Any experience with the Kanstul w4al Mouthpiece?

[steff2032]

Hi everybody.
I am a euphonium/trombone player from Copenhagen Denmark and I just joined today after reading along in secret for a long time.

Do anyone have any experience with the Kanstul w4al euph mouthpiece? They call it 4al... But is anything like the classic 4al?

Cheers

[davewerden]

Welcome to the forum!

My guess is that it was Kanstul's version of the classic Wick 4AL. This previous thread seems to confirm that:

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthr...have-right-now

[steff2032]

Thank you Dave. I thought that i searched the forum for old posts about Kanstul.. But I guess not. Anyway ill stick to my Wicks then. 🙂

[PJE]

Hi All
New member here.
I am primarily a trombone player but have always enjoyed the euphonium sound and any opportunity to play.
About 12 yrs ago I acquired a beat up B&H Sovereign which played reasonably well considering its condition.
The DW4AL and SM4U were like hand in glove for the B&H. They felt like they were made for each other.

More recently I acquired a nearly new Shires Q41.
The best mouthpiece match for it from my collection is the Kanstul W4AL.
The DW and SM didn't feel the same in the Q41 - I found they were a bit unpredictable in the upper register.
The SM4U made it sound quite dark and heavy.

So in answer to the OP's query, the W4AL rim is a bit flatter than the DW4AL, more like the SM4U and about the same diameter.
However it feels smaller to play than the DW or SM.
I think the cup volume and/or backbore must be smaller.
in my experience, the W4AL gives a warm, solid sound which is just a little bit 'lighter' than the DW.
I find it sings nicely in the upper register and is very responsive.

I'm interested to hear from other Q41 players about their mouthpiece choice and if it required a different mouthpiece to that used in other instruments.

Thanks and regards

Phil