davewerden

Hang onto your hats! There is another fine choice now in the realm of Wick/Bach size 4 mouthpieces. This one is made by Ultimate Brass for Adam Frey. Changing my pattern a bit, I'm relaying on the video for most of the review. I'll say first that the mouthpiece is a good competitor and is fairly comfortable to play if you are already accustomed this general size.

I'm comparing to my Alliance DC4, which seems to be the closer of the 2 mouthpieces I'm using now (my other, the DC3, is a larger mouthpiece and would not be a fair comparison). As I show in the video, the cup is a bit larger than the DC4, but the backbore is a bit smaller. That is an interesting balance. In general, a larger cup might tax the chops a bit, but the smaller backbore gives back a little in that area. I found that the Frey model went to edge a bit more easily, but it was also just a little easier in the high range. According to the Bach mouthpiece manual, both those effects are what one should expect.

Check out the video for a comparison of many excerpts in an A/B fashion (the way I typically do comparisons):

https://youtu.be/59xvtrJNQEk



And if you would like to hear the raw mouthpiece comparison without room reverb, here is a test with a close-up mic from my basement:

https://youtu.be/imc5UP8R93M




As I said, this is a fine competitor in the mid-size field. You can find the gold or silver versions on Adam's web store:

Gold Plated version:
https://euphonium.com/products/adam-...ref=r8w4MElbNO

Silver Plated version:
https://euphonium.com/products/adam-...ref=r8w4MElbNO