To Stick or Not To Stick with the Quick Pick Wick

[kaikitano]

I recently bought a DW Heritage 5ABL to replace my old Schilke 51d, and there was an immediate improvement. Although I made a bit of a gamble by going in somewhat blind, it might have paid off? I’m not entirely sure. My tone is far clearer and it sounds quite nice in comparison to the old piece. Specifically the high range is out of this world (Wick really meant it when they said “improved high register” for the ABL).

I am beginning to have second thoughts. Just overall, my tuning fluctuates much more with the new piece and my intonation is lacking despite the clear tone. Said tone is a tad bright and somewhat hard to control for my liking. I play on a Bach A47BO, which already has a bright sound compared to the traditional strad; I am concerned that it has gone too far. The range isn’t exactly broad either. Below around middle F/ Eb, I need to focus extra on matching the tone quality to the natural feeling higher on the instrument, and the lower range is generally quite empty sounding. I have heard many mixed reviews on Heritage mouthpieces, and I am beginning to believe that you never see these for a reason. Leaning towards another search, possibly with more testing involved. Not exactly sure where to go from here aside from the general direction of Downward, any advice/ your thoughts?

[AndrewMeronek]

I like the Wick Heritage mouthpieces a lot. As for them feeling "bright", I think it's worth considering that these mouthpieces tend to be more sensitive to articulation than some others. This is a good thing; another way of thinking about it is to have a wider palette of articulation color. But - a lot of the information for general tone color that people perceive actually comes from the articulation, not just the actual sustained tone.

Just something worth making sure we're aware of.

[harrisonreed]

What do you mean that the intonation is lacking even though it has a good tone? A mouthpiece will just have tendencies, but it won't change day to day. It's a piece of metal. If it stretches the octaves or makes certain partials weird, as long as you like the sound you just learn how to play it. Unless it's made of wax a mouthpiece should be 100% consistent intonation-wise.

It's important that a mouthpiece allows you to play, easily, all the notes and articulations that you need to do your job. A "too bright" sounding mouthpiece that gives you the legato and articulations you want, and the range you need -- that is far better than an amazing sounding mouthpiece that makes it impossible to play the upper register or low notes or legatos or makes you tire out in ten minutes.

[RustBeltBass]

I recently bought a DW Heritage 5ABL to replace my old Schilke 51d, and there was an immediate improvement. Although I made a bit of a gamble by going in somewhat blind, it might have paid off? I’m not entirely sure. My tone is far clearer and it sounds quite nice in comparison to the old piece. Specifically the high range is out of this world (Wick really meant it when they said “improved high register” for the ABL).

I am beginning to have second thoughts. Just overall, my tuning fluctuates much more with the new piece and my intonation is lacking despite the clear tone. Said tone is a tad bright and somewhat hard to control for my liking. I play on a Bach A47BO, which already has a bright sound compared to the traditional strad; I am concerned that it has gone too far. The range isn’t exactly broad either. Below around middle F/ Eb, I need to focus extra on matching the tone quality to the natural feeling higher on the instrument, and the lower range is generally quite empty sounding. I have heard many mixed reviews on Heritage mouthpieces, and I am beginning to believe that you never see these for a reason. Leaning towards another search, possibly with more testing involved. Not exactly sure where to go from here aside from the general direction of Downward, any advice/ your thoughts?

Define RECENTLY !!!

[Rusty]

If it’s comfortable and gives you the sound and response you want, it’s worth sticking with for a few weeks (at least) and take it out into the field to see how it works in real world situations.

I’ve had many mouthpieces that sound amazing in the practice room, but once I take them to a rehearsal or gig playing in a section I put it away almost immediately because it doesn’t blend or project how I thought it did.

I’ve also done some experimenting with mouthpieces in theatre shows where we’re all close micd, and I find it fascinating how different a mouthpiece can sound and blend with those around you. The overtones in the sound can make it really lock in, or suddenly be hard work.

It’s hard when you’ve got lots of great mouthpieces that all play well, but you come to realise that everything is a compromise and there’s no mouthpiece that is perfect in every way (although you can get pretty close!)