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Question for the mouthpiece gurus:

Is there a piece out there that is similar to the Hammond rim with a more bowl-shaped cup like Wick? The two pieces I've finally settled on with my tenor are Hammond 12ML and Wick 5ABL. Ideally, I'm looking for something that won't require me to have a custom piece made.

If you have the DW mouthpiece you can send it to Karl and he will copy it for you and would probably have no issue putting his rim on it

You might consider threading your underpart and having Karl make a rim for it. Then you could sell the Hammond and it would probably pay for some of the operation.

Word of caution though, sometimes what people are after are contradictory characteristics. “I’d like X from piece A and Y from piece B”…you might come to find that what makes piece A have characteristic X might be a compromise away from characteristic Y.

I can’t say one way or the other since it’s been years since I’ve splayed either of those pieces but it looks on paper like the 5BL is a little shallower than the 12ML. The 12M is described as a V cup but it might yet be more the direction you want to go depending on what attributes of the 5ABL you like.

You also may want to consider one of Doug’s pieces. An XT101 or XT102 possibly in narrow or medium narrow is probably close-ish to your Hammond rim. And an XTF cup / F8 backbore is closer to the ABL although it isn’t quite bowl shaped. I’m not sure what he has in stock or if his machine is up and running but with his return policy it’s hard to go wrong and the component pieces are very easy to A/B stuff like this to figure out what component gives you the sound you like.

I did a lot of side grading back when I was in undergrad. I played the hammond 12L, Wick heritage 5ABL, Bach 5G & 5GS, g&w euros. One per semester as they all had something I was missing but it really wasn’t until I just went bigger that I actually found what worked best for me, which was an XT104N rim and at the time XTG/G8 for classical. But that list above are also somewhat relatable and I wouldn’t have switched if they weren’t. So they may be worth checking out but it might also be worthwhile to expand that search out to other sizes, particularly if you want to do something not custom. That also assumes you HAVENT considered such things which you may well have. If

This is why I'd prefer not to go custom - That's a lot of money on something that might not end up being what I want it to be.

As for Doug, I know he's a mod on here, but my experience with him hasn't been good. I contacted him once about trying to find the right options and his response was basically, "I don't have time to talk to you" and he never contacted me back. He had a booth at ITF, so I figured he couldn't ignore me if I was there in person. He was kind of a jerk and didn't seem interested in having my business.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for: we have a piece that is close to a Wick 4AL cup, but with an Adapted rim. In our perception more comfortable. However I personally would consider it a euphonium piece more than large bore tenor.

I would say the suggestion above to contact Karl Hammond is the one way you will get exactly what you want. They offer threading, and may be able to fit a Hammond style rim to the Wick mouthpiece. They also offer rim alterations.

If you are looking for a piece that has those exact characteristics "in the wild", I don't think you are going to find one.

What exactly don't you like about the sound or feel of the Hammond compared to the Wick? The blank shape of the two brands is quite a bit different, which needs to be taken into account.

tbonesullivan wrote: ↑Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:08 pm What exactly don't you like about the sound or feel of the Hammond compared to the Wick? The blank shape of the two brands is quite a bit different, which needs to be taken into account.

The Hammond rim is a bit wider and the inside edge of the rim is softer than Wick. I like the flexibility it gives me, and it makes me feel less tired after a long period of playing (i.e. a couple hours of practice). The trade off is the brightness.

So try an MXL or L.

TexasTBone wrote: ↑Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:56 pmThe Hammond rim is a bit wider and the inside edge of the rim is softer than Wick. I like the flexibility it gives me, and it makes me feel less tired after a long period of playing (i.e. a couple hours of practice). The trade off is the brightness.

I would definitely email karl hammond and see what they can do. As hornbuilder said above, it may be as simple as going to the MXL or L.

Hammond also offers alterations, such as cup and rim enlargements, which would definitely be cheaper than custom or having it threaded.