to get loud. It's tiring, and articulation isn't super clear.

Marcinkewitz 8H

• GREAT mid range. Beefy and resonant
• High range takes work. Sounds a little thinner too, maybe? unless I slot it just right

And here's some others I've tried briefly:

• Bach 6 1/2 AL - too round sounding, high range too difficult
• Bach straight 7 - really unfocused. Maybe I just got a dud
• Schilke 47B - similar to the 7C for me with a little more brilliance and a little less core. Can't put enough air through the horn when I'm in the staff.

[Posaunus]

You may need a bigger throat / more open backbore.
Suggestions to try:
• Marcinkiewicz ET4 "Lloyd Ulyate" (my favorite)
• Marcinkiewicz ET3 "C Loper"
• Laskey 50C

[Rusty]

I’d say the closest piece to perfect for that horn size I’ve found is a Bach 6.5A (tighter throat), and similar sized pieces. I have a MV version that’s particularly good. Still a fat and open low range, but really good high register that plays more like a bigger 11c. Like you’re finding, in each direction you’re making a compromise, but this is usually the way, there’s no perfect mouthpiece.

Doug Elliot also makes great pieces and there are a few options that will be solid in both the high and low register. I’d suggest LT or MT series C+ or D cup with D3 shank and a 100 to 101 rim. His small shank pieces all have very fat and open low range for me.

The Yamaha Nils Landgren is also very open and plays evenly over the horn with a fat sound and real open blow. And the Faxx 6.5AL actually feels punchier and more efficient than other Bach 6.5AL I’ve tried.

Good luck!

[Burgerbob]

Doug Elliot C+ cup, D3 shank, your choice of rim.

[eln]

You may need a bigger throat / more open backbore.
Suggestions to try:
• Marcinkiewicz ET4 "Lloyd Ulyate" (my favorite)
• Marcinkiewicz ET3 "C Loper"
• Laskey 50C

Could be. Appreciate the specific suggestions, I'll be on the lookout for all of these.

I’d say the closest piece to perfect for that horn size I’ve found is a Bach 6.5A (tighter throat), and similar sized pieces. I have a MV version that’s particularly good. Still a fat and open low range, but really good high register that plays more like a bigger 11c. Like you’re finding, in each direction you’re making a compromise, but this is usually the way, there’s no perfect mouthpiece.

Doug Elliot also makes great pieces and there are a few options that will be solid in both the high and low register. I’d suggest LT or MT series C+ or D cup with D3 shank and a 100 to 101 rim. His small shank pieces all have very fat and open low range for me.

The Yamaha Nils Landgren is also very open and plays evenly over the horn with a fat sound and real open blow. And the Faxx 6.5AL actually feels punchier and more efficient than other Bach 6.5AL I’ve tried.

Good luck!

Ah yes the fickle nature of compromise. We'll see how much I have to give up in the end

Been thinking about the 6.5A, a little hard to come by compared to 6.5AL's. Let me look into this DE setup. Great tip about the Faxx 6.5AL's too, that should be a cheap experiment to try.

Doug Elliot C+ cup, D3 shank, your choice of rim.

By the way Burgerbob, this is the 3BSS you sold me a while back! The one where you had to get the gooseneck replaced. I've been having a lot of fun with it

[JLivi]

Bach Corp 7C

• Easily accessible high range. By default the sound is more on the sweet / buttery end, and making it brighter takes some a lot of air / lip. But sounds great.
• Low/mid range takes a lot of finesse to get loud. It's tiring, and articulation isn't super clear.

And here's some others I've tried briefly:

• Bach 6 1/2 AL - too round sounding, high range too difficult
• Bach straight 7 - really unfocused. Maybe I just got a dud
• Schilke 47B - similar to the 7C for me with a little more brilliance and a little less core. Can't put enough air through the horn when I'm in the staff.

This is why I play on something similar to a 6 3/4C. It's the perfect balance between a 7C and 6.5AL.

[Doug Elliott]

In my stuff I think you would Ike MT 99, C+, D3

[Burgerbob]

By the way Burgerbob, this is the 3BSS you sold me a while back! The one where you had to get the gooseneck replaced. I've been having a lot of fun with it

Ooo I miss that one sometimes. If it had had an F attachment...

[Pezza]

I use a wedge 100AL in my .500 & .525 (when i want a lighter tone) bore troms. Sits between a 7C & 6.5AL. Don't see why it wouldn't work! There is a 99C that should be 7Cish.

[MrHCinDE]

I’d say the closest piece to perfect for that horn size I’ve found is a Bach 6.5A (tighter throat), and similar sized pieces. I have a MV version that’s particularly good. Still a fat and open low range, but really good high register that plays more like a bigger 11c. Like you’re finding, in each direction you’re making a compromise, but this is usually the way, there’s no perfect mouthpiece.

As a fellow MV 6.5a player for .508” I agree that it is like a bigger 11c, I like it a lot. I thought the tighter throat might make it restrictive but if any thing it plays more open than some larger throat setups for me.

[Fidbone]

On my regular 3B I haven’t found anything that works quite like my DE LTE E3 just right

[LIBrassCo]

https://www.librassco.com/tenor-trombone

The 475 should do it.

[CarlVicVogel]

On my 3B, I was a little too bright with my 7C so I bought the Bach 7C MegaTone, which has a slightly larger throat and heavier body. It helped me move in the right direction.

CarlVicVogel

[dougm]

Marcinkewitz 8H

• GREAT mid range. Beefy and resonant
• High range takes work. Sounds a little thinner too, maybe? unless I slot it just right

When I had my 3B SS horns, I used a Marcinkewitz 8H for years. For whatever reason, I had to issues with their silver plating and had to get a gold plated piece. This was right after they became available.

The only thing I noticed was in a room, I could sometimes hear my sound bouncing off the back wall. I attributed that to the bell more than the mouthpiece.

I play a different horn and mouthpiece now. Try what "hardware" you can, and have people you trust listen to you and give you feedback.

Doug