Yamaha Hagstrom and Curry 3BC and 3B mouthieces--and Bach 1c

[Richard III]

It's kind of fun watching all the head scratching. John actually talked to Mark about the mouthpieces. Now there's a chance to gain understanding. I so wish I could go to the shop and ask a bunch of questions.

Here is my list of mouthpieces where the drop off from rim to cup causes me problems:

Curry B
CGP from Kanstul or Marcinkiewicz
Curry VC

When I first start to play all is good and they are comfy with a great sound. Then the sound gets hard to push out. Reading on the GR site I could see the explanation of increasing the alpha angle can cause a shutting off of vibration. Makes sense to me. Switching to the BC fixes the problem.

I've had the Curry line in 3, 7, 8.5 and even 10.5 over time. All great mouthpieces and really inexpensive to experiment with. I've had all those for trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn. Plus Mark has made custom combinations for me and even those were really just well made and exactly what I wanted.
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Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[John Mohan]

Hi Richard,

I have a similar issue with the CGP mouthpiece and for me it's due to not the inside of the rim or alpha angle but the skeletonized antique-cornet style blank. My lips sort of wrap around that thin outer rim and I have troubles with air attacks with it - my lips feel impeded from vibrating. I had thought it was due to the diameter being too small for me, but then when I moved to the Reeves 43 rim and liked it, and was able to see a digital scan comparison I was surprised to see that the CGP rim really isn't small - it's almost the same inner diameter as a Bach 3C and almost exactly the same as a Reeves 43 rim. Then, I really found out that the cause of the problem was the CG rim's blank shape when I had James New make me a mouthpiece with the CG Personal's diameter and rim contour, but made with a Bach style mouthpiece blank - and low and behold, the articulation (airball) problem largely disappeared. For me, the more blocky outer shape of a Bach style (or other similar style) rim works much better for me than the old cornet style rim outer shape.

Best wishes,

John Mohan
_________________
Trumpet Player, Clinician & Teacher
1st Trpt for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Grease, The Producers, Addams Family, In the Heights, etc.
Ex LA Studio Musician
16 Year Claude Gordon Student

[Richard III]

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

So, it looks like mouthpiece express is the least expensive place to buy the Curry pieces. Does that sound right? I've never purchased through them before.
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1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[John Mohan]

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

Cool. I'll check them out, too.

I'm still having trouble deciding now between the 3b and the 5b. Spending Thursday, Friday, and yesterday doing my routine and whatnot with my Bach 5c, and playing today's gig with my Bach 5c (and a bit of my Bach 7-no-letter) on my Bb and Hagstrom on my C, and having a MUCH better time jumping between the two horns compared to when I used the Bach 1c on the Bb. Just playing on basically one rim size felt nice. That makes me think just buying a Curry 5b to start with would be smart.

(On a side note, I forgot how much I like the Bach 7-no-letter. It makes me want to try the Bach 3-no-letter just for fun.)
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[Dale Proctor]

I frequently play a Bach 3 (no letter) on cornet. It's a nice mouthpiece.
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"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away ." - Sir Thomas Beecham

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

Wwbw didn't have either size, but Dillon looks less expensive than mouthpiece express. I think I'll go with Dillon.
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[Crazy Finn]

[Locutus2k]

I love Curry B cup because, as Curry himself says "the B cup has more chop room in the cup " and i have moderate lip intrusion. The best fit, for me, is the B cup on Curry 5 rim (tried them all, surprisingly the least attractive on paper, the 5, was the more efficient for my lips vibration) on a Curry heavy blank. The downside was the sound: gorgeous but too dark to be played in various settings. So Mark Curry that, believe me, is a real mouthpiece genius made for me a custom 5B with a tighter throat and different backbore on a heavy blank cut for sleeves. I can play all night long on this mouthpiece and never bottom out! I can even play lead on this piece, the sound i soooo powerful even if not "laser-killing" as your usual lead piece, but just plain beautiful and brilliant with a hint of "warmth".
Ask Curry, invest some money and experiment with various settings, you will find "the one".
_________________
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Edwards X-13
Lawler TL5 Balanced 30th Anniversary (#2 of 5)
Lawler TL5 L bore
Bach NY Special edition 2008
Flugel Van Laar Oiram Ack
Mark Curry mouthpieces
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[The_Kitchen_Sink]

Well, I'll find out later this week how I like the Curry B cup. I'm unsure how it'll take to ship from Dillon Music, but I'm excited to get started with it. Hopefully I'll feel gig-ready with it within about week so I can really see how I like it.

