dukoff for TrueTone tenor

[mark_m]

So I got my new TT to start up last night. Just had it a few days, no mouthpiece and the neck is so loose it wasn't playable. Stopped at Union Music in SF and found a mouthpiece, a Dukoff M 6*, says something like Super Power Chamber, Miami, $60.

Last night I slathered some vaseline on the neck tenon to see if I could get a bit of a seal. Whoa, Nelly! All of a sudden the whole horn exploded with sound. It was very reminiscent of buying an old car, not running, working on it into the night and at some wee hour of the morning getting the thing to fire up, at which point you realize the muffler's disconnected.

Anyway, it's a very bright sound, a bit thin even, but loud and clear. I'll get the neck fixed and have the horn gone over before making any judgements (it's still hard to play with the neck swinging all over the place, holding pressure to find a spot where the neck seals enough to work). But I was wondering if the "M" denotes a medium chamber, and if there's a larger-chambered version of this mouthpiece.

[Stencilman]

Neat story. You didn't mention if you have an alto or tenor. The M series has what I'd call a medium chamber. It has a lower baffle than the D series which puts it in the middle of the road as far as Dukoffs go. If you like the general sound of a Dukoff but this one is a bit bright, you might try the L series which has a larger chamber and a moderate baffle. The ones I've played were just way too dark for me.

I don't hear of many folks putting Dukuffs on these old horns, but I'm very satisfied with the combination of a 1920's TT or Martin and a Dukoff D8. The combination gives a distinctive sound, but yes, it can be very bright.

If you are playing alto, you may run into intonation problems with a large chamber moutpiece, at least that has been my experience. You might have to push the mouthpiece in very far to get the low notes up to pitch but the high notes go sharp. If you are having this problem, I've got a potential solution that will fix your tuning and darken the sound a bit.

I've been a Dukoff fan for over 20 years. The only thing about Dukoffs is that their quality control seems to be off at times and there are a lot of moutpieces out there with defects. It is best to try a few to make sure you find a good one.

[mark_m]

Sorry, it's a tenor, I think around 1930.

I'll wait 'til the horn is in order to see if the tone is affected at all. Actually if it's not I'll keep this piece in any case, it's a unique sound that will be useful. I'll also keep an eye out for an L - thanks much for that info!

[mark_m]

p.s. I also noticed that this piece was in tune when a good ways out on the cork, so the larger chamber will probably only help the intonation, in theory at least...