It ain't cheap... almost $400 for the SC mouthpiece in silver (about $560 in gold), and about $100 for the pouch. But, very, very nice looking mouthpieces.
Would love to hear more about them, because, well, I love obscure stuff, right?
I play on a Brass labs-Momo custom tuba mouthpiece and love it. The owner is master craftsman Hirotaka Nakai and he is a pleasure to work with. I have been suffering from TMJ for over a year and emailed him about designing me a mouthpiece that would help me continue to perform at a professional level while also being less taxing on my jaw. Hirotaka also suffers from TMJ.I sent him several mouthpieces and after much trial and error and using his blank he designed he made the perfect mouthpiece for me. Hirotaka makes all of his mouthpieces by hand on a lathe. He does not use CNC machines. His mouthpiece blanks are very well thought out putting weight in certain areas of the cup and throat. He is very knowledgeable and passionate about finding a mouthpiece that works for the buyer. If you want to know more please talk with Hirotaka Nakai on his facebook page or with Pete Link the American tuba player of the Sendai orchestra. Pete recently worked with Hirotaka to design his own line of mouthpieces. They are selling out in Japan faster than Hirotaka can make them. I also know that Sergio Carolino plays momo mouthpieces and has his own line.
Product information
As a result of many years of research with musicians, we have conducted various research with the musicians as the concept of development, with all the conditions for satisfying the musical expression to the maximum when the musicians play brass instruments. We have succeeded in digging down the hardness and metal crystal grains to the micro level and controlling them to the best metal state to play it. Please try it out with your own hands, as everyone will be able to bring out the maximum musical expression with minimum effort. I think that you can feel the feeling of wind performance that you have never met before.
Also:
Returns cannot be accepted in principle.
OK, this was most likely machine-translated, but why not take five minutes to have an English speaker look it over? Unless this is exactly what you wanted to say(?)
Note: I am not implying this is related to the quality of the mouthpiece. Just thought it amusing.
We have succeeded in digging down the hardness and metal crystal grains to the micro level and controlling them to the best metal state to play it. Please try it out with your own hands, as everyone will be able to bring out the maximum musical expression with minimum effort.
Zach, thanks for the details! What are rims like on the Momo mouthpieces? I didn't see any information about that... but perhaps you have something custom, anyway?
As for the rest of the Website, yes, there are some things that didn't translate so clearly. Meh!
-in regards to the translation it is a common occurrence all over Japan. On signs, t shirts, in stores etc. No matter where you go in Japan you will see some interesting translating. Why they don’t take advantage of the foreigners that live in Japan is beyond me.
-in regards to rims my rim was based off a old Laskey 30H that I sent him with a small adjustment. I know he has a Laskey 30H variant that he makes. I can’t speak for his other tuba mouthpieces because I haven’t got to try them. When the Coronvirus settles down I plan to make a trip to Osaka and visit his shop. I can update the post if anyone is interested.
-In regards to his price I think it is worth it. You are buying mouthpiece made by hand by a gentleman who has spent his life perfecting his art. In Japan his mouthpieces are a big hit.
-Just for everyone’s information musical equipment is very expensive in Japan. A schilke helleberg II Cleveland is $175.00 in the US. In Japan it is $300.00
I have helped out my fellow Japanese military musicians and have bought them mouthpieces at no profit to me.
-I don’t know what his return policy is on mouthpieces to international customers. I got a couple of days with mine but I also hired him to make me a custom mouthpiece and I live in Japan.
-If you have any questions about his mouthpieces please send a message to Hirotaka Nakai on Facebook. He is quick to respond and is a great guy.
I just heard back from Hirotaka, and got all the information I needed, and then some. Was interesting that he offers quite a few weights, the heaviest being quite heavy ("over 400g"), and called "gigatone."
All sounds cool to me, I may just have to try it...
I have two versions of my mouthpiece. A regular and heavier version. I will send you a message so you can look me up on Facebook and I can send you some pictures.
