Dr. Young Mouthpieces

[donn]

Vennture Mouthpieces will copy a mouthpiece for ca. $300. Inside copy. If you want to copy the outside profile, it's significantly more, and without knowing what their tuba blank looks like and where the throat is on that Wessex Dr Young, I wouldn't bet my life that it would be a comfortable fit inside their blank.

[hrender]

Vennture Mouthpieces will copy a mouthpiece for ca. $300. Inside copy. If you want to copy the outside profile, it's significantly more, and without knowing what their tuba blank looks like and where the throat is on that Wessex Dr Young, I wouldn't bet my life that it would be a comfortable fit inside their blank.

Based on the website, the exterior can be different things. I'd guess Bach-shaped would be the default.

https://www.vennture.mp/product/custom- ... iece-copy/

[donn]

Could be, or maybe the default is that sort of elephantine thing to the right of the profile drawing. If that's it, I can't imagine any problem fitting the Doctor in there. Other than the problem of paying for it, of course.

[hrender]

Less material removal for the "elephantine" profile. Soup can, even less. Maybe "Supe can" based on the pic title and the logo near the shank.

[donn]

There's a good chance the rim comes from the blank, not the copy, so that would be something to ask about. Personally, I don't much like the looks of that rim.

[PlayTheTuba]

I managed to end up with the Reynolds Dr. Young that came up for sale. It doesn't sound bad, I understand the concept that he was going for. The cup is simply too deep to play up to pitch. I'll see if I can make another video demonstrating it.
...

Soooooo that might be the perfect mouthpiece for an old unmodified high pitch tuba? Cool

[MartinMan]

Slight update and a few more discoveries:

Still on the hunt for a Reynolds version, but I managed to get a second mouthpiece from Wessex to use exclusively for measurements while I continue to use the other one on gigs.

In measuring the Wessex, I found that there actually is a slight taper to the backbore, as opposed to the completely cylindrical backbore on the Reynolds. The cup however, does appear to be a straight funnel, just not quite as elongated as the Reynolds (just from observing photos). I think the slight backbore helps tame some of the more idiosyncratic characteristics the Reynolds are known for (although I still want to be able to compare then side-by-side and see for myself).

Ultimately, my goal here is to eventually design my own custom mouthpiece, based largely on the internal dimensions of the Wessex, but with a few changes to the external shape and the shape of the rim.

While I love the way the Wessex plays, there are two things I dislike. 1. The inside of the rim is too sharp and feels as though it digs into my lips as I play, plus the rim is a bit too wide for my tastes and it tapers away on the edge which I don't prefer. 2. The overall mass of the whole mouthpiece is too much for me. I've never subscribed to the whole "heavyweight mouthpiece" philosophy and generally prefer as little material as practically possible.

I mentioned over in the retail forum how much I like the feel of the thinner, flat rim of my BerlinerTuba Helleberg replica, so my ideal mouthpiece would be the Helleberg rim with a Dr. Young cup. After talking with my machinist friend about it, we figured that it would make more sense to just take one of my Wessex Young1 mouthpieces and modify it as opposed to machining an entirely new one from scratch, so the plan is as follows:

Measure the rim of the Helleberg, and the internal shape of the Wessex. Design the external shape to fit more closely to the funnel internal shape (with maybe a bit if a French horn-esque curve to it just for aesthetics). Then (since the new mouthpiece is smaller in every external measurement compared to the Wessex) Shave down the exterior of one of the Wessex pieces to match our new external design, then have it replated (and of course leave my other Wessex Young1 alone in case we screw something up)

We've already taken all the measurements from the two mouthpieces respectively and have an initial prototype designed in CAD. Now it's just a matter of fine ruining some details and then loading up the Wessex info the CNC as if it were a blank and carving out the new exterior shape.

Here are a couple shots of the rough prototype design:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... vD1sSvilpk

[BramJ]

Nice work!
Would you be willing to share the cad design? I would like to try it by 3D printing

[MartinMan]

Nice work!
Would you be willing to share the cad design? I would like to try it by 3D printing

I don't have the file myself (it's on the computer at my friend's place who I have to give credit for all the measuring and CAD work. It's was incredible to watch his process. The whole thing came together in about 20 minutes.) I'll ask him and see if he's comfortable sharing.