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Re: Mouthpieces - Denis Wick or Vincent Bach ?

Hi all,

> I agree with Jeremy, I have a Giardinelli M P for my Bass Trom. It has a nylon
> screwable rim as well as a gold plated rim. I use the gold plated the most. The
> nylon is and has been quite suitable when playing outside especially on Nov
> 11th when it is our Rememberance Day and it is always cold.

I made mouthpieces of this type for both my Euphonium and my son's 
trumpet. I also experimented with wooden rims of various types. I 
found that, whilst the nylon rimmed type was certainly initially more 
comfortable to play outside for Christmas caroling etc., it very 
quickly caused a sore area under my bottom lip - presumably a kind of 
sweat rash but maybe an allergic reaction to something in the nylon 
although I'm not usually sensitive. The wooden rims were slightly 
better but had to be finished with a two-part plastic coating if they 
were to last any length of time and this aggravated the sweat problem 
again. My son had less problem with the trumpet ones but soon put 
them aside in favour of his all metal ones again.

As regards plating, I usually use silver plate and ask the plater to 
put a good thick layer on. The trouble with many commercial 
mouthpieces is that they skimp on the plating, particularly the gold 
Denis Wick ones where the gold will wear through in just a few months 
leaving a brass surface which corrodes rapidly and leads to skin 
problems. Where I have made gold plated mouthpieces, these have been 
plated on top of silver plate so that they are unlikely to wear 
through to the brass or, at least, give you plenty of warning. 
Any mouthpiece can be replated quite easily and most towns have 
companies who will do the necessary for very little outlay - I am 
currently paying around 3 UKP for a good thick layer of silver on 
euphonium size mouthpieces. Often an antique dealer can point you in 
the direction of a plater who will do one-offs and they will usually 
also polish the mouthpiece smooth for you before plating it if you 
tell them that is what you want. I prefer to polish my mouthpieces 
myself as I can control the shape better - the commercial polishing 
buff can run away with itself if the operator is enthusiastic!!


Ian,
Ian W. Wright
Bandmaster and Euphonium player of the Hathersage Silver Band, Derbyshire, England
see our web page at:- www.geocities.com/hollywood/6067/home.html


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