Mouthpiece adapters, some better than others?

[Nomsis]

I know mouthpiece adapters are not the greatest solution of all time but nevertheless I have a few small shank pieces that I want to try on my medium (bariton) shank german oval tenorhorn. I only have one medium shank mouthpiece and I do not plan to buy a bunch of new mouthpieces just for one instrument which I only use casually. So the question is, are some adapters better than others?

I had a quick look at thomann and found those:
https://www.thomann.de/de/stoelzel_mund ... 584982.htm
https://www.thomann.de/de/bruno_tilz_ad ... ritone.htm
but I'm sure there exist some more options. Which one does play best or do they all work equally bad? Is it worth spending more money on the tilz?

[Matt K]

They all do basically the same thing the same way. I’m not aware of any notable difference between any

[modelerdc]

I used to have an adapter that was made to fit a small shank mouthpiece to a medium shank Besson Euphonium. Since about 1974 Besson switched to a standard large shank so these aren't common anymore, but they do turn up. This just may be the size you need. This might be what you need. https://instrumentinnovations.com/tenor ... r-adapter/ I've talked to them on the phone, and found they were very helpful.

[Nomsis]

thanks, I'm based in Germany so Thomann is the easiest option for me to get this.

I was just wondering if maybe some adapters stick out more than others or some create a bigger step in tube diameter where the adapter ends or something else like this which could have an influence of how well it plays. But seems as if there are either no real differences, they don't matter or maybe just nobody has experience with this.

[Matt K]

They should be virtually identical, and allow the mouthpiece to sit approximately 1" into the receiver and themselves should fit approximately 1" into the receiver they are going in. There ARE things that adjust the "gap" and could be used to put a small shank into a medium shank, etc. but you would know if you were going to buy one (they are called "Reeves Sleeves") and I don't know of an off-the-shelf offering they have for small to medium bore.

[Nomsis]

They should be virtually identical, and allow the mouthpiece to sit approximately 1" into the receiver and themselves should fit approximately 1" into the receiver they are going in. There ARE things that adjust the "gap" and could be used to put a small shank into a medium shank, etc. but you would know if you were going to buy one (they are called "Reeves Sleeves") and I don't know of an off-the-shelf offering they have for small to medium bore.

AFAIK the gap theory trumpeters like to talk about doesn't apply to trombones because we put our mouthpiece directly into the mouthpipe instead of trumpets where the mouthpipe ends before the mouthpiece receiver does. For my tenorhorn it is the same as for trombones, mouthpieces goes directly into mouthpipe. I was not talking about "the gap" but the step created by the material thickness of the adapter at the end. I have an (unbranded) adapter from small to large shank and I noticed that the material thickness at the end is much larger than for all my mouthpieces. I hope it got clear what I'm talking about.

I think I will go for the cheapest option if nothing is known about this.

[Matt K]

They do tend to be thick, though so are the large shank Bach 6.5AL mouthpieces, as an example. You'll certainly have better results getting a shank specifically for what you're putting it in, but that is admittedly a lot more expensive.

They do make reeves sleeves for trombone: https://trumpetmouthpiece.com/products/ ... r-trombone, though they only advertise the "Remington" and large shank exterior options, one would be pretty easy for them to make. It would probably be a more satisfying solution than an adapter but it would also require fairly extensive modification, shipping the mouthpiece around, etc. not to mention expense.

[Nomsis]

I don't completely get how the reeve sleeve works but I guess before putting these costs in I could just buy one (or more) mouthpieces fitting my instrument without adapter, so it is probably not what I'm looking for.
Interesting option though, thanks for pointing out!

[Doug Elliott]

In most cases a small shank mouthpiece will not have a backbore big enough to work well in a large shank receiver. An adaptor can make it fit, but that doesn't make it effective.
That's one of the reasons I make screw shank mouthpieces.

[Nomsis]

I just want to go from small to medium so I guess it should work better than small to large. I'll see if it will work good enough, I think it will, but if not the financial loss won't be big.