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cheaper, but doesn't act or look that way (anymore it seems)

It has much of the same characteristics in sound as silver when compared
to lacquered (and raw brass). I suspect thou thou that the plating might be a tad thicker (?)

Edit: You mentioned St. Pete, and that might mean you are in a marked for one
You can do a lot of reading 'bout them, and not all that good.

Having tried them all (the new ones) over a longer period of time, and a freakin'
whole lot of other tubas, I can confirm that they are very nice instruments.

One problem with nickel plating is that nickel is less malleable/ductile than silver. This means that nickel will have a tendency to crack under compressive or tensile stresses more quickly than silver. The result is that if a nickel plated instrument is dented the plate is more likely to crack rather than bend with the underlying metal than silver plate would. I have seen a St. Pete that has had a significant dent on which the plating cracked and even flaked off in sharp pieces in some places. Therefore, while nickel is less expensive, it is also less durable in at least one way.

In my humble opinion... nickel plating is only good for valves.... and then only if it's done properly over a coat of copper.

Nickel plate has been used on instruments since the process of nickel plating was developed. It is a less costly but extremely durable finish. Nickels cost is high but not up there with gold and silver. It is a great material for structural plating on piston and rotary valves as well as inside hand-slide tubing for trombones but does require a good deal of facility to properly grind or hone to the desired fit and finish. The truly great things about nickel when applied to instruments has always been its bright black reflecting shine. The manufacturing industries found it so desirable because its application requires minimal surface preparation (sanding and polishing) unlike silver or gold which must be applied to a sub-straight of the desired final finish texture. The self-leveling nature of nickel plating keeps production costs down while helping avoid productivity bottlenecks in the finishing departments and that keeps finish production costs way down as well. It's a common finish found on many very old ''stencil'' or mail-order brand brasswinds from the turn of the last century because it was shiny, did not tarnish and kept well in dry storage. Nickel plated keys on clarinets are still the desired finish in my shop when restoring older models that often originally have raw nickel-silver keys and posts. Nickel is electroplated and should not be confused with nickel-silver which is made of copper alloyed with zinc and nickel that will quickly yellow and tarnish. Coating it with nickel plate keeps it nice and bright.

The downside of nickel plate is that it is difficult to work around when addressing damage. Solder repairs can be a challenge. The complete restoration of a damaged instrument requires the total removal of the original nickel plate so the sub-straight can be corrected, it can then be replated and (depending on the quality of the repair) can look like new. The good thing today is that we have simple chemical processes that allow for relatively easy removal of old nickel plate and re-nickel plating parts after repairs are complete are still relatively inexpensive.

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
http://www.oberloh.com

Lectron wrote:
I am considering getting my King Giant totally restored, and the thought ocurred to me... why not get it re-plated with nickel, rather than silver? Hence, my question.

Mr. Oberloh, I might infer from your comments that it would be feasible, and even reasonable, to consider nickel plating when doing a total restoration of my King Giant. Would you be inclined to agree?

Sousaphone?
No, go with silver.

Daniel C. Oberloh

Tone: One of my student has a Nickel Schiller Miraphone copy. His is somewhat darker sounding than my lacquered Miraphone copy. Mind you, my bell was quite damaged when I got it and required a fair amount of rolling which may have changed the characteristics.

As for the look: I'm getting used to see the nickel plated instruments now and I really try to erase the association I make to the single valve bugles I was given with the instruction to "start a band". "We found some instruments for you. It was a great deal." Nightmare!