TromboneChat

Joe Alessi has collaborated with Greg Black, Griego, and Laskey.
I don’t have any experience with these mouthpiece lines, but I might soon have an opportunity to test quite a few of the pieces. I’ve been a professional player for a long time, and I’m not looking for anything life-changing, but I’d like to explore these series out of curiosity, mainly.

The problem is, trying too many mouthpieces, possibly dozens, at once will probably just leave me confused.
As far as I know, the Laskey line is minimalistic in approach and consists of only six mouthpieces. If I want to try those six and compare them to the most equivalent pieces from the Griego and Greg Black lines, which models would be the closest match? That way I can compare apples to apples. Would anyone knowledgeable like to suggest the closest sizes/depths?

I wouldn't call the Laskey line "Minimalistic". There actually used to be more that were made years ago when Scott Laskey was alive, and there was a lot of variation within the designs, as they were all hand made. The Laskey Alessi series mouthpieces are 6 pieces that were designed in collaboration with Joe Alessi, however they are a new design with the current staff at Laskey, and not original Scott Laskey designs. Only the "classic series" are the original Laskey designs, and again, there used to be more that were made, but over the years Scott Laskey stopped producing ones that didn't sell as well. The "New" Laskey only makes those most popular designs, as well as the new designs made for Shires artists.

As for Griego and Greg Black, I think the mouthpieces they made with Alessi are still available, but just have new names. Also in terms of selection, Greg Black has a TON of custom options, many more than you see from most mouthpiece makers.

Regarding the 55 solo, 60 solo, and 60 sym, there are some my rough measurement results for your information.

These parameters are no practical use or reference, just for fun, in my opinion and that of my friends, after measuring more than 50 mouthpieces.


The internal curvature of Greg Black Alessi 5 is closest to 60 Solo. The others are quite different.
As for play feeling and sound, my friends and I think that Laskey Alessi is not similar to Greg Black or Griego.


1. Rim and rim bite diameter
The rim diameter of 55 Solo is smaller than the Griego Alessi 5C and larger than Greg Black 5G. Btw, the rim and cup of the Griego Alessi 5C are slightly larger than Griego Artist A5C.

The rim diameter of 60 solo is smaller than the Griego Alessi 4C and larger than Greg Black NY5.


2. Rim Bite Shape
The rim bite shape of the Laskey Alessi (red lines) is different from most Greg Black and Griego mouthpieces (white lines), being more rounded and softer. The only mouthpiece with the similar rim bite shape is the Greg Black Alessi 5 (yellow line).
3. Cup Shape and Depth
As you know, the 60 Sym has a large throat. Furthermore, its cup depth exceeded my expectations. It's deeper than the Greg Black Alessi 5.5 and 5G.
The cup depth of the 60 Solo is between the Greg Black NY 5 and NY 5.25.
The cup of the 60 Solo is slightly larger than that of the Greg Black Alessi 5.
Btw, the list from largest cup to smallest is: 60 Solo, Greg Black Alessi 5, Greg Black NY5, Griego Alessi 5C, Griego Artist A5C.


4. Throat Diameter
Use some pin gauges with 0.01mm accuracy for measurement, the throat diameters of the 55solo and 60solo are between 7.11mm and 7.12mm.
The throat diameter of most Greg Black mouthpieces is around 7.15mm.
The throat diameter of the Griego Alessi 4C, Alessi 5C, and Artist A5C are from 7.18 to 7.21mm.


5. Throat Length
The throat length of the 60solo is 6.29mm, and the throat length of the Griego Alessi 5C is 6.76mm.
These throat lengths are quite long.
The throat lengths of most of Greg Black and Griego mouthpieces are less than 5mm. Half of them are less than 2mm.



6. Backbore
The backbore of the 60solo is slightly tighter than the Greg Black NY series #1 backbore.
The backbore of the 60solo is slightly closer than the Griego Alessi/Artist mouthpieces.
Btw, the Griego backbores are tighter than Greg Black W series #1 backbore.
Btw, the backbores of Greg Black Alessi 5 and Greg Black Alessi 5.5 are essentially the same as the Greg Black W series #1* backbore, are slightly tighter than Greg Black NY series #1 backbore.



7. Weight
The weight of 55 solo and 60 solo are 193.7g and 194g.
They are slightly heavier than the Griego Alessi 4C/5C and Artist A5C, which range from 191.2 to 192.7g.
They're lighter than the Greg Black NY5 and NY5.25 medium weights of 197.9g and 204.4g.

You can see a chart on this page by scrolling down: https://www.laskey.com/products/trombon ... HUvEQdMHac

The Griego numbers you see refer to the Artist line - https://www.griegomouthpieces.com/produ ... _tenor.php - not the older standard line (in which the same numbers mean different diameters - it's inherently confusing).

As to cup depth, once again they all use different nomenclature for similar things.

GabrielRice wrote: Mon Sep 01, 2025 8:15 am You can see a chart on this page by scrolling down: https://www.laskey.com/products/trombon ... HUvEQdMHac

The Griego numbers you see refer to the Artist line - https://www.griegomouthpieces.com/produ ... _tenor.php - not the older standard line (in which the same numbers mean different diameters - it's inherently confusing).

As to cup depth, once again they all use different nomenclature for similar things.

I lost a similar post to my slow typing - thanks for this Gabe! In addition, the Greg Black Alessi/NY series also doesn't fit with his numbering system for his standard sizes. It is confusing, but the number of different sizes grew, and that opened up a whole lot of confusing different numerical systems.

Jim Scott