Laskey Mouthpieces
As a a musician who's made a large part of his living, since 1979, from playing the tuba. I've realised the interface between player and instrument is so important.
The mouthpiece.
Well, after spending a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of years trying to optimise that interface, I discovered Scott Laskey's mouthpieces in the 1990s. They were a revelation to me!
Laskey mouthpieces were developed in Chicago in conjunction with Chicago's finest Tuba players.
But, interestingly enough, based around a rim profile developed for trumpet, by the legendary Adolf Herseth of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The rim of the Laskey, for me, is the key. Not to wide as to impinge the resonance of the lips, yet, also allow you to have better feed back on what you are feeling. A fine balance of feel and comfort. Not too comfortable as to not have feed back, yet comfortable enough that a 6 or 8 hour day of playing isn't painful.
But for me, the secret is that they do a range of cup depths and profiles that all have the same rim.
That means you can have a mouthpiece that suits your and your tuba and with the same feel on the embouchure, a different cup to suit the Cimbasso. The perfect interface system!
Chicago based Tubist and Teacher, Rex Martin was involved innn the design processed of the Laskey mouthpieces.
Hers's what he has to say on them:
Hi Mike,
Yes, Scott and I worked together when he was still the head mouthpiece maker at Schilke. We worked for a few years, with near weekly prototypes, before we settled on the Helleberg II. The Laskey 28H is most similar to the Helleberg II.
The 28 rim was what I eventually preferred, with the 30 being a bit too wide for me. The rim is basically Bud Herseth’s Bach trumpet rim contour (itself a one-off oddity) into tuba size. It has the high point of the rim close to the inside and then slopes away, giving the impression of a very sharp rim for excellent articulation response but if you press you get the benefit of the full width. The prototypes he made at Schilke for me, and some at Laskey, were even sharper, which I preferred, but most players didn’t have enough endurance with those.
The Helleberg II "F" was the Helleberg II with the cup depth raised by 1/3. He made that for me for an orchestral F tuba mouthpiece and it also worked very well with the Eb. That became the Laskey 28F.
My solo mouthpiece was basically Roger Bobo’s custom Schilke C4 with my rim. This became the 28C.
I like it on both F and Eb.
I have an old Geib mouthpiece (Geib had deepened a an original Helleberg 110+ years ago) that Arnold Jacobs gave me. This became the Helleberg II Geib and the Laskey 28G.
The 28B was Scott’s design for a student of mine who wanted a slightly rounder sound compared to the 28H.
The history of Scott’s own company is directly connected to his experiences at Schilke and his close collaborations with elite musicians.
Scott would experiment with annealing too. He mostly put the mouthpiece on a cast iron skillet, sometimes in a bath of oil, and aimed his torch at it.
Much of what I really loved about Scott’s mouthpieces was that he knew my strengths and my weaknesses and knew exactly exactly what he could change in a mouthpiece to help me and what I could give up without issue. He also annealed all of his mouthpieces individually with a blowtorch, and cooled them either slowly, in oil, or in a water bath depending on the sound one wanted. This was a BIG deal in his mouthpieces that nobody I know has any knowledge of. It made a wonderful difference "before and after."
Rex
Models
In their Classic range Laskey produce 3 different cup widths.
28*
30*
32*
The depth of the cup is mostly designated by the letter after the number:
B
The B cup is the deepest of the range. Designed for a rounder sound.
Mike Johnson Custom
G
Fred Geib had taken an original Heleberg mouthpiece and made it deeper.
Mike Johnson Custom
H
Based on the original Heleberg mouthpiece of the early 20th century.
Mike Johnson Custom
F
Based on the Heleberg but a 1/3 shallower.
Mike Johnson Custom
C
Very similar cup to the mouthpiece made famous by Roger Bobo. The C4.
Mike Johnson Custom
K
K is for Kerrigan. Designed in collaboration with Chuck Kerrigan, Low Brass Product Manager at the Eastman Music Company, the Laskey K Series represents a quantum leap in F Tuba Mouthpiece development. This mouthpiece pairs a unique rim contour that is a dramatic shift from standard Laskey rims, with a mid-shallow bowl that brings brilliance and tonal presence to solo and orchestral playing. Available in three rim sizes (28, 30 and 32), most players prefer the 28-rim, which provides an optimal balance of articulation and response for more athletic repertoire.
Mike Johnson Custom
The Laskey Protégé Tuba Mouthpiece follows in the footsteps of the iconic Laskey 30H. We took the 30H and reduced the rim to a "27" inner diameter, making it a 27H and in doing so, a mouthpiece that supports the embouchure development of beginner and emerging tuba players. Crafted from 360 free-machining brass, the Laskey Protégé Tuba Mouthpiece is finished with a two-tone buffing treatment that polishes the rim for comfort and flexibility, while leaving the body of the mouthpiece with a satin look and feel. Plated with a triple-strike process of copper, silver and bright silver
Shanks
All Laskey Tuba mouthpieces are available in either:
American (US)
European (EU)
shank sizes.
Prices
Silver plated
£185
Mike Johnson Custom
Gold Plated
Special order. Price on request.
Mike Johnson Custom
Shipping
UK £12
Protégé
£105
International: From £20
As time goes by I will be carrying the full range. If it's not in stock then 2-3 weeks
Please order using the contact below: