TromboneChat

I'm thinking of ordering one of these and was interested in any feedback from owners.

Thanks,

There are several other posts on this topic. I'm a long-time user (small shank 5GS) and would be happy to talk with you about my experience.PM me your phone number and a good time to call if you're interested.

Joel

DH has a very generous return policy if the mpc d/n work for you.

Sometimes I wonder wy I don´t play on the Wedge mouthpiece I own. I really liked it much, If I only played one horn I probebly would. I play 500 , 525, 547, 562 bore trombones and tuba. I say go for it, the idea is wery it works.

We talked about it last year.  I have a 6.75 and like it for small and medium bore horns doing big band and soul band.

http://tromboneforum.org/index.php/topic,84906.0.html

Works for some, doesn't work for others. Good news is you get a 90 days trial period, so it's worth trying in any case - you won't end up stuck with a hard to resell mouthpiece if you don't like it.

Forces your lips to work more efficiently, feels amazing for flexibility. Delrin version is somewhat dead and very dark - worth having the "tone enhancer" if you go that direction. If my main focus was modern trombone, I'd bite the bullet and get the expensive regular brass one.

OK my Wedge has arrived.  Acrylic (least expensive) version. Size 6 1/5AL.  It seems good, easy to blow and good articulation.  Early day so far, I'll come back after more usage with more comments.  Oddly enough it arrived the same day as a Chinese 6 1/5al which cost a fraction of the price.  Details in a separate thread.

"King Man" was the first person from whom I heard an enthusiastic endorsement of the  WEDGE mouthpiece.  I tried it and was totally amazed at how much I liked it compared to my funnel type mouthpiece that I'd played for decades.   Interestingly enough, I had a MV Bach 1G which I detested, but this WEDGE 1G was an absolute delight ! I purchased it in Delrin and later added a "tone modifier".  I now own THREE of them [all in Delrin] and couldn't be happier with my choice.  I think the design forces you to pay attention to the corners of your embouchure so that you cannot ignore this cornerstone of good brass practice. Within one day I was so comfortable with it that I used it on a gig with outstanding results.  All of the usual caveats : "Not for everyone" -- "Your mileage may vary" -- etc- etc -.  In my case it was a real winner.  I wish you the best of luck on your WEDGE journey !   Cheers !!  Bob

Not familiar with the 6 1/5AL size.  Must be one of Dave's new pieces.  I experimented both with his rims and his smaller pieces. I typically play a larger rim (Elliott 104N) for tenor but his notion that some players find they can move smaller than they normally would intrigued me.  Tried it for a few weeks but it didn't really work out.  I have one that is very similar in size to the 104N that I used for a similar length of time and didn't notice enough of a difference to warrant switching.  It was marginally better for endurance but it also wasn't quite as flexble. Makes sense, the wedge was wider on the top and bottom than my 104N, which is very narrow.  I do know enough players on them that I'm convinced it isn't snake oil - and I say that not as a meek level of praise but rather that there are those who believe that and am merely specifying that I'm not in that camp personally. I think they tend to work particularly well for those who haven't worked out their embouchure yet. It's harder to be incorrect with them. Can't be lazy about your corners or you'll leak air like crazy.

I really, really like the way the rims feel, but do not prefer the sound I get from Wedge pieces.  He's making Elliott-compatible rims though, so one could conceivably mix and match for ideal results.

I have been trying them, and then not trying them for a couple years now.  Like trombonemonkey, I love the rim, but have never been blown away with the sound.  I just picked up one of the acrylic 6.5 AL Jazz pieces with brass tone "intensifier."  It plays great.  So much better than the delrin.  The delrin versions did not seem usable to me.  I like the brass, but my face does not, and the sound was missing something.  The acrylic is playing better and feeling better than anything else I have been using in my small horn.  I have a brass Wedge 5G for my large horn, but may actually get another acrylic for that as well.  Plays as close to brass as I think as possible without actually being brass. 

I play with a Wedge 5G, large shank on both my trombone and euphonium.  I have both the Delrin and brass versions.  I've played on Wedges since 2008 and use them for trumpet, flug, and bone / euph.  I played with Storks before but haven't looked back.  With such a generous return policy there is no reason not to try.

Quote from: klimchak on Jan 23, 2018, 09:59AMI have been trying them, and then not trying them for a couple years now.  Like trombonemonkey, I love the rim, but have never been blown away with the sound.  I just picked up one of the acrylic 6.5 AL Jazz pieces with brass tone "intensifier."  It plays great.  So much better than the delrin.  The delrin versions did not seem usable to me.  I like the brass, but my face does not, and the sound was missing something.  The acrylic is playing better and feeling better than anything else I have been using in my small horn.  I have a brass Wedge 5G for my large horn, but may actually get another acrylic for that as well.  Plays as close to brass as I think as possible without actually being brass. 

That inspires me.  I might give it a whirl. Savinziedollar, too.

I have been thinking about ordering a rim only for my Doug Elliott set up.  Any thoughts there?

Quote from: David A Bratcher on Jan 26, 2018, 10:38AMI have been thinking about ordering a rim only for my Doug Elliott set up.  Any thoughts there?

They sometimes don't fit other pieces threaded for Elliott rims but they've worked on all of my actual Elliott cups.  In particular, nothing that Houser threaded for me fit the Wedge rims.  Other than that, it's the only way to get a delrin Wedge rim without a full delrin piece, unless something has changed recently in his lineup.

In that light I can't compare because I find delrin/lexan to be supremely comfortable. I really don't like metal any more. I'm spoiled! But as such I hesitate to offer an opinion on purely delrin or purely silver Wedge pieces that I've tried.  You can see some of my comments about the wedge rims for my Elliott piece above.  In a nutshell, they seem to play more like Doug's regular with tenor rims (which are the same thickness as his bass rims).  As such, if you like a wider rim it'll probably be fine but if you can tolerate (or prefer as I do) a narrower rim, it can reduce flexibility for no real gain in endurance. 

I also think that the smaller the piece, the more of an influence it is going to have. I have an ST Delrin rim that is very pronounced in its "wedge."  But the EUPH one I have is much less prominent. There's only so much material you can remove!  Part of the claim with wedge pieces is the "double oval cup" which extends the wedge shape beyond the rim into the cup. You do lose that to some extent. However, you lose less of it with the ST series than you do the EUPH series --- at two ends of the extremes.

In short, your experience will probably vary depending on what series you use.  But I'm not totally convinced of that.  This is in addition to the comments above that I made about endurance and flexibility in general and about the relative experience/seasoned-ness of the players using them.

Also forgot to mention: I'm a Reinhardt III(a?). Whichever one is like, crazy high placement.  And i play way off to the left.  If you were a more "centered" player, I suspect it might have more of an influence.  As it stands, really only my moustache gets to experience the narrower part of the wedge rim and that may have a huge influence on how you feel about these rims.

Also forgot to mention: I'm a Reinhardt III(a?). Whichever one is like, crazy high placement.  And i play way off to the left.  If you were a more "centered" player, I suspect it might have more of an influence.  As it stands, really only my moustache gets to experience the narrower part of the wedge rim and that may have a huge influence on how you feel about these rims.