Q:History of Prime Slide Design Mouthpieces

[TheCollector]

Does anyone have informations pertaining to Prime Slide Design Mouthpieces. Particularly the sizes and quality. I was only able to find a single mention on the forum and the information that they were made by Warbuton with Mike Suter.

[Jnoxon]

Prome Slid was Mike Suter thing. Kanstul made the MP and the horns. Mike is no longer with us....

(Moderator fixed his name for you - DE)

[FullPedalTrombonist]

I was just about to start a thread on this. A friend of mine sold me a set of two-piece PSD pieces several years ago. A member on TTF bought all but the one I like the most from me ( 4 cup, A rim ) to fill out his collection. I don’t remember his name.

I just bought a PSD 5A that is a one-piece construction with slightly different knurling by the shank compared to the ones I’ve known as well as a different lettering style.

As far as I know from speaking with Terry Warburton he used to make them and is no longer able to duplicate them, however it seems like he would have been able to copy one just with his own outer shape.

I sent my 4A to Doug Elliott to see about putting one of his rims on and ultimately didn’t have anything done. I do play on DE pieces with almost everything, though.

The quality looks great to me. They play great ( at least for my friend and I, specifically on Holtons ). I used to use one exclusively but it was quite barky for symphony. Fantastic commercial mouthpieces IMHO.

When I saw this 5A pop up I immediately pounced on it. Then I noticed the differences and became more curious.

When it arrives I’ll clean it up and post some photos and a better review of them.

[BGuttman]

Mike Suter was the brains behind these mouthpieces, and if I recall correctly he used to play a Holton bass.

There are probably some threads in the old TTF archives about these.

[FOSSIL]

Mike Suter was the brains behind these mouthpieces, and if I recall correctly he used to play a Holton bass.

There are probably some threads in the old TTF archives about these.

Mike played Kanstul for his last years. I think the mouthpieces were developed during those years. Even after a nasty stroke he sounded great on the mouthpiece and horn..... but he was a class act, so he would. Lovely guy. I miss him.

Chris

[FullPedalTrombonist]

I remember speaking with Mike Suter about twice about Holton and his mouthpieces.

I’m trying to remember what the numbers and letters mean. I had a 3, 3.5, and 4 cups as well as ( I believe ) A, B, and C rims. I think they were all about 1.13-1.14” rims. That’s what it feels like. I think C was wide, don’t remember B, and A is narrow. 3 was maybe 1-1/2G ish depth, but wide and a narrow throat, 3.5 felt like a shallow version of the 4 which is a moderately large bass trombone mouthpiece in feel with a huge throat. They all played great for me. I’ll see if this different looking 5A goes along with the numbers and letter with the ones I know.

[Samdance]

I have an A and B rim along with a 3 and 3.5 cup.

The A rim is about a DE LB112, the B rim is a DE LB114. The 3 cup is closest to a DE J cup, and the 3.5 is closest to a DE L cup.

The shape of the bowl and rim are very different from Doug's mouthpieces, which I have played since 1987. My DE is a LB 114 rim with a K cup, 8 shank.

I have spent a lot of time on the PrimeSlide mouthpieces though, and really like them. They are every bit as good as the DE, Black, Griego, etc. with a sound that is more commercial than all of those. Mike was a great player and very easy to talk to, I used to see him all the time when I was in LA playing in the early and mid 90's.

He truly felt that trombones had gotten too big and cumbersome in bore size/weight/etc. He called .547 trombones "baritone" trombones, but was not saying they were bad, just that they were closer to baritones than the trombone sound he heard in his head. Dick Shearer said the same thing. When you hear the national slide quartet, you can tell they do not always play large horns. They Bruce Otto was simply one of the best musicians I have ever heard that happened to play trombone, Alex Iles is the same way as is Dave Ryan.

These mouthpieces are excellent and I still use them for commercial, recording, or big band work. I have used them in orchestras with great success, but I like my DE better for that stuff. They are big, fat, focused and project like crazy. Easy to play with effortless response. I love them and would never part with them. The Dave Taylor Griego's remind me of them but play and feel very different. IMHO, they are not even close to as good as the PrimeSlide.

To quote Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Can't say it better than that.

Peace and stay well...

MB

[FullPedalTrombonist]

So the PSD 5A arrived a day early! I can’t measure a difference in size between it and my 4A. I can see them being interchangeable for me, except that my 4A carries a lot of sentimental value as well as a gold plated rim which I prefer the feel of.

[TheCollector]

Thank you for all that information, it was very helpful. Iv got a few names to look into as well now.

[JohnL]

You might try dropping James New a line. He was the mouthpiece guy at Kanstul when that was happening.

http://james-r-new.com/

[Posaunus]

It appears (from his Website) that James New is now making only trumpet mouthpieces.