Mouthpiece size for trumpet

[JBecker]

What's everyone using? Right now, I am using 15a4a for the past few years. I am pretty happy about it. A guy I play with uses a 5 1/2 double cup. Weird as shit.

[sunburstbasser]

I have:

Blessing 5C
Bach 3C
Schilke 11A
Schilke 18C3d

The Blessing and Bach don't get much use anymore; the Schilkes fit my lips wonderfully. The 11A is roughly the same size as a Bach 7E, the 18C3d about a 1A or 1B I think.

I've also used a Yamaha 11B4, and a Yamaha flugel mouthpiece (on flugel, of course!). The 11B4 is, roughly, a 3C.

[Jon Hiller]

If you're looking for a mouthpiece with an extremely shallow cup for hitting the high notes easier, look into a Bob Reeves 41ES. The cup is almost flat, and the notes practically jump out of it.

[sunburstbasser]

Originally posted by Jon Hiller
If you're looking for a mouthpiece with an extremely shallow cup for hitting the high notes easier, look into a Bob Reeves 41ES. The cup is almost flat, and the notes practically jump out of it.

Yep. Yamaha's Bobby Shew Lead is the same way.

One problem though-you sacrifice some tone and a lot of control over pitch center (well, I do anyway) when you use such shallow mouthpieces. Its a give and take. I prefer the tone of a larger mouthpiece, personally.

[AntiStuff]

So a shallow cup makes it easy to get higher notes? I might have to invest in one of those. Going from tuba to trumpet is hard. Especially for a woodwind player...

[sunburstbasser]

Originally posted by AntiStuff
So a shallow cup makes it easy to get higher notes? I might have to invest in one of those. Going from tuba to trumpet is hard. Especially for a woodwind player...

What I've found is that a shallower cup makes high notes easier and improves endurance, while a deeper cup gives considerably better tone and feel.

If you REALLY get into it, consider getting two mouthpieces, one deep and one shallow. Eg. Schilke makes the 11A like I use, and a much larger 11. Or you could go 14A4a and just 14, for instance. Then, you have deep and shallow cups without major embouchure changes.

[catalinagoose]

I used to play a wide rim, very shallow cup mouthpiece and it was easier to play in the upper registers (it was a Schilke, but I can't remember what size) but my tone in the lower registers was very airy, which I don't like. For the last few years I have been using a Bach 3C. Good all around mouthpiece for me.

[JBecker]

Yeah I can't go any more shallow and justify the lack of tone that I get from my Schilke 15a4a. Double high G is the limit for me, but at least it sounds pretty good.