Mouthpiece For Trumpet Bb?

Short answer: Stick with a Bach 3C--it is probably the most common compromise mouthpiece being used today. If you want to try something a little different try a Bach Megatone 3C, a lot of people really like them. (PS, it's the throat design and not the weight that makes them play differently.) Notice I said Bach 3C--all 3C mouthpieces are not the same size. I can only recommend a Bach 3C. If you want to know why you can keep reading.

I'm afraid you've asked a question that is a bit like asking, "What is the best size shoe I can buy to allow me to run in a marathon, but will still allow me to walk around town in comfort?: This is typical of one making 2 fundamental mistakes about mouthpieces. First mouthpieces are viewed as a performance modification people can make to their horn to make it do what they want it to do. The second is that mouthpiece manufacturers produce mouthpieces in standard sizes.

In general a smaller diameter, more shallow cup mouthpiece will facilitate upper register playing while a larger diameter, deeper cup mouthpiece will facilitate tone production. However, there are some rather noted teacher who dismiss this idea, realizing that proper mouthpiece selection is a very complicated process. The mouthpiece is the interface between your embouchure and your horn--get it wrong and your playing will suffer. Get it right and your playing will be great regardless of register. I believe that the modern practice of moving players to a larger diameter cup as a matter of course has resulted in most young trumpet players using a mouthpiece that is much too large for them and leads to premature fatigue and the development of bad technique. However cup diameter must also consider lip shape, lip compressability and underlying dentation (teeth)--these factors will also influence rim contour and width selection. Cup design is also a significant factor in selecting a proper mouthpiece--and perhaps the most important factor in tone production. If a trumpet player does not have a strong embouchure his or her lips will "collapse" into a shallow cup mouthpiece preventing vibration, thus stopping tone production and negating any sort of "range boost" that may occur--not to mention making sound production impossible. V cup mouthpieces help produce a particularly mellow sound and mouthpieces with a V shaped entrance into the throat may also result in a more mellow tone profile. That being said, the Bach 3C is known to be a mouthpiece that offers a good compromise between range and tone production. Nothing wrong with it, just don't make the second mistake.

The second mistake is that assuming there is some sort of uniform sizing convention among mouthpiece manufacturers--there isn't, not even close. The 2 main sizing systems (a system is not the same as a convention) are Bach and Schilke. Bach is the most commonly used with a number to indicate cup diameter (3) and a letter to indicate cup depth (3C) and sometimes another letter (W) to indicate a wide rim (3CW). It is largely assumed that a 1 is larger than a 3, is larger than a 5 is larger than a 7, etc. and that is correct; however not ever mouthpiece with the same number is the same diameter. They just more or less fit into that range. The same for the depth. The best example is the 3C. The 3C has the most shallow C cup in the entire Bach range. 7C, 5C, 1C mouthpieces all have deeper cups than the 3C--C cups depths simply fall into a general range. Cups with the same letter designation can also have very different profiles. This familiar 7C, 5C, 3C format is used and has been used by several mouthpiece makers--but their 3C is very unlikely to be the same size as a Bach 3C. Their 3C is merely their medium-large diameter, medium depth cup mouthpiece. Confusing? You ain't seen nuthin' yet! Along comes Schilke with their designation system, a very common Schilke is a 14A4a--a 14 diameter cup with an A (shallow) depth cup, with a 4 (semi-flat) rim profile and an "a" (tight) backbore. Or you can get a Schilke 12--which is actually a 12C3c. They always include the diameter, but leave out the depth, rim contour and backbore if they fall into their middle range. So a 13C4 is actually a 13C4c, Yamaha uses the same system, but the convention isn't quite the same. Schilke cup size designations are also the reversed of Bach With Bach 1 is the largest diameter mouthpiece, with Schilke it's a 24. To make matters worse, Schilke has greater variability among their designs. The 13 should be a larger diameter than the 12 and the 6, but it is actually smaller than either of these mouthpieces. Why? Partly because of the way they're measured and partly because some mouthpiece designed long before Schilke developed their system and they simply plugged their existing mouthpieces into that system.

I use a 3C and have a fine higher register. It is not the mouthpiece that does it, it is your embouchure. If you risk using a 'cheater' mouthpiece so it's easier to hit higher notes, your tone will deeply be affected. Stay with the 3C.

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