TromboneChat

I am currently playing a Doug Elliot mouthpiece for maybe 10 years now on a Shires f attachment horn with .525 slide. Its an XT N105 rim with XT G+ cup. When I worked with Doug, I asked him for the biggest cup he thought I could use on this horn as I wanted to try and develop my very low register. Suddenly, it seems this mouthpiece feels too large.....I guess maybe my emboucher has changed. Until the Elliot mouthpiece, I played a Bach 5.....an original Mt Vernon from about 1965! I'm tending to think my emboucher feels better playing this smaller mouthpiece. Any recommendations of how find the equivalent to that old Bach 5?

An XT101 rim will be about the same size as the Bach 5.

For a horn that size you may want to go to something smaller overall. I'm sure Doug will chime in. A discussion with him may be much better than all of us taking a wild stab at what will be better.

Chat to Doug again

I would definitely get back with Doug. The feeling of a mouthpiece being "too big" can be caused by a lot of things.

XT N105 is definitely a big rim size, and a G+ cup is big for a .525 bore horn.
This is not a good time, I'm about to leave to go to the Trombone Festival. Maybe we can get together toward the end of July when I'm home.

“I'm tending to think my emboucher* feels better playing this smaller mouthpiece.”

That’s something.

* embouchure

I also play a Shires .525 and have recently got a new setup similar to a Bach 36 (VNY 8” bell with T25 slide) that I’ve been experimenting with, trying lots of leadpipe and mouthpiece combos. I also have a lot of DE parts, but in LT and MT series.

I definitely prefer using the small shank leadpipes, I feel the large shank pipe can make it sound a little woofy. In large shank I tried a DE G and H setup, and in small shank I have LT G, F, E and MT E and D with 100-102 rims.

For me, the horn played better as I got closer to a 6.5AL type size. Articulations had more punch, and the sound was warmer and more colourful. I would recommend something like an LT series E or F cup and 4 shank (Doug’s new * setups are great!) and the 101 rim to match a Bach 5.

Another mouthpiece you could try is a Bob Reeves/Brassark Clarke 6.5, it’s a copy of a vintage Bach but I find the rim is more of a 5 size and it’s very open and free blowing for a 6.5 size so is also a good match on a horn like that.