The 72H mouthpiece solution

[bigbandbone]

When I bought my 72H it did not come with a mouthpiece. I knew it was designed to accept a Remington shank mouthpiece. Although Rem shank mouthpieces are available, the are costly, and you are usually buying blind. Kinda scary to plop down that much scratch not knowing if you will like it!

Here's what I accidentally found out. I hope it helps other 72H owners out.

The only bass mouthpiece I had laying around when my horn arrived was an old Benge 1 1/2G and it wobbled like crazy in the leadpipe. I found that a single wrap of masking tape around the shank made it fit perfectly! Be careful not to overlap the edges.

Although the Benge was playable I knew right away it wasn't the one for me. Over the next 6 months, armed with a roll of masking tape, I borrowed as many bass bone mouthpieces as I could and gave them a try. I also went to a number of music stores and tried a lot of test/open box bass bone mouthpieces.
When I found what worked best for me in this 72H I scoured the internet and local music stores to get the best price I could. Bought one. Then sent it out to Bob Reeves to get a Remington shank conversion.

By using the masking tape trick, I was able to try a lot of different mouthpieces instead of just buying a custom mouthpiece and not knowing if I wasted my money or not.

So don't shy away from buying a 72H because of mouthpiece concerns.

As a side note, the one that worked the best for me was the much maligned Bach 1 1/2G. I've now got one with a Remington shank.

[BGuttman]

I'll bet there exists a 1 1/2 GR that was made although not too many would have been. Glad your Reeves conversion worked for you.

[UncleTsune]

Other options,
Pulling out current remi shank and buy leadpipe from Brassark with morse taper, then you can use any mouthpiece.
Buy Conn 3B from eBay or somewhere. It is similar to 1-1/2G. It may costs around $70.

[hyperbolica]

Other options,
Pulling out current remi shank and buy leadpipe from Brassark with morse taper, then you can use any mouthpiece.
Buy Conn 3B from eBay or somewhere. It is similar to 1-1/2G. It may costs around $70.

[bigbandbone]

Other options,
Pulling out current remi shank and buy leadpipe from Brassark with morse taper, then you can use any mouthpiece.
Buy Conn 3B from eBay or somewhere. It is similar to 1-1/2G. It may costs around $70.

You kinda missed the whole point!

[BGuttman]

No, I think he understood your point.

Old Schilke mouthpieces (long shank) fit the Conn taper and I know at least one guy who used a 59 on his 72H.

But changing out the leadpipe to one that accepts standard Morse taper mouthpieces you wouldn't have needed the Reeves conversion.

Still, what you did worked for you. That's good.

[bigbandbone]

No, I think he understood your point.

Old Schilke mouthpieces (long shank) fit the Conn taper and I know at least one guy who used a 59 on his 72H.

But changing out the leadpipe to one that accepts standard Morse taper mouthpieces you wouldn't have needed the Reeves conversion.

Still, what you did worked for you. That's good.

I humbly disagree. By using that wrap of masking tape I was was able to try many (at least 30 for me) mouthpieces until I found the one I liked. I did not have to settle for the few that just happen to fit my horn.
Also, IMHO, changing the leadpipe would have changed the character of this vintage Conn. But let's not get into that argument!

[BGuttman]

Sam Burtis (posts under the name Sabutin, mostly on TTF) used to purposely sand down the shanks of his mouthpieces and then build them back up with Teflon tape (the stuff for pipe joints). So your masking tape mod is not much different from what Sam did. And he kept using the tape permanently. It was a way to adjust the depth of the mouthpiece to "tune" to the intonation characteristics of the horn.

[bigbandbone]

I was actually surprised at how long an application of masking tape would last and could of carried on like that indefinitely. I just really got tired of having to reapply it.
Bob Reeves did a great job.