Adapter for small receiver to American shank mpc

[cjk]

It must be a one-off or custom manufacture.
….

Twas neither.

[donn]

Besides Denis Wick, and the blokepiece, which other mouthpieces are available off-the-shelf with this shank size?

Kelly offers a "small shank" version of a couple polycarbonate mouthpieces.

Now, before you get all excited ... I got one of those, and it wasn't nearly as good of a fit as the Denis Wick 5 - I had to sand the shank down significantly. On the bright side, they list the Crystal Green color, which is the best sounding, and for one model also Glow in the Dark, which at times can be mighty convenient and sounds almost as good.

Also, Josef Klier lists 12.5mm as an option for their tuba line, vs standard 13.5mm. That's within rounding error of the small shank standard, if there is a standard. If you can figure out how to exercise that option, let us know. You might ask Dillon, who carries JK mouthpieces ... well, these days it looks like they just carry adapter sleeves, like from "F tuba to Bb tuba" whatever that means, but it's out of stock anyway.

[cjk]

Besides Denis Wick, and the blokepiece, which other mouthpieces are available off-the-shelf with this shank size?

I don't mind the Wick too much, but it's not exactly my favorite rim profile.

I'm in for the long haul with the Martin, so I might as well get comfortable...! (Unless Mrs. Bort hits it big in Vegas this weekend!)

Bass trombone mouthpieces. contrabass trombone mouthpieces. Doug Elliot probably makes British shank options for tuba too.

Contrabass trombone mouthpieces seem to have smaller inner dimensions than what a tuba player would expect. Marcinkiewcz makes (made?) several models which I experimented with many years ago with an old Buesher Eb. http://www.marcinkiewicz.com/mouthpiece ... ntra-bass/ I think I played with models 106 and 107. The largest inner dimensions of those is just over 30mm.

If you find something you like on that tuba which isn’t dear (Conn 120s, Faxx HB?), you can sand by hand an American shank down to fit better.

It would probably be no surprise to you that the Sellmansberger “Imperial” would be my first choice here. It was designed as an Eb tuba mouthpiece which Joe likes. Joe does also offer a British shank for his Solo cup iirc. I’m sure he will correct me if I am wrong.

You could also keep an eye on EBay.

[cjk]

You could also put a “in search of” post in the for sale forum. I would bet there are some folks who have small shank stuff sitting on shelves as curiosities.

Also Matt Walter’s tuba shank primer:
viewtopic.php?t=870

A snippet of that quoted for ease of use.

Tuba mouthpiece shank sizes, a description.
As posted on TubeNet by Matt Walters » Tue Sep 27, 2005

A year or two ago, I made this simplified explanation of the different mouthpiece shank sizes and have sent it to my Dillon Music Customers when I needed to clear up confusion on the shank size issue.

TUBA SHANK SIZES

In the world of tuba mouthpieces, it seems there are five (5) general shank sizes and that, can lead to confusion. The Standard American and European Shank sizes, followed by the Large Shank, are the most common sizes that fit modern production tubas. From smallest to largest, we offer the following information to shed a little light on the subject.

SMALL EUROPEAN: Having a diameter of .490" at small end of shank, this size is offered by Dennis Wick in the sizes 1 through 5. Just make sure you order the one without the "L" in the model number. This size is most commonly used on old Besson tubas and old American Eb tubas. I hear this referred to as the Eb tuba size. Some old German, etc. 3/4 size BBb tubas have also shown up with that receiver size. If you are having trouble figuring out what small size shank your old tuba needs, it is about the same size as a large shank trombone mouthpiece. Borrow one from a trombonist and see for yourself. You can order a Denis Wick mouthpiece, or to have a wider variety of mouthpieces to choose from, consider replacing the receiver for about the price of a mouthpiece.

STANDARD AMERICAN: The reference point for this size of about .520" at the small end of the shank. A good example would be the Bach, and Conn Helleberg tuba mouthpieces. This is the most common size here in the United States. In the Dennis Wick line, you need to make sure it has the "L" in the model number to get this standard size. Our regular size shank Dillon Mouthpieces are also of this size. Besides American built horns, many European horns like Miraphone can use this size.
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[bloke]

That's sort of why I suggested finding someone with a Jarno reamer and cutting out the receiver on that Martin so-as (let's say: about 3/8" back from the choke point) the receiver diameter would end up being right at 1/2" - or (using both a small shank and a standard shank mouthpiece as gauges) perhaps a scant amount larger at that point in the receiver taper (whereby a small shank mouthpiece would just miss extending past the choke point, and a standard shank mouthpiece would sit not-too-terrible-far-back from the choke point).

I've found that that most modern-day compensating E-flat tubas seem to still feature small shank receivers, YET they extend out further so as to cover up enough of the shank on a standard shank mouthpiece whereby someone using a standard shank mouthpiece with those tubas has (quoting - appropriately...?? - a famous British lyricist) "nothing to get hung about".

[Mary Ann]

But the opposite exists to allow use of a (French) horn mouthpiece in an alto (tenor) horn (adapt a narrow shank to a larger receiver.) Quite a few horn players who venture into alto/tenor horn territory will use that adaptor. It does make the alto sound more like a horn though.

[arpthark]

But the opposite exists to allow use of a (French) horn mouthpiece in an alto (tenor) horn (adapt a narrow shank to a larger receiver.) Quite a few horn players who venture into alto/tenor horn territory will use that adaptor. It does make the alto sound more like a horn though.

I remember in high school marching band, the marching mellophone players would use those adapters to put their horn mouthpieces in.