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I talked to Ivan recently, and he recommended the Diablo for my 983. I also use a S3 for my 983 and really think they go well together, but I do not like how the gold wears off after a year or so. I am wondering how the Diablo rim compares to the S3.

Personally, I have a soupcan and an alan baer piece. I sound much better on the alan baer piece.

I posted a rather lengthy dissertation on what it actually did to my sound in a different thread asking about the AB piece.

I am not sure what you mean by "stalling out your chops at low dynamic levels." This sounds less like a mouthpiece issue than an air issue.

I never had a problem with playing on my heavy mouthpiece. It was easier than all other pieces I have played on until I bought my AB so I dont know exactly what you meant by "centered chops" either.

Also, I have begun to think that it is virtually impossible to tell the advantages of a particular new mouthpiece design over an old one (without playing both and listening and saying, do I like this?) simply because there are so many variables in play. My advice to you is order one and try it out. If you dont like it, I think that G&W will let you send it back. (thats what they told me anyway)

As far as endurance and general comfort go, I find the AB piece to be very good in both respects. The rim is nice and comfy and allows me to be much more flexible through my range. It opened up my sound and made it darker as well. For me this mouthpiece was totally worth it. (oh yeah, I play a 1291, but I wanted to comment on the differences between this mouthpiece and my heavy one (R&S TUHHII)) Hope that this helps you a little bit