My to-try list got longer from this post, but that's fine. Thanks for the help, everyone!
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[RandyTX]

You may find it easiest to deal with Osmun Music for Curry pieces lately. He's very hard to reach directly anymore, but they get regular (at least weekly, perhaps more) shipments from him and can turn an order around quite quickly. I think they're the preferred outlet for his stuff now, especially if you want any custom tweaks done.

MPC Express sometimes takes forever to fill an order, whereas if they don't have it in stock at Osmun, they usually will a few days later.
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"Music is like candy, you throw the (w)rappers away."

[John Mohan]

Concerning Mouthpiece Express, they've always been prompt for me. That said, the last mouthpiece I ordered from them was in 2003 (which if nothing else, points out the fact that they've been around for a while).

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

I think both Dillon and Osmun look great. Dillon had a 5b in stock, had the lowest base price, and shipping was free. I put in the order late last night, and I've already gotten an email about it shipping out today. I like that. Osmun's base price is slightly higher than Dillon's, and they didn't have as many size options available today--but their custom work has great prices. Between the two companies, I think they have everything covered.

Hopefully I like this mouthpiece enough (and my sound works with it well enough initially for performance) to spend six or so months getting to know it. It's rim size should be close enough to the Hagstrom that, I'm hoping, jumping between the two will not be any problem at all.
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[RandyTX]

I've found that Osmun doesn't (or didn't) always list every size available from Mark. that said, if you call them up (Tim Cote seems to be the main guy doing mouthpiece orders) you can get anything you want. Also had great luck with Dillon's over the years too.

The main reason I mention is Osmun is they seem to have picked up the slack for Mark so he doesn't have to respond to custom orders directly anymore, I think he's just too busy to keep up on his own.
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"Music is like candy, you throw the (w)rappers away."

[Louise Finch]

Hi John

I'd always presumed that Mark Curry scaled the Bach 1B cup down for his smaller diameter BC cups, but if I understand correctly this is not the case. Is this because scaling the diameter also corresponding scales down the cup depth and volume?

Many thanks

Take care

Lou
_________________
Trumpets:
Yamaha 8335 Xeno II
Bach Strad 180ML/37
B&H Oxford
Kanstul F Besson C
Yamaha D and D/Eb
- James R New Custom 3Cs
Flugel:
Bach Strad 183 - Bach 3CFL
Cornets:
Yamaha Neo + Xeno
Bach Strad 184ML
B&H Imperial
- Kanstul Custom 3Cs

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

Well, the Curry 5b arrived today. It's a nice piece.

However, my Bach 5c must be a smaller 5c because the Curry 5b felt huge in comparison.

I dont really want to switch from my Hagstrom. Maybe I need to try a Bach 7b. I'm fine with my 7, 7a, and 7c. None of them are quite right, though.

Thoughts on a Bach 7b?
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[Richard III]

There is a mouthpiece that I haven't played in some time and was quite an amazing piece. The Flip Oakes XT in the 7 size. There is nothing like it anywhere and before you react to the bore size, I will say there is something about it that makes it very easy to play. And the sound might be what you want. Call Flip and ask him about your quest. Oh, and the bore size is an 11 drill.
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Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[The_Kitchen_Sink]

Richard, that sounds pretty cool.
_________________
1971-72 Bach Strad 37 ML Bb
1960 Olds Studio Bb
1972-73 Getzen Eterna ML C
1982-83 Selmer C700 ML C
1985-86 Getzen Eterna Picc
1947-ish Reynolds "Professional" Cornet
1975-ish Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn
Mark Curry 5 Rims

[John Mohan]