Bach mouthpiece plating

[2002too]

Last October I bought a new Bach 18 mouthpiece for my Olds O99-3. Seems to be a good match. I play an average of about an hour each day, and after a concert last Tuesday, July 16th, I noticed the brass showing through at the rim. I took it back to the local store where I bought it, Rieman Music in Des Moines - they agreed it shouldn't have worn that quickly and offered to make good with my choice of returning it to the company, exchanging it at the store, or replating by Anderson at their expense. I opted replatng as I like the mouthpiece and I don't trust that a new replacement would give me any better wear than the original, and from what I have read here Anderson should do a proper job.

I'm curious if this was a freak occurrence or if this is just another example of a once quality company willing to chuck a great reputation to save a few cents in manufacturing costs. Comments? Thanks!

[VinnyFromBrooklyn]

i do admit this is extremely strange i have heard/seen the plating on mouthpieces chipping before (it was a Bach 24aw but that was 5-10 years old) but never anything like this personally i do not like Bach mouthpieces for tubas if worst comes to worst just send it back to the manufacture i know is usually good with returns
good luck man

[Doug Elliott]

I just recently cleaned up some pretty new looking Bach mouthpieces that buffed right through to the brass instantly. Somebody's saving money.

[royjohn]

I have never noticed this on Bach trumpet mouthpieces. I don't have any Bach tuba mouthpieces. However, the Bach trumpet mouthpieces I have are all old ones. If Doug Elliott says there have been some recent bad ones, I would pay attention to that.

It sounds like you did the right thing if you like the mpc. Anderson will do a good job for you and will stand behind the work if something goes wrong. If you had something to do with the plating loss, you would be able to see wear and scratches.

You should be good to go for a good while after getting it back from Anderson!