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Wick mouthpiece plating

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Wick mouthpiece plating
From: john.fisher@xxxxxxxxxx (JOHN FISHER)
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 98 23:56:00 -0500
Organization: NWS BBS - NORTH ROYALTON, OH - 216-237-0167
Priority: low
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have to jump in on this plating discussion as my results seem very
different from what others are reporting.

First Paul writes:

>I got a wick mouthpiece for my horn about 9 years ago. Within a year
>the plating was wearing off and getting rough. Someone suggested a

I dunno.  I have a Wick 4AL which I bought in 1976 which has yet to be
replated and is finally due.  I bought a 4AM at the same time and
it was in better shape than my 4AL when I donated it to a college that
had an older 3V Besson compensator with the mid sized receiver.  I have
two newer Wicks - a 4BS I bought a few years back and a 4BL which I
just bought to use with my first trombone setup.  I've only used the
4BS a lot for the last year since I started playing baritone.  It has
a little less lustre than the brand new one, but not much.  Maybe some
folks saliva is more acidic than others, also the comment about soap
and water is a good idea.  I do it regularly, but probably not enough.
Use of silver polish or jewlers creme on the plating can make it look
a little better, but also takes off some plating.  I only used it on
my 4AL a very few times.  The treated polishing rags seem to work well
on the plating after cleaning with soap and water.

Ian W. Wright writes:

>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

This is even more confusing.  Gold cannot be plated directly on brass
so there has to be silver plating underneath.  My old 4AL certainly
bears this out as it seems between gold and silver in color in general
and shows bright silver in the areas where the gold has worn the most.
Could it be that the quality has changed over the years?   I'll have
to see if the newer Wicks hold up as well as my older ones.  I'm
getting my first gold plated Bach mouthpiece soon so will also be
interesting to see how the longevity compares.  Gold is just so much
more comfortable for me.

   John.Fisher@xxxxxxxxxx

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