Kréddle CUSHION review

I ordered the Kréddle CHIN REST a few months before the official release of the CUSHION. The idea of the cushion is to add a grip on your collar bone to eliminate a need for extra pads, cloths, or even a shoulder rest completely. 

The CUSHION comes in four colors currently, All black, black with orange trim, "Rosewood" and "Boxwood." I put the last two in quotes as they are more of a cherry and peach color and do not mimick wood tones. 

First, let's go over what works on this. It has what I would say is the perfect amount of firmness. It does not feel to soft where it may fall apart, but has enough give to where it is comfortable. It is grippy on any clothing that I wore. I was able to play without a shoulder rest and without any other need for a cloth. It was the first time in my career that I felt comfortable playing without a shoulder rest, although I did need to relear some techniques to support the viola more with my left hand during shifts and vibrato. 

There is one major problem with the CUSHION. It is big.

---

Image from Kreddle.com for example.

You can see in the image above how much depth it adds to the instrument. That in itself is not a huge difference, but for me it was too much. The instrument felt as if it was floating above my collar bone instead of being on it. This disconnect was too much for me to enjoy the instrument I was used to play on. Although I was able to remove the shoulder rest, I felt the instrument was muted under my ear because I has less contact with the collar bone to the wood. I experimented for about a month until finally switching back. The product did exactly what it said it would do, however I couldn't get past the disconnect I felt because of it. I do endorse the product, it's just not the right fit for me. 

Note: I do still use the Kréddle chin rest on it's own without the CUSHION.