Rath mouthpieces?

[Shaune24]

I need some help picking a good mouthpiece.

I currently play on a schilke 51d for my Yamaha bass trombone that has the f and d attachment. I am currently looking into getting a Rath 1/4 or 1/2 but I don’t really know the difference between them. I really want a large fat sound in my lower register and still be able to access my high registers easily. Any other mouthpiece suggestions would be greatly appreciated and any thoughts on the rath mouthpieces would be nice as well. I would like to have an easy flexibility between my ranges similar to Lionel femaux (sorry if I misspelled his last name).

Side note: I do play tuba/contra on the side as well and with my pt-50 I am able to get such a fat and nice sound in the lower range and I really wish to have that on the bass trombone as well.

[FeelMyRath]

Rath mouthpieces are very well made (as you would expect) and I find the rims very comfortable.

I play a lightweight L5BB on my R4F and love the sound and ability to alter my tonal colours that it gives me. I find the lightweight blank much less work in terms of being able to colour my sound. On Euph I use an L4 with the standard weight blank which helps me keep that lovely big fat sonorous sound that you want from a Euph.

Both my mouthpieces are gold plated and look good as new after a couple of years of playing (1 year on the L5BBLW), just some light insertion marks on the shank. I also have a silver plated L4 1/2 but much prefer the feel of gold.

I've heard very good things about their bass pieces so I'm sure you'll get along just fine with whatever you buy.

[islander]

I've played a couple of Rath 1.25s and I think on the whole their 1.5s are a better design. The 1.5 W (wide rim) is particularly good, being very comfortable and responsive. If you're using a 51 now, a 1.5 is less of a step up too.

[Posaunus]

Whatever you get in the range of true bass trombone mouthpieces will be an improvement over the Schilke 51D (a mouthpiece apparently more suitable for baritone / euphonium but played by some on large-bore tenor trombones).

Any 1¼-sized mouthpiece is a huge leap from a 51D. High register will possibly be a challenge.

[harrisonreed]

I need some help picking a good mouthpiece.

I really want a large fat sound in my lower register and still be able to access my high registers easily. I would like to have an easy flexibility between my ranges similar to Lionel femaux (sorry if I misspelled his last name).

You should play a bass trombone mouthpiece, like the ones you ask about in your post, but beyond that -- fitting your face to the right rim size, and maybe the right backbore to your horn -- you know a mouthpiece is not what gets you even 25% of the way to those goals. Everyone wants that. If there was one mouthpiece or one solution, everyone would be on that one mouthpiece.

Before I lose you, and before you dismiss this as preachy:

Forget brands. Get your hands on a few bass trombone mouthpieces between a 2G and a 1G. Do your best to achieve the goals you have described over the course of a week on each one. For some mouthpieces, you will know immediately that they aren't for you. Others won't be too bad. Those are probably your rim size or close to it. You can fine tune from there.

This can save you YEARS of time. Time wasted playing stuff for no reason other than it was a brand, or whatever.

But it won't save you from any practice time.

[Posaunus]

Forget brands. Get your hands on a few bass trombone mouthpieces between a 2G and a 1G. Do your best to achieve the goals you have described over the course of a week on each one. For some mouthpieces, you will know immediately that they aren't for you. Others won't be too bad. Those are probably your rim size or close to it. You can fine tune from there.

This sounds like good advice.

[Shaune24]

I need some help picking a good mouthpiece.

I really want a large fat sound in my lower register and still be able to access my high registers easily. I would like to have an easy flexibility between my ranges similar to Lionel femaux (sorry if I misspelled his last name).

You should play a bass trombone mouthpiece, like the ones you ask about in your post, but beyond that -- fitting your face to the right rim size, and maybe the right backbore to your horn -- you know a mouthpiece is not what gets you even 25% of the way to those goals. Everyone wants that. If there was one mouthpiece or one solution, everyone would be on that one mouthpiece.

Before I lose you, and before you dismiss this as preachy:

Forget brands. Get your hands on a few bass trombone mouthpieces between a 2G and a 1G. Do your best to achieve the goals you have described over the course of a week on each one. For some mouthpieces, you will know immediately that they aren't for you. Others won't be too bad. Those are probably your rim size or close to it. You can fine tune from there.

This can save you YEARS of time. Time wasted playing stuff for no reason other than it was a brand, or whatever.

But it won't save you from any practice time.

This is completely true! I know a mouthpiece doesn’t make a player but playing on a euphonium mouthpiece isn’t exactly helping me. But the reason I’m looking into a mouthpiece is not that I believe it will make me better but I have been missing the sound I want in my lower register and after playing on a friends Rath mouthpiece I easily achieved the sound I wanted.

[Bach5G]

" after playing on a friends Rath mouthpiece I easily achieved the sound I wanted"

Buy the Rath.

[MahlerMusic]

I'm sure Rath makes great MP's but I would just get whatever is cheap and try it out until you find the size that works for you. Then spend the bigger dollars.
Talk to fellow Bass trombonist in your area and I would bet like most of us they will have a few too many MP's that they never use. Start with a 1 1/2 sized MP and go from there.

It will be very rare that you will hit the nail on the head in your first go so spending big money would be a waste.

[Shaune24]

" after playing on a friends Rath mouthpiece I easily achieved the sound I wanted"

Buy the Rath.

I fully intend to do so but the main intention of this post was to ask the difference between the sizes and to get other general feedback on the mouthpiece and maybe similar ones before I made a pricey purchase:)

[MahlerMusic]

DO NOT buy the Rath if it's going to be a pricey purchase... figure out before hand what size is going to work for you. Plan to buy the Rath a year from now.

[ExZacLee]

If your buddy is selling the Rath for a decent price, get it. It should retain a fair amount of resale value if it is in good condition and you keep it that way.

Look around for some other 1-2 sized mouthpieces on here, eBay, etc.

Me? I got a Faxx 1.5 from horn guys a long time ago and that's the only bass mouthpiece I play on - it worked the first time I used it and I never really felt the need to go elsewhere. It's a great piece, cheap, it does what I need. When I was younger and played a bit more bass I actually used a smaller piece, a Bach 2GMy situation is different than yours - I'm primarily a small bore player, and with the exception of the occasional Kenton thing requiring two bass trombones, I don't do much bass work.

Given you play tuba and contra, you might fair better on something larger, might not...

If I were having to play more bass and my 1.5 wasn't doing what I needed, I'd contact Doug Elliot - he's pretty good at getting people in the right ball park.

[Shaune24]

If your buddy is selling the Rath for a decent price, get it. It should retain a fair amount of resale value if it is in good condition and you keep it that way.

Look around for some other 1-2 sized mouthpieces on here, eBay, etc.

Me? I got a Faxx 1.5 from horn guys a long time ago and that's the only bass mouthpiece I play on - it worked the first time I used it and I never really felt the need to go elsewhere. It's a great piece, cheap, it does what I need. When I was younger and played a bit more bass I actually used a smaller piece, a Bach 2GMy situation is different than yours - I'm primarily a small bore player, and with the exception of the occasional Kenton thing requiring two bass trombones, I don't do much bass work.

Given you play tuba and contra, you might fair better on something larger, might not...

If I were having to play more bass and my 1.5 wasn't doing what I needed, I'd contact Doug Elliot - he's pretty good at getting people in the right ball park.

Thanks this helped very much!