Custom Mouthpipes

A mouthpipe's taper and venturi can correct intonation or response problems. Also, many players are not happy with their factory mouthpipe: a more resistant pipe or one with a larger cubic volume can offer great improvement. An older horn that is losing compression can be improved with a pipe that provides additional resistance. Also, worn mouthpiece receivers can cause poor response and contribute to tuning problems - sometimes the best option is to replace the pipe.

We build a wide range of mouthpipes to suit any player. A custom pipe can be ergonomically tailored to the player - longer or shorter, more open wrap or a different angle for a taller or shorter player.

To help our customers choose the optimum mouthpipe for their needs, Houghton Custom Horns commonly sends a "testing kit" including several mouthpipes that can help narrow down exactly what characteristics the player is looking for. To use the kit, the player swaps the tuning slide adapter to the desired pipe and inserts it into the main tuning slide. The receiver end of the pipe can be secured with a wrap or two of electrical tape. When testing, the player should warm-up with his standard setup, tape a pipe in place and then try short excerpts, phrases or arpeggios. The mouthpiece can be swapped in and out, and the same short phrases played, allowing an "apples to apples" comparison. The player should compare the various pipes to the current pipe, and then to each other. When testing, the player should check for evenness of response, range, ease of slurring and clarity of attack. Also, before making a final choice, be sure to check intonation with a digital tuner! A custom pipe can be trimmed shorter or longer to bring a horn to the correct pitch. Some of the trial pipes will feel great, and others will obviously be wrong for a particular player and horn.

In the mouthpipe model name, the letter (A, B or C) indicates which taper the pipe is, and the number designation (-298, etc) indicates the venturi, or starting bore diameter at the mouthpiece receiver. Also, a player might choose an alternative design or venturi depending on certain range or tuning requirements. No two players or horns are identical.