Mouthpiece for a Louis Armstrong sound?

[SpeedyGreed]

Hi all,

This is my first time posting here, so, please be gentle

I recently started playing again after a 15 year gap, and I really just want to have some fun playing trad jazz with a few friends.

As a Louis fan, I'd love to be able to replicate something of his piercing, bright, vibrato-heavy sound, and I was wondering how much this can be helped by buying a new mouthpiece? I've seen youtube videos of Austin Custom Brass playing a custom "Pops" mouthpiece, and his sound instantly transforms to what you think of when you listen to Armstrong. I also see you can buy a reproduction of the Giardinelli double cup he used, but that its enormous, and as my lips are quite thin I'm not sure whether it would work for me. Has anyone tried to play one of those, and were the results good?

I grew up playing Bach 1 1/4C, and then progressed to a small, and I think rather niche Bach 9D when I got into jazz as a teenager and wanted to play higher notes, but I'm not sure either of these are ideal for me and what I'd like to do. Would be grateful for any suggestions or tips.

Thanks,

Sam

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

With mouthpieces, I believe smaller/shallower/tighter is associated with brighter.

I think Louie's trumpet was also medium bore, which seems to have been more part of the sound concept in that era.

I would say equipment gets you part of the way there, but as a saying here goes "everything affects everything." A mouthpiece may get you closer to the sound you want but there's no guarantee.

[bixtone]

I would look for an old Giardinelli mouthpiece with a shallow cup in your preferred diameter. Ideally (but pretty rare) with a #1 or #2 backbore. I use a 7s with a 1 backbore on my Selmer and it has that 50s Louis vibe. Nobody will sound exactly like him but it's fun to try!

Greg Black might be able to help with this.
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Schilke 14a4a might work.

[kehaulani]

Legends Series Trumpet Mouthpiece, Louis Armstrong

https://mouthpieceexpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=24605

It's out of stock but if you contact Berkeley they probably can help you.
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[etc-etc]

Legends could indeed be a good choice for a copy of Louis Armstrong's mouthpiece. I noticed that Legends Dizzy Gillespie mouthpiece looks very much like a copy of Al Cass (Dizzy Gillespie did use Al Cass mouthpieces).

[giakara]

I have a small collection of mpcs that Pops use to play , and most of them have extra wide rim ,shallow double cup , tight bore and open bbore , the Legends copy of Giardinelli is a good example but if you want something with the same specs but smaller ID check the vintage Selmer special , 1 is the smallest and 5 the biggest , 3 is around 17.00mm .
Good luck
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[SpeedyGreed]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So either a vintage Selmer Special (post K-mod to fit a standard Bach trumpet?), vintage Giardinelli (S cup? Is this a double cup design?), or Legends seem to be the closest options.

Had a quick look online and there doesn't seem to be anything exactly like that available right now from what I can see, so I guess I will just have to keep a look out.

[Andy Cooper]

Why not start with an inexpensive experiment - then branch out.

Try a Yamaha Allen Vizzutti model. A shallower cup (your 9D is not really that small or that shallow a mouthpiece), tighter throat, and tighter backbore.

If it's a bit too tight and shallow, try the Yamaha 14A4A.

If one of those seems to work but you don't like the rim shape you can move to more expensive options. You will be able to tell a maker - "I like the ____ but I want a rim more like ____.

[chef8489]

You can purchase a Parduba Double Cup. They are still making them.
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[kehaulani]

Of course the right horn and mouthpiece will enhance your quest, but Louis (at least in today's playground) had a very distinct sound, phrasing, articulation and application of time, that I think you would more than have your hands full just replicating that, to worry about equipment too much. Getting a mouthpiece in the ballpark, in light of absorbing all of the above, would probably be all you would need.

(And, of course, the reverse is maddingly true, that you could get a Balanced model Selmer, a Louis Armstrong replica mouthpiece and still be miles away from replicating his sound and style.)
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[SpeedyGreed]

[quote="chef8489"]You can purchase a Parduba Double Cup. They are still making them.[/quote]

Thanks for this suggestion. After looking on ebay and reverb etc I couldn't see any of the other suggestions available, but I just bought a 4.5 Harry James Parduba, which I guess should be in the ballpark of what im looking for (I believe Pops used one for a few years in the 40s too before he moved to Giardinelli). Will presumably be quite different to anything I've played before but looking forward to having some fun with it and seeing how it goes.