Does anyone know the Alpha Angle of the Dennis Wick 5E Trumpet mouthpiece? Even if you don't know the numbers a "High", "Medium" or "low" will do. I can't find any specs concerning this and I don't need another Schilke 6A4a in my "collection"
Taken from a post on The Trumpet Herald.
GR:
The Wick 5E has a medium low alpha
with a very short L1. This is a much lower alpha angle than the 6A4a, 11 degrees
to be exact and that’s huge. The beta angle is lower on the 6A4a. These
mouthpieces work off different principles to achieve compression. The 6A4a uses
a high alpha and lower beta angle, the high alpha hold the lips and provides
support. The Wick 5E has as lower alpha, higher beta, the reflection/compression
comes from the higher beta angle. The Wick will feel more open because of the
low alpha angle and probably take more effort.
Depth of the 6A4a is deeper. Wick 5E has much more volume because of the larger
diameter and lower alpha angle. This is one case where the shallower mouthpiece
has more volume.
The rim profiles are pretty close from the highpoint out but the diameter is
.020 larger for the Wick 5E.
GR64E-5 has a similar rim contour and diameter of the Wick but it ends there.
The alpha has been raised to Medium about 1.5 degrees per side, the cup is
mathematically balanced, throat entrance is much improved, and GR #1 BB. There
are other similar choices from GR, 64SZ, 64Z*, 64Z**, 64S, Northern Brass 64
models, 64S-B, 64 M-B, and 64ES (closer to the cup volume of the 6A4a but with
an alpha between the 6A4a and the Wick), as well as choices from many other
manufactures.
Bottom line, we don’t recommend you buy any! We recommend doing the playing
tests with a GR consultant to find the correct match. If the knowledge in this
post is the kind of technical information you are looking for it’s only
available from a GR Trained Consultant, furthermore, they have all GR’s
resources directly available.
Click for Wick 5E and Schilke 6A4a layover comparison.
Schilke 6A4a is purple, Wick 5E is red.