Summary: Renowned guitarist Tim Pierce credits Widex SmartRIC hearing aids with not only restoring his hearing but also enhancing his social interactions and professional life as a musician and teacher.
Takeaways:
- Tim Pierce, known for his work with artists like Rick Springfield and Bon Jovi, has struggled with hearing loss for years due to his career as a musician.
- Widex SmartRIC hearing aids have significantly improved Pierce’s hearing, allowing him to engage more fully in conversations and enhance his teaching abilities.
- Pierce believes that the stigma of hearing aids is fading and that using them helps improve not just hearing, but overall brain function, making people better communicators and musicians.
Renowned guitarist Tim Pierce has had impeccable timing in both his music career and personal life. From landing a spot in Rick Springfield’s band during the height of “Jessie’s Girl,” to playing on Bon Jovi’s first single, as well as Crowded House’s hit album “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Pierce has consistently been in the right place at the right time. More recently, as his decades of playing took a toll on his hearing, Pierce once again found himself benefiting from good timing—this time with wearing the Widex SmartRIC hearing aids. The advanced technology has not only restored his hearing to levels he hadn’t experienced since his youth.
“My timing was perfect,” he says. “Because I’ve tried different devices, but I feel lucky to wear these new Widex hearing aids at a time when this technology is getting so much better. They’re revolutionary. It’s the first pair I’ve tried that lets me hear like I did when I was a teenager.”
Overcoming Hearing Challenges as a Musician
Pierce knew for years his hearing was at risk. Like many musicians, he experienced tinnitus early on and learned to deal with it. Whether live or in a studio, he found himself playing louder and louder — not only for the enjoyment of it but also to hear his playing over the volume of other instruments.
“I’ve been next to a drummer on a tight stage who’s hitting a cymbal constantly and knowing it’s wearing down my ears,” Pierce says. “In the studio, cranking up my headphones to compete with musicians in the room was one of the most damaging things.”
Early in his career, Pierce says, he was having so much fun he didn’t worry about his hearing. “It was the price of admission.” Then he started feeling discomfort. For a while, he took earplugs to the movies because the previews were so loud it hurt. “My ears were getting pushed too hard and I was having a harder time recovering from high-volume situations,” he says.
In the last decade, the damage really took its toll. “I’d be in a bar or restaurant in a crowded situation, and I couldn’t separate sounds,” Pierce says. “I knew there was a problem starting here.”
Wearing Hearing Aids
Pierce visited an audiologist, who said he was just on the cusp of needing hearing aids. One ear experienced greater loss than the other, but overall, he could manage without — if he wanted to.
Pierce chose hearing aids.
“I truly believe my brain works better when I wear the Widex hearing aids,” he explains. “Immediately I felt more alert, more awake when I used them.”
At home, he didn’t have to ask his 11-year-old grandson to repeat himself during conversations. “It’s just wonderful to be able to hear what he says the first time,” Pierce says. “He trusts that I’m listening to what he says, which is a pretty profound thing.”
Friends and musicians regularly gather at a home in Laurel Canyon, sitting outside around a fire. With his Widex SmartRIC hearing aids, Pierce’s experience has improved dramatically. He’s even pulled up the Widex Moment App on his phone to show people how he could adjust settings with a tap and enhance the voices of people he wants to hear better.
“I was engaging more fully with the group,” he says. “Socially, everything was spinning up and I could have a conversation with six different people. A year ago, before Widex, that wouldn’t have happened. I would have talked only to the person next to me and even then, I would have been much more introverted. These hearing aids have literally made me more social and engaged. I can respond quicker and smarter and more sincerely to everything everybody’s saying.”
More Natural Sound for Better Communication
Widex SmartRIC hearing aids were designed to enhance listening and communication in any sound environment. They include two directional microphones that sit higher on the ear to better capture the voices that wearers want to hear while minimizing background noise. They also include Widex PureSound with ZeroDelay technology, which delivers the fastest sound processing in a digital hearing aid to eliminate the tinny, artificial sound common in other hearing aids.
“You forget you’re wearing hearing aids because the sound is so natural,” Pierce says. “Sure, I could go through my day without them and do pretty well. But I’m starting to wear them more because I like what they do for me. My brain’s not having to work so much to understand. It gives me more bandwidth to pay attention to people, to what they’re saying, and to have more empathy and enthusiasm.”
For his online guitar students, Pierce says his Widex SmartRIC hearing aids make him a better teacher, too. He can hear notes, especially at the high frequencies, that he couldn’t discern before, which allows him to impart a fuller understanding of his craft.
“The electric guitar can sound harsh,” he says. “In the past, I’ve had to crank up the high frequencies that weren’t present in my ears to compensate. With my Widex hearing aids, I know I’m sharing guitar sounds that aren’t harsh or brittle.”
He doesn’t shy from publicly lauding his Widex SmartRIC hearing aids. He even receives comments online from people who’ve experienced the same improvement he has.
“Every musician talks about hearing. It’s a high-risk business,” he says. “The stigma of hearing aids is evaporating because everywhere we look, people have devices in their ears. The reason to wear hearing aids is that your brain works better, and if your brain works better, you’re a better musician, a better speaker, a better friend, spouse, father, or mother. You’re a better human being in the world.”
Photo: Widex
