S.E. Shires Company small-bore trombone mouthpieces are designed for a focused, quick-responding sound with tight slotting and excellent articulation — ideal for players who favor clarity, agility, and a slightly brighter core on small-bore tenor instruments. These mouthpieces are offered in a range of rim shapes and cup depths that prioritize comfortable rim contact and rapid airflow control, while backbores and throat sizes are chosen to match the acoustics of smaller-bore trombones so intonation and upper-register clarity are easier to manage. Finished to precise tolerances and typically silver-plated for a familiar feel, the Shires small-bore pieces let players fine-tune comfort and response without sacrificing tonal focus.

The small-bore designs grew out of Steve Shires’s hands-on work building and adapting brass instruments in the 1990s, where he and his collaborators studied classic American mouthpiece shapes and distilled the elements that gave small-bore trombones their characteristic agility. Over time those player-driven shapes were refined with modern manufacturing controls and close player feedback, then put into repeatable production through partnership with Pickett Brass so each piece combines vintage-inspired playability with consistent, modern tolerances.