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I recently bought a new Vincent Bach 24AW megatone mouthpeice, and so far I love it. Now I'm considering getting the rim and inner cup gold plated. I had a friend in high school who bought a gold plated mouthpeice and really liked it, claiming that the softer metal was much more comfortable to play on and improved the tone. What I'm trying to figure out is whether not a gold plating is worth the money. Like I said, I already like the mouthpeice, but I would like to know whether a gold plating would be a significant enough improvement to be worth it. If anybody has any insight or opinions, go ahead and let me know.

From my limited experience, there's not much difference apart from appearance. When I purchased my first (of 2) gold plate mouthpiece, I convinced myself that it felt smoother and improved my flexibility. Turns out it was what I wanted to believe. The only reason I purchased a second gold mouthpiece was because it was the mouthpiece I was looking to buy for the right price and happened to be gold plated.

In theory it could have some effect or not, depending on your embouchure, whether you have facial hair, how loud you're playing, lots of stuff.

Worth it? That's a tough call even if we agree it does some good. But consider the guys who get gold caps on their front teeth and such, do you think they sweat over whether it's going to improve their chew or something? I personally would rather have a gold mouthpiece (than have gold teeth), so there you go.

Silver has an antiseptic quality that gold does not, but bling is bling.

Dennis

Gold Salts are used to help with inflammation. I think having a gold plated mouthpiece may act in the same way. Reducing the inflammation of the lips will give more longevity.

It's not all about the bling.

There are some that claim that the different plating makes a difference in the sound. I for one think that a few microns of metal on the mouthpiece won't actually make an audible difference.

However, different metals have a different feel on the lips for some people. I find gold a little smoother, less sticky, and it feels like it warms up faster. Silver feels like it grips more, feels a little cooler, and is antiseptic. From what I understand, it's also more durable than gold.

Metal choice can be important for some people with medical issues. I have a minor silver allergy - I can handle it for short times with no issue, but the longer it remains in contact with my skin, the itchier I get. If I use a silver plated mouthpiece for too long, in addition to getting itchy, I develop sores.

Some techs are starting to plate using some other metals. My tuba mouthpiece is plated in Rhodium - has the feel of gold, and is more durable.

BMadsen wrote:There are some that claim that the different plating makes a difference in the sound. I for one think that a few microns of metal on the mouthpiece won't actually make an audible difference.

However, different metals have a different feel on the lips for some people. I find gold a little smoother, less sticky, and it feels like it warms up faster. Silver feels like it grips more, feels a little cooler, and is antiseptic. From what I understand, it's also more durable than gold.

See, that in theory is where you'd get the difference in the sound. Might depend a lot on the person, but maybe at some point the silver might grab your lips in a way that affects the sound. That might be why some people find that polycarbonate mouthpieces "break up" on them at high volume, to take another example - the relatively sticky polycarbonate surface might react poorly with the more energetic buzzing at volume.

(And there could be a compounding effect with low mass - maybe a more massive mouthpiece tends to stay with you better at high volumes. I can't really picture it, but at worst it makes as much sense as any other explanation for heavy mouthpieces, including the idea of chucking them at the conductor.)

(Of course this is all pure speculation.)

Gold is pretty. I have a gold piece I use for concerts (identical to my main piece, except for plating). I don't notice a "lick of difference," other than comments/questions from my section mates asking me if that is the mouthpiece that I always use (my answer depends on how much I want to mess with their heads).

I have played a lot of mouthpieces over the years. I won't try to make a case for gold sounding better, or being easier to play, but I have long felt that gold warms up faster, and stays warm longer. To me, it makes a big difference when coming in after that 16 measure rest. Silver feels like it goes cold almost immediately.




SK

At today's prices, I'd never advocate for gold plate. I have some gold plated mps, and I love them and do feel a teeny bit of "smoothness" in the finish and "warmth". It was worth it 5 years ago, and I used to plate most mps I bought. I don't now. It's a grillion dollars per ounce now, so I can live with silver and lexan, thank you

YMMV.

J.c.S.