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Has anyone ever had a mouthpiece gold plated that wasn't originally gold plated? I have a mouthpiece that I would really like gold plated, and I'm wondering if it is cheaper to have it plated than to buy a new gold plated one.

Can you do this at any jeweler? Should I trust it to a jeweler? Can you send mouthpieces back to have them gold plated or will the companies probably tell me to shove it and buy a new one?

Thanks in advance for your input.

I have had it done to several mouthpieces, many of which were not previously gold plated.

I would suggest sending it out to Anderson Plating. They are the absolute experts when it comes to plating musical instruments and related accessories and plate everything from mouthpieces to valves to entire instruments for individuals and shops alike.

Anderson's will prep the mouthpiece for plating for you, but if it needs extensive work to repair damage, you need to get someone to do that work before you send the mouthpiece in to them. I've had Lee Stofer do this type of work for me as well as Dillon Music. Both shops did an excellent job.

A jeweler could probably do it, but I don't know how satisfactory the results would be on a mouthpiece which would be handled frequently.

See http://www.andersonsilverplating.com/

I'd also recommend Kanstul Music in Anaheim CA for plating instruments or mouthpieces, they do their own plating in-house. http://www.kanstul.net/pages/staff.html You can give them a call at 714-563-1000 and ask about their mouthpiece plating, your call might be transferred to "the man" Zig Kanstul himself!

Dave
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Dr. Dave Rolf

bruce hamilton wrote:I had a good experience with mouthpieceexpress.com. Fast, cheap, and reliable.

Consider also, having just the rim plated in gold. Cheaper and it'll wear away soon enough anyway. Gold is very soft and the plating applied is only a few microns thick.

I have heard that jewelers can do the job fine, and it's cheaper. You just need to know the specs to tell them. This is just something I've heard, the only gold mouthpiece I have just happened to be the only one in stock of that size. It doesn't matter to me each way.

Nick