Yesterday, I introduced Bach mouthpieces, because they have been such industry standards, and in this post I will talk about my personal opinions of Bach mouthpieces.
I use a stock Bach 1C for my B-flat, C and E-flat trumpets. I will use a Bach 10 1/2 C with a 117 backbore for piccolo (a Benge with a trumpet-sized receiver). My opinions about a few other Bach mouthpieces:
1 1/2C: a wide rim can be helpful for endurance
1 1/4C: smoother inner rim for comfort
1C flugel: A great flugel mouthpiece for me.
1C cornet: not a great cornet mouthpiece for me–too bright and trumpet-like. For cornet, I will go with a different brand (Sparx 2B, but Wick is fantastic, too)
3C: I think the 3C can be a great all-around mouthpiece, nicely suited to some light commercial playing
5C: The 5C can be a great choice for many players, especially intermediate students; also for advanced students who need more endurance and support for high notes or prefer a more focused sound on a regular basis
7C: The go-to choice for a beginner trumpeter. Almost no one who has advanced in playing plays this mouthpiece. I once played a U.S. Navy Band tour on a 7C mouthpiece because of endurance concerns. I had zero endurance problems with the 7C. However, the brightness of the mouthpieces did not always blend with the rest of the section.
7E: I don’t play this mouthpiece on the piccolo, because I think the tone quality is too bright (I believe the stock backbore for this mouthpiece is the 117, which is good).
10 1/2 C (regular backbore): I like the rim and cup combination for piccolo, but I don’t like this mouthpiece as much, because the backbore doesn’t provide the right support for piccolo trumpet. The 117 is more open and provides a more successful piccolo trumpet balance.
Another curious observation: there aren’t many trumpeters who play Bach mouthpieces in “even” sizes (2, 4, 6, 8). I’m not sure why!
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