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Crazy idea from a person who doesn't play any wind instrument: Would it be sensible to teflon-plate mouthpieces?

How did I come up with this crazy idea? My son has a Kellyberg plastic mouthpiece (we got it for him as an early Christmas present, as the bright red color looks good at his school's Christmas concert). He doesn't play it often, since it doesn't sound as good as his regular Helleberg (and living in California, he doesn't have to worry about playing in freezing temperatures). Today, he was washing all his mouthpieces, and he noticed that the Kellyberg is much easier to clean, since gunk doesn't adhere to it. And it doesn't get stuck in the receiver, unlike the metal mouthpieces.

So this brings me to the crazy idea. One could take a good mouthpiece and teflon-plate it (over the silver or gold plating, which at that point would be cosmetic). It would have the good resonance characteristics of a solid metal mouthpiece, yet it wouldn't stick to the receiver, and it would be easy to wash.

Teflon-plating is possible, and is commonly done for medical and high vacuum components. It's probably heinously expensive in small quantities, but would probably be affordable if done for a whole production run.

Totally stupid idea? The next big thing? Discuss!

Not a stupid idea at all. In fact... there have been some experiments with E-coating on brass mouthpieces with mixed results. There are obvious differences between metal and plastic mouthpieces but not just because of the difference in weight. You've already noticed that the plastic mouthpieces are really slippery. I think this 'slickness' is pretty close to the 'slickness' of gold plating.

However... 'slickness' does not work for everyone. I like for my mouthpiece to be a little on the 'sticky' side and much prefer plain old silver plating over gold or plastic.

Note the resonance characteristics of a mouthpiece make no significant contribution to the sound coming out of the other end of the tuba - clank one against something hard to see what I'm talking about - and we're talking about possible changes to two things that do arguably make a difference. Rim grip as discussed above, and possibly the dimensions of throat and backbore if the coating is significantly thick. This doesn't mean it would turn out badly, just something to think about.

No thanks on any kind of Teflon coating for me. I've tried this stuff for valve oil and found some nasty, slimy, greenish-beige substance...

tubaguy9 wrote:No thanks on any kind of Teflon coating for me. I've tried this stuff for valve oil and found some nasty, slimy, greenish-beige substance...

A LOT of people have reported getting the nasty, slimy, greenish-beige substance with Hetmans, which DOESN'T contain teflon, so it could be the oil that's causing it rather than the teflon.

Fair enough...
Also not a fan of Teflon coated frying pans, etc. do you want that coating in your food?