TromboneChat

Hi all. Currently play a 3b with a Yamaha 48 mouth piece, it's the only MP I've known.
I have a shoulder injury so looking at lighter small bores and have the chance to get a cheapish Jiggs 2b which should help with weight issues..
I'm looking for mouth piece suggestions that would pair well with that horn.
Whilst I'm happy with the Yamaha 48 and will try it no doubt, I'm very intrigued to find and try other options if anyone can help me sight in on something worth trying.
My head's a bit boggled by the seemingly endless offerings.
Thanks.
Ed.

If the 48 serves your purposes in the 3B, it will play fine in the Jiggs 2B.
When I am recommending a mouthpiece I try to offer something that will help the player to play better and easier. So I like to see and hear you play to know what may be a better choice.for your face and what playing you do. It's a lot more than which horn you use.

Have you tried taking the counterweight off of the 3b to make it lighter? This way you won't have to buy a whole new (smaller) horn.

Taking off the counterweight is likely to be worse - balance matters more than pure mass.

Have you tried a Jiggs? I wouldn't recommend buying one sight unseen if you haven't... they have a distinctive feel, and it's going to be a lot tighter than your 3B. Of course, you might love it.

A used XO 1632 might also be worth a look. Similar or lower price point, extremely light, and somewhat less of a jump in terms of overall feel/size.

Main thing is I want to try some other mouth pieces out and wondered if there are any "usual suspects" that are worth me looking at that work with smaller horns. I'm playing funk, Latin and jazz.. I like the 48 but it's all I've known and I struggle sometimes on high notes above high F in 1st. Any suggestions on options to try are most welcome. Thanks

ithinknot wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 9:24 am Have you tried a Jiggs? I wouldn't recommend buying one sight unseen if you haven't... they have a distinctive feel, and it's going to be a lot tighter than your 3B. Of course, you might love it.

No I have not, I tried a 2b which I nearly bought instead of my 3b, except the slide felt scratchy and noisy so I bought the 3b instead.

My logic to go for the Jiggs was it's weight and similarity to the 2b didn't realise there wld be much between them.

If you're looking for a lighter trombone with a single small bore the 2b+ would probably work fairly well, but try them both. Whatever works on a 3b usually works on a 2b pretty well in my experience.

Depending on budget you may also want to consider a butler bell on the 3B if weight is the primary concern.

Rededshred wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 9:58 am Main thing is I want to try some other mouth pieces out and wondered if there are any "usual suspects" that are worth me looking at that work with smaller horns. I'm playing funk, Latin and jazz.. I like the 48 but it's all I've known and I struggle sometimes on high notes above high F in 1st. Any suggestions on options to try are most welcome. Thanks

Don't make the common mistake of thinking a small mouthpiece helps with high range. Or that a small bore horn "needs" a small mouthpiece.

That high F... Are you talking about 2 ledger lines up, or 6?

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 1:45 pm

Rededshred wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 9:58 am Main thing is I want to try some other mouth pieces out and wondered if there are any "usual suspects" that are worth me looking at that work with smaller horns. I'm playing funk, Latin and jazz.. I like the 48 but it's all I've known and I struggle sometimes on high notes above high F in 1st. Any suggestions on options to try are most welcome. Thanks

Don't make the common mistake of thinking a small mouthpiece helps with high range. Or that a small bore horn "needs" a small mouthpiece.

That high F... Are you talking about 2 ledger lines up, or 6?

The one 2 ledger lines up. The G and A above I can hit pretty well but somewhat of a struggle to be consistent. They are improving slowly.

I would highly recommend taking a lesson with Doug. He has helped a lot of us out tremendously, myself included.

The arbans book is your best friend

The Jiggs 2B is an odd duck. Jiggs always played off the bumpers so the horn is built "sharp" to allow for this. If you are used to tuning with the slide closed, you will find the tuning slide to be out VERY far.

Quite frankly, if weight is an issue there are other brands about the same size as a King 3B that are made of thinner metal. In extremes, consider carbon fiber (Butler). If you aren't going to play a lot in public, a pBone is also pretty light.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 4:26 pm The Jiggs 2B is an odd duck. Jiggs always played off the bumpers so the horn is built "sharp" to allow for this. If you are used to tuning with the slide closed, you will find the tuning slide to be out VERY far.

Some very early ones seem to have come this way by default, but from the 90s onwards the Jiggs model came in two variants: the 2102L (latterly engraved 2BL) has a normal 2B tuning slide, and the 2102LS/2BLS is short.