Now that I've satisfied my new horn curiosity, I can return to the most important quest of all: finding the perfect mouthpiece. Can you handle the excitement?!?

Sometime next week I plan on placing an order at MouthpieceExpress.com. I've also heard good things about DillonMusic.com, but MouthpieceExpress has a longer trial period (2 weeks vs. 1).

As I've mentioned before, I find the process of finding a good mouthpiece to be somewhat overwhelming. There are just too many choices for me to make a confident selection. I feel like I'm just guessing. Which, I guess, I am.

MouthpieceExpress carries the following brands: Bach, Reeves, Curry, Wick, Giardinelli, Jet-Tone, Marcinkiewicz, Purviance, Schilke, Stork, and Yamaha

I want to keep the price below $50 per mouthpiece. So that leaves: Bach, Curry, Wick, Marcinkiewicz, Giardinelli, Schilke, Stork, and Yamaha (most of these are less than $40)

I currently own the following mouthpieces: Bach1 1/2C, Bach3C, Bach5C, Schilke15, Yamaha 11C4-7C (these are the only mouthpieces I've ever tried)

Of the group, I find the 5C and the Yamaha mouthpieces to be the most comfortable. I actually prefer the way the Schilke plays (the air seems to move faster), but the rim gets uncomfortable after I play for a while -it looks kind of flat to me.

So, there you have it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'll wait a week or two before placing my order.