Throughout his personal and professional life, renowned guitarist Tim Pierce has benefitted from good timing.

As a boy in the 1960s, he was exposed to Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, which inspired him to take up guitar at age 12. He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and caught on with musician-actor Rick Springfield at the time of the Grammy Award-winning “Jessie’s Girl,” consequently joining the band for several years of touring. After, he decided to put down roots and became one of the industry’s most sought-after studio musicians, playing on Bon Jovi’s first single, Crowded House’s hit album “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” and many, many others.

When the pandemic forced people indoors, Pierce had just started teaching guitar online to complement his session work. Today, he gets a million views a month on YouTube, has 500,000 subscribers, and maintains a list of 75,000 guitar musicians who seek his expertise. “I thought teaching was plan B,” he says, “but it turned out to be plan A.”

And when, after decades in the music business, he decided it was time he took care of his hearing, Pierce says he was fortunate to discover Widex SmartRIC hearing aids.

“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.”

‘The Price of Admission’

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 euphoric feeling he got in his chest, 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 ear plugs 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.”

Choosing to Wear 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. And his friends in Laurel Canyon?

“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.”

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About Widex

At Widex we believe in a world where there are no barriers to communication; a world where people interact freely, effortlessly, and confidently. With sixty years’ experience developing state-of-the-art technology, we provide hearing solutions that are easy to use, seamlessly integrated in daily life and enable people to hear naturally. As one of the world’s leading hearing aid producers, our products are sold in more than one hundred countries, and we employ 4,000 people worldwide.