Curry Mouthpieces

Dale Proctor

Is anyone here a Curry mouthpiece fan? I currently have 4 that I use, and sold 3 in the past that I didn’t care for. Left to right - 3B., 3C., 3M., and 3BBC.

J. Jericho

I have a 3DC. for my cornet. It's nice, but I like my Benge 3 better.

I have a 3TC. for my Olds Special trumpet. It's a little deeper and more V-shaped than a Bach 3C, enabling me to approximate the timbre and playing characteristics of my Olds Studio trumpet.

I bought a 3M., but it didn't play as well as my Bach 3C for me, so I returned it.

One minor thing about them that I don't like is the shape. It's all taper with nothing much to hold onto when handling them, making doing so slightly awkward.

Dale Proctor

@J-Jericho
In the past, I had both a 3DC. and a 3TC. for cornet and didn’t like either one - the DC was too bright and I had squirrley intonation with the TC. I also had a 3Z. trumpet piece for a while and it was just too shallow and bright.

The shape doesn’t bother me (I appreciate the small amount of extra mass), but I wish the size markings were a little larger. When you have 2 or 3 of them in the case and the lighting isn’t good, it’s hard to tell which is which without playing them. As for his cornet pieces, the 3BBC. Is really nice and mellow, but for cornet playing in a concert band setting, I like my old Bach 3 better. Maybe it’s similar to your Benge 3.

J. Jericho

@Dale-Proctor I haven't gotten my hands on a Bach 3 to measure for comparison, but I, like you, suspect that the difference between it and the Benge could be the spelling.

Hotair

@Dale-Proctor Yes, use a 5C and a 5Z.

thirkieldh

I cannot figure out their specs. I am used to the Bach nomenclature such as 3C, 5C, 7C, etc. When I tried to contact them, I got no response.

mdwilliams

Just one, I have a 3TF I used on mellophone for a while, it was a great match for that horn!

Dale Proctor

@thirkieldh said in Curry Mouthpieces:

I cannot figure out their specs. I am used to the Bach nomenclature such as 3C, 5C, 7C, etc. When I tried to contact them, I got no response.

The ones I have are from his Standard Series, which use the Bach sizing numbers. Read over this...

Dale Proctor

I ordered a “custom” Curry 3C. cornet mouthpiece from Mark a few weeks ago and received it today. Just opened the box and took a couple pics for posterity. I’m about to try it out, and I will post my impressions of it in a week or two.

Dale Proctor

Well, I took my Bach 184 cornet and new mouthpiece to a rehearsal tonight, a large church orchestra that was meeting for the first time in 14 months. We worked on a few things for this coming Sunday, and then concentrated on patriotic music for a July 4 outdoor concert.

I always say the best way to evaluate a new horn or mouthpiece is “in the heat of battle”, and not in your safe place at home. Playing with a group, under a relentless baton will really test the intonation tendencies, crispness of articulation, endurance, range (both high and low), ease of dynamics, and flexibility of tone a mouthpiece produces.

That said, this Curry 3C. cornet mouthpiece is everything I hoped it would be for this type of playing. Yes, it’s early on in the mouthpiece honeymoon phase, but so far, so good. A good first impression is a good thing for me, because a bad first impression just about always results in a mouthpiece I eventually sell, even after giving it weeks of playing - they just never come around.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, the cornet/mouthpiece combo functioned well in a section of about 8 trumpets, and I’ll update this again after I gain a bit more experience with it.

Dale Proctor

I had another rehearsal last night for a July 4 patriotic concert. About a 2 hour rehearsal, and I was a little spent by the end, having barely touched a horn for the last 14 months. I used my new Curry 3C on the old Bach 184 cornet again, and am really happy with its playability and my endurance on it. If I’d thought about it, I would have had Mark make me one years ago.