Having just taken delivery of my new horn I'm now once again on the hunt for the right mouthpiece. It got me thinking about how we talk all the time on this forum about different horns and how we alter them but I haven't been aware of any discussion on this hugely important aspect of horn playing! For my part, after blasting away for a few years on a combination of Vincent Bach 10's and 11's I am now waiting for my new PHC 23 (with a US1 acetal rim if anyone's interested!).
What mouthpieces do you play and do you have one that you use for everything or do you have different mouthpieces for different types of playing?

I believe a mouthpiece should be made to fit the instrument. I have a different mouthpiece for each horn but I use the same rim on all of them. I have my mouthpieces made by Tom Greer of Moosewood Mouthpieces. The mouthpiece should be part of the leadpipe/mouthpipe. Surely fit the rim of the mouthpiece to your lips, but everything else needs to mathmatically fit the instrument specs. Some manufacturers (I think Monet trumpets did this) even built the mouthpiece as part of the leadpipe at one time. Makes it difficult to clean the instrument though.

You can have different mouthpieces for doing different chores if you wish, but I suggest you limit this as you must practice with each mouthpiece to learn its own characteristics.

The PHC23 with a US1 rim will be a great mouthpiece for a long time. I have played on PHC before and I think they are a good mouthpiece. I keep the ones I have had and loan them out to my students until they switch over to a Moosewood or an Atkinson. If you find yourself doing lots of low horn, or want to get a fuller darker tone try the 25 or 30.

I use to have a Shilke 32, that I bored out larger, changed the backbore, changed the rim, and re-cut the bowl. I used this for a good 20 years and it served me very well. But now I let Moosewood do all the work.

On my Conn 8D's I play either a Moosewood NSP C1, or an F; depending. I use the F when I do a lot of playing with trumpets in the pit. Otherwise I use my NSP C1 for practically everything. I use a BD with appropriate alterations on my Paxman 40 (descant horn).

Which horn did you get?

I eventually decided on an Alexander 103, after trying out so many different horns it was the one that I kept going back to.
The attraction of the 23 was really that I wanted something with more of a cup-shape and less of a funnel.
People have said to me that once you find the mouthpiece you should stick to it no matter what horn you play, but at the end of the day the mouthpiece is part of the instrument and it has to be perfectly suited to it?! Maybe that's just my logic... but you have reassured me that I'm not alone by saying you have different mp's for different horns...especially when it's someone like you who knows what they're talking about!

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Forgot to say...the Alex is yellow brass with a detachable bell. Once my bank balance recovers a bit the next move is to get a rose brass bell for it too!

I agree with sticking to one mouthpiece early on. One reason is you don't want to change too many variables all at once. Only one thing at a time. It never hurts to every now and then try something new to see how you like it; but changing back and forth all the time is not good. Stick with what works and yet be open to change for the better.

Change by itself, or change for the sake of change is a bad investment, but being open to change and accepting of new ideas is good.

A rose brass bell flare on an Alex103? Hmmm, you do like that full sensous horn sound don't you?