Posted by Chris Hall on March 06, 2000 at 01:24:52:
Scott Laskey, who was the mouthpiece maker for Schilke for many years, has started his own company. While at Schilke, he made the mouthpiece that I played on for the MET audition, and also for the past three years or so. I have been hoping that another mouthpiece would come along that would make me put the old one in the drawer, and now that has happened.
Switching from a big mouthpiece like mine ( a modified PT50 ) to a more "normal (?)" sized mouthpiece was what I knew I needed to do, but I had too many complaints about most tuba mouthpieces that were available, to make me want to switch.
I always liked some Schilkes (HII and Geib), up to a point. They did a lot of things well for me, but would not hold the sound together at loud dynamics in some registers.
Mr. Laskey makes a few different models, but I will now focus on the ones that I have played. The models that I ordered are a Geib (G30), and a Helleberg II (H30).
For me, the G30 worked better in combination with me and my horn ( Hirsbrunner HB2P - 4/4 ), but I really liked the sound of the H30 a lot, but not as much with my horn as on other horns. Most players, from what I have heard, prefer the Geib with the rotary horns and the HII on the piston horns, but obviously, not all people fit into the same shoes.
Anyway, I can stop my complaining about how I haven't found a mouthpiece now!!!
I like it better. My colleagues like it better. I can hear myself better and they can, too. The sound has much more "ring" to it, and the sound is also more even, up and down.
I could say more about how much I like these mouthpieces, but I'm NOT getting paid to say this, so...
Scott says that he changed the rim shape a little, from the Schilke rim, due to enough players complaining about the "sharpness" of the rim on the Schilkes. It is a little less so, but not enough to scream about.
To get info about The Laskey Co., the web address is www.laskey.com
(You can see what the blank looks like, too; look under the heading:
Future/Custom )
CJH, tubaMETopera