First Mouthpiece Safari

LiamTrumpet · New Member Joined: 12 Oct 2021 Posts: 4

Hey. I've been playing for the past 5-6 years in school and I've been one of the better players. I've used a Yamaha 11B4 that entire time. I want to start exploring and see what kind of mouthpiece works best for me because I hear it can be a good experience to graduate from one's first mouthpiece. Right now I have pretty good tone and can play up to a prolonged high C with high G in shorts bursts. Any tips for me?

Jaw04 · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:49 pm Post subject:

Mouthpiece choice is about making trade-offs. You make certain sacrifices to gain different benefits depending on your musical goals. This is a good video to watch. Educate yourself on rim shape, rim size, cup depth, throat, and backbore and try some mouthpieces from a friend or teacher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05f6C4_WyCs

royjohn · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:40 pm Post subject:

Get a feel for what you have...the ID, cup depth and shape, rim profile, throat (prolly a 27) and backbore. Then read about the effect of the various parameters. Once you have an idea of what you might like to change and what you'd like to keep about the same, you can identify mpcs that you might like to try.

If you have access to a credit card, there are several sellers who will send you mouthpieces to try and who will credit your card when/if you return them in good condition. This would be a better strategy than just buying mouthpieces outright. You might even try out a new piece and then return it and find a used one in the marketplace here or somewhere else.

What you are playing on is about the size of a Bach 2, which is fairly large. So maybe no need to go larger unless you are feeling cramped. You say you like your tone, so maybe no need to go to a deeper cup. You could stay where you are if there isn't anything wrong, or go to a deeper cup to see if you like that tone or response better. You could also try something with a smaller ID. Possibly you could try some of your friends' mouthpieces.

Be aware of the saying " if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

LiamTrumpet · New Member Joined: 12 Oct 2021 Posts: 4

royjohn · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:37 pm Post subject:

Hi Liam,
The 11B4 has an ID of 16.46mm, the Bach 2 is 16.50mm. The rim of the 11B4 is described as medium, that of the Bach 2 as medium wide. The Bach 7C has an ID of 16.20mm, quite a bit smaller than the 11B4. The rim is described as medium wide, lowered towards the outside, medium sharp inside.

If you want to look at this in more depth, the Kanstul mouthpiece comparator is still on line and you can look at various profiles and compare them to each other. The Yamaha 11B4 is not listed, but similar Schilkes are listed, but not the 11B4.

Good luck on your search!
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

LiamTrumpet · New Member Joined: 12 Oct 2021 Posts: 4

Brassnose · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:31 pm Post subject:

Maybe a moderator could merge the two identical threads?
_________________
2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

Irving · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 1885

Bach's measurements are not correct. The Yamaha 11 series is comparable with The Bach 7. The Bach 2 is much larger, comparable with Yamaha 15.

delano · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 12:51 am Post subject:

TrumpetMD · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:00 am Post subject:

zaferis · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:06 am Post subject:

Good sound, good range and tuning, clear articulation, decent flexibility, endurance ok? = no need to change.

and Yes, the 11B4 is comparable to a Bach 7C. An excellent all-around mouthpiece

If you go on to study with a teacher, say at college or for college prep, you may look at other mouthpieces to make small improvements in an area or two.
We do begin to experiement to dial in the best fit for our chops and playing needs. i.e. trying a Yamaha 14B4 to see if a larger diameter adds anything tho your sound/range/endurance or does it take away things.?
Then as you grow, you may have the want to look for variations on your current piece to optimize things with different trumpets (C, D, picc..) and for more refined situations (commercial settings vs legit settings).
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kehaulani · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:25 am Post subject:

royjohn · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:34 am Post subject:

Hello All,
Thanks for correcting my mis-step. I didn't know how far off the Bach measurements are from everyone else's. I did look at the Bach 7C as compared to a Schilke 11C2, which was the closest I could get to a Yamaha 11B4. The Schilke 11C2 is an exact match to the Bach 7C according to the Kanstul Mouthpiece Comparator. So it appears that y'all are right and the ID of the 11B4 is about equal to the 7C. Next time I'll use the Comparator instead of someone's measurements.
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

Manuel de los Campos · Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:44 am Post subject: Re: First Mouthpiece Safari

gwood66 · Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 5:35 am Post subject:

Unless you really know what you want to achieve by the change it will be hard for anyone to give you any real advice on what to try. Keep in mind that as long as you are not playing on the completely wrong mouthpiece that you will probably not find any magic mouthpieces. I would recommend educating yourself on mouthpieces in general so that have an idea what might change if you make a switch. Unless you live next to a larger music store or know someone with the size you would like to try, ebay might be a good route to go. You can pick up something cheap and resell it later if it doesn't work.

Here is a chart that you can use to compare Yamaha mouthpiece sizes to Bach and others. The chart says that the 11B4 is comparable to a Bach 7D.

https://www.musicarts.com/yamaha-standard-trumpet-mouthpiece-main0027116

Here is the Yamaha Catalog for additional information

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/winds/mouthpieces/trumpets/downloads.html#product-tabs

Here are a couple of places you can go to educate yourself on the different factors that are taken into account when making a mouthpiece.

https://www.everythingtrumpet.com/schilke/How_to_Select_Mouthpiece.html

https://www.grmouthpieces.com/category-s/271.htm
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GR 66M/66MS/66**
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Getzen 3052
Yamaha 6345

cbtj51 · Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 8:35 am Post subject: