What is the best trombone mouthpiece for jazz? We know the right answer.
The trombone is a unique lip-vibrated brass instrument that calls for a mouthpiece for playing the instrument. The trombone is unplayable without the mouthpiece, which links the musical instrument with the trombonist.
Every seasoned trombonist, regardless of whether he plays jazz-, alto-, or tenor trombone, knows only too well that it’s extremely crucial to pair the instrument with a suitable mouthpiece.
The mouthpiece type or style you choose has a sweeping influence on tonal projection and playability. The type of mouthpiece you use with your trombone critically dictates the notes that’ll emerge from the instrument’s bell. If you’re a jazz trombonist, you’d need a mouthpiece with an outsized shallow cup to optimally exploit your embouchure skills.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at our list of top six trombone mouthpieces you can use for jazz or other genres.
The 6 Best Trombone Mouthpieces for Jazz
| Image | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bach 3505G (Top Pick) | Check Price |
 | Yamaha YAC YEO-REP | Check Price |
 | Denis Wick DW5880-12CS | Check Price |
 | Bach 3413G | Check Price |
 | Bach 35015EW | Check Price |
 | Bach 3507C | Check Price |
Bach 3505G (Editor’s Choice)
The Bach 350G is a small-shank mouthpiece featuring a deep 5G cup that seamlessly fits jazz and tenor trombones. The 3505G trombone mouthpiece suits trombonists who’ve greatly fine-tuned embouchure or lipping where they make the most of their facial muscle, teeth, tongue, and lips for playing. The huge and cavernous cup goes a long way in enabling the trombone player to create a full-scale resonant and smooth tone.
Bach initially produced only a limited number of 5G trombone mouthpieces, mainly on a made-to-order- or bespoke basis. However, with the popularity of this mouthpiece model increasing consistently, Bach decided to manufacture the piece in bulk. The 3505G is ideal for trombonists habituated using a 5G-size cup on their tenor trombones with a large bore.
This trombone mouthpiece allows players to hold on to their personalized rim feel when shifting to an instrument with a small-bore such as an alto trombone or even a euphonium/baritone with a small shank.
Late Vincent Bach, the creator of Bach, a legendary trombonist, designed and crafted mouthpieces with meticulous care that have become the benchmark for the entire Bach product line. Authentic Bach mouthpieces always have been and continue to be the first choice of trombonists throughout the world, thanks to their premium quality and superior construction.
For nearly 75 years, mouthpieces of Bach have been effectively meeting the majority of trombonists’ playing needs, styles, and preferences. In addition, all Bach mouthpieces are designed with conscientious care enabling them to play inferior-quality instruments exceptionally well while making quality trombones sound noticeably better. As a result, professional players and accomplished musicians almost always choose Bach mouthpieces over all other brands for a good number of reasons.
Bach mouthpieces come with configured resistance for boosting the stamina of the trombonist and have consistent timbre across the range, flexibility of response in the low and high registers, and outstanding intonation. You can quickly identify with a Bach mouthpiece physically by the product’s model number and the ‘Vincent Bach’ inscription, and instinctively by the item’s playing attributes, tuning, and precision.
Pros
- It comes in perfectly handy for rehearsing your trombone playing skills and taking your playability to stratospheric levels
- Features a vast cup that is also quite deep for fitting perfectly on large-bore tenor trombones
- Also compatible with alto trombones and euphoniums
- Guarantees a deep, booming, and full tone
- Ideal for soloists as well as trombonists performing in orchestras
Cons
- Novice players will take a long time before they can take full advantage of this mouthpiece
Yamaha YAC YEO-RAP
Musicians, artists, and instrumentalists associate Yamaha with keyboards, pianos, guitars, and basses, but Yamaha mouthpieces are primarily unheard of beyond professional circles. Nevertheless, Yamaha has been designing bespoke mouthpieces for countless recognized players and instrumentalists for decades at R&D Ateliers.
Yamaha’s Douglas Yeo Bass Trombone Mouthpiece shares its name with the legendary bass trombonist who has been associated with the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops Orchestra since 1985.
Douglas Yeo is one of the world’s most accomplished bass trombonists to perform as a soloist on behalf of some of the world’s top-notch orchestras. The Yamaha YAC REP Replica Series Douglas Yeo Bass Trombone Mouthpiece sports a symphonic size cup that maintains a perfect balance between the backbore and the cup throat. This symmetry enables players to trumpet notes having a steady response across the low and high register and dynamics.
The Douglas Yeo’s mouthpiece ensures a vast, open, and fulfilling sound thanks to its large and profound cup. The notes are typified by an intensely focused core and a complete centered tone with an excellent and sharp overtone series.
This Yamaha bass trombone mouthpiece incorporates the top features of sizable symphonic-sized mouthpieces with a perfect amount of external mass and an accurately designed backbore and throat to boost tonal flexibility and high range.
Douglas Yeo has himself opined that this mouthpiece is meant for the trombonist looking for a hefty, rich sound with good flexibility. He adds that the Yamaha Yeo-RAP mouthpiece is just the right thing for pressing into service in jazz and church chorals as well as for recitals. Once composers, players, and trombonists opt for the Douglas Yeo Bass Trombone Mouthpiece, they’ll never have to look for another mouthpiece again.
Yamaha has developed and engineered the Replica Series mouthpieces following years of scrupulous association and teamwork with scores of veteran players at R&D Atelier. Since the day Yamaha introduced the Replica Series mouthpieces, their demand and popularity have soared, hugely compelling Yamaha to come up with a premium array.
Every mouthpiece grouped under the Replica Series is designed on a state-of-the-art CNC lathe to ensure that all pieces are identical in terms of performance and aesthetics.
Pros
- Large and symphonic-style cup for a rich and heavy sound
- Semi-flat rim profile with precisely chiseled backbore and throat for playing flexibility
- Silver-plated for resisting corrosion and improving durability
- Pairs best with bass trombones
Cons
- Getting used to the higher range with this mouthpiece is more challenging compared to a tenor mouthpiece
Denis Wick DW5880-12CS
Denis Wick conceptualized and created the DW5880-12CS Silver-Plated Medium Trombone Mouthpiece exclusively for consummate trombonists to register warmth, clarity, and sonic mellowness.
It wouldn’t be out of place to mention here that this medium-bore trombone mouthpiece is in a class of its own practically impossible to replicate. Nevertheless, Denis Wick’s mouthpieces continue to set incredibly high standards for trombone mouthpieces thanks to the creator’s single-minded devotion to his expertise and dogged attention to detail.
These mouthpieces were the ones that started and established the Denis Wick legacy and heritage and are now highly sought-after by trombonists universally. Denis set about designing trombone mouthpieces after observing that musicians and instrumentalists were direly in need of a piece that allowed them to achieve the best possible results. As a result, Denis Wick has dedicated himself to developing mouthpieces for the London Symphony Orchestra and himself since 1968.
This silver-plated mouthpiece is available in a wide range of both large and small shank sizes. Talking about the product’s model number, the initial number indicates the diameter of the cup; the lower the number, the greater the diameter. As for cup volume, ‘A’ refers to deep cup, ‘B’ refers to medium-size cup, ‘C’ refers to shallow cup, and ‘AB’ stands for a modified backbone for better range.
Pros
- Silver-plated medium trombone mouthpiece with the perfectly balanced gullet, cup, and backbore
- A clean and pure expression of response across the lower and higher ranges
- Immaculate inflection across all the registers
- It comes with both large and small shank mouthpieces for large bore euphoniums and small-bore baritones and trombones, respectively
- Works seamlessly on jazz trombones and perfectly suits lead trombonists
Cons
- If you admire robust sound, the tone might snap from time to time
Bach 3413
The Vincent Bach 3413G is a silver-plated brass mouthpiece with a large shank, deep cup, balanced throat, and backbore that pairs seamlessly with tenor and bass trombones. The 3413G mouthpiece is a bonafide Bach mouthpiece that has been designed primarily to cater to specific playing requirements and preferences of every imaginable player. As a result, this Bach mouthpiece not only makes quality trombones play better but also enables run-off-the-mill instruments to perform remarkably well.
Players can rest assured they’ll get a good response in the high and low registers, along with an even resonance all through the range. In addition, the mouthpiece’s resistance has been carefully configured to boost the endurance of the player.
Pros
- Bach trombone mouthpiece with large shank for tenor and bass trombones
- Brass mouthpiece with silver-plated finishing
- Large shank with a deep cup and well-balanced throat and backbore for superior pedal tones
- Well-rounded medium-wide mouthpiece to fit perfectly on No.3 shank tenor trombones
Cons
- Many performers and players may find the 3G size a tad too outsized, given that 5G is considered the norm for tenors with large bores
Bach 35015EW
The 35015EW Small Shank Tenor Trombone Silver-Plated Mouthpiece is a carefully designed Bach mouthpiece that helps novice trombonists develop their endurance, tonguing, attack, and lipping skills.
Vincent Bach’s mouthpieces find extensive applications in most recording studios worldwide and are also used heavily by orchestras. However, proficient trombonists think selecting the right mouthpiece is usually more challenging than deciding on a suitable instrument.
However, this Bach mouthpiece for tenor trombones with a small shank and narrow rim furnishes enormous flexibility enabling players to press their lips deeply without reducing endurance or normal blood circulation. In addition, the medium-narrow rim allows players to compress their lips with ease for high tones and project for low tones.
Pros
- Small-shank tenor trombone mouthpiece
- Silver-plated
- A very shallow cup helps boost the instrument’s pitch
Cons
- Attempting to play at a higher range might backfire initially, especially if you try to go too fast
Bach 3507C
The Bach 3507C Small Shank Trombone, Baritone, and Euphonium Mouthpiece feature a large cup with medium-shallow depth and medium-wide mildly sharp rim. This trombone mouthpiece from Bach is ideal for players capable of performing a normal embouchure and ensures a dynamic and bright tone. In addition, a mouthpiece with a larger cup with a shallow cup depth like the 3507C enables trombonists to elevate their instrument’s pitch.
This mouthpiece with a sizable cup is also more comfortable, letting players register a superior intonation despite excessive playing puffing lips up.
Pros
- Companionable with small-shank euphoniums, baritones, and trombones
- Large, medium-depth cup and medium-wide mildly sharp rim for dynamic and sparkling tone
- Players having a standard embouchure will warm up to this mouthpiece
Cons
- More suitable for trombonists who favor mouthpieces with a large cup
How to Choose a Trombone Mouthpiece?
The mouthpiece tends to be an indispensable component of the trombone-the part is so crucial that you won’t be able to play the instrument without it. So when it comes to shopping for a mouthpiece for your tenor-, bass-, valve, – or alto-trombone, you’ll need to be very cautious. However, there’s no gainsaying that choosing a mouthpiece unsuitable for your instrument is as good as playing the trombone without one.
Therefore it doesn’t bear emphasis that you must opt for the right mouthpiece for your trombone. However, given the variety of mouthpieces available out there, picking the appropriate one can be a tall order. For a start, you should be aware that since there are different trombones types, each type uses a different mouthpiece.
You should also know that even a specific mouthpiece for a specific trombone type may vary from one producer to another. Therefore it doesn’t need to be stressed that you double-check all details about the piece you’re planning to purchase. However, first and foremost, you must ensure that your preferred mouthpiece should fit not only your trombone but also your lips.
At the same time, consider that since the mouthpiece needs to generate an astonishing variety of notes, it comes in a range of sizes and depths. So whether you’re a soloist, perform in an orchestra or band, play jazz, hip hop, or pop also influences your choice. You need to pay attention to the mouthpiece’s size and throat that determine the variety of sounds the piece can produce.
Last but not least, whether the mouthpiece features silver-plating or is shaped out of titanium or stainless steel also impacts your sound.
So, The Best Jazz Mouthpiece for Trombone Is…
Given the availability of a wide variety of mouthpieces for different trombone types, selecting a piece that suits you can be pretty tough. Nevertheless, if you specialize in a particular musical genre, say jazz, the task becomes easier since you can focus your search on specifics. So if you’re a trombonist playing jazz notes, then choosing a mouthpiece with a large, shallow cup comes in handy.
Pay close attention to the mouthpiece’s cup profile, rim, throat, and backbore. Though all the mouthpieces reviewed above should work for jazz music, the Bach 3505G is the top pick because of its sweeping versatility (fits on different trombone types).