Posted by Rob P-M on July 12, 2001 at 10:03:50:
In Reply to: Mouthpiece for Sousaphon posted by Ulrich Meierhofer on July 12, 2001 at 07:07:23:
Although I have not liked the sound of the few Besson sousaphones I have played, in bore size it is fairly close to the classic Conn 20K. Although choice of mouthpiece is very personal, as you know, the place to start is often with the mouthpiece shipped with a horn. For many, many years, the Conn 20K shipped with a Conn 2 mouthpiece. While it has a funnel 'modern' outer design and a wide 'cushion' rim, the cup diameter, shape, depth and backbore are the same as the Conn Helleberg 7B (the smaller of the two Conn Helleberg designs). An almost identical mouthpiece is the Schilke 66, available with both a traditional shape (like a 7B) or the 'funnel' shape with the 'cushion' rim.
If the rim of the Conn 2/Shilke 66 is too small, you might try a Conn 1 (virtually impossible to come by), a Conn regular Helleberg or the Schilke equivalent.
Unfortunately, I don't know which Wick or Yamaha mouthpieces are similar to the Conns and Schilkes. You might also ask Klaus, who is a frequent European poster here who plays Conn sousaphones (a 40K and a 26K)