Question:
who does plating?
I have a mouthpiece that is promising once it gets the rails redone. But it is raw brass and I would like to get it silver or gold plated after it is refaced.
Where do I go to get a proper plating done for a saxophone mouthpiece? I'm in New York City.

Answer:
A jeweler and many repairmen can "brush plate" the facing with silver, and then gold. If you let a jeweler do this, explain how important it is that he NOT buff the area to be plated, only hand polishing.
It is necessary for gold to be plated over silver, not directly on the brass. So, first he must silver plate. As this is done it turns black, oxidation, it cannot be avoided. It happens instantly as the silver is deposited. This must be polished by hand to remove the black every so often as the area is plated.
Let me further explain, this is not dunking the whole mouthpiece in solution, but rather, with a brush device, the plating is done only on the aread touched with the solution with the brush. There is a negative lead clipped to the shank, and a positive lead goes to an anode in the brush.
After a good silver coat is applied, little by little, it is polished clean again, and then the process is repeated with the gold plating solution.
This is very thin coat, and will not alter the facing enough to notice, or even measure with the facing gauges. If it wears through in a few years, it can be redone. This is the least damaging way to do this, and is the preferred method on my own personal mouthpieces when metal is refaced.
I have both silver and gold plating solution here in my shop, and can do it for you.

Answer:
Paul, have you tried plating gold on brass? I've heard it will work, but will turn out darker than if silver or nickle is under it. I do not have any gold solution as of yet. Have you found it neccessary to use different DC levels for each solution?

Answer:
I have been holding on to this NYC contact, but I have not used them yet:
The Brass Lab
532 W 25th St #3
NY, NY 10001-5502
(212) 243-7180
I have that they might do a Silver replate for $25.

Answer:
Thanks for your knowledgable input.
Aside from the piece I have in raw brass, how necessary is it to have an already-plated piece retouched after it has been refaced? Do you guys always touch up the plating on the rails, or is it okay to just let it go?

Answer:
I rarely try to touch up a metal piece. I have played with brush plating but it is difficult to get a thick enough plating to hold up. I rather not do it than charge for it and have it not hold up.
My own personal bari piece is a metal Quantum I have brush plated with Copy Chrome. It is holding up enough to keep away the brass taste I was getting on longer gigs (2+ hours).

Answer:
I do it on metal pieces as more of a service, just to do a neat job, rather than really sell plating. It is cosmetic. Some people have more problems with the taste of brass than others. If the exposed brass is only on the facing, the problem is minimal. As far as "brass poisoning"- as far as I have researched it, it is a myth, or at the most, very exaggerated.
Putting on silver first makes the gold brighter. It is really a thin, translucent tint over the silver. This is true of gold plating on saxes, too. I get a better match of gold on Links if I apply it over silver, as was originally done.
KevyD, if it is only the facing that needs to be touched up, brushplating is the way to go. If you need the whole mouthpiece plated, you need to go to a plater experienced in doing this.
Many metal mouthpiece manufacturers do not do their plating "in house". This is due to the chemicals used, the amount of EPA requirements, disposal, etc. It is just too much hassle for a small volume that a batch of metal mouthpieces represents. So, they send the metal pieces out to a plater, then get it back and apply the teeth insert, package and ship to the customers.
One difficulty is that platers that do not understand the importance of not buffing the facing itself, and they ruin the facing. You need to have a plater that knows moutphiece work.

Answer:
Brass taste never bothered me. It's just the possible toxicity that makes me nervous about sucking on a raw piece for hours a day.
But I don't mind if it's just exposed rails. The issue there would be just whether the rails would hold up or not. I just had a piece refaced that plays great now. I want it to last. But I wouldn't touch up the plating unless it was necessary, because I don't want it changing the characteristics.
As far as the raw piece is concerned, I don't think I want it anyway. This new piece plays sooooo much better. I think I found a piece to settle on finally (at least for now!).

Answer:
KevyD,
I play on 'raw' pieces all day, everyday. No problem.
I don't see any mentioning of Nickel. Nickel is a hard metal, and very clear and bright. Usually, where I live, we plate this way.
1 - Flash copper
2 - Nickel to brighten up the following
3 - 5 to 10u silver.
I plate my mouthpieces at a commercial plant. I do all the buffing and then take one mouthpiece at a time. I stand with the plater all the time and control the process. The real issue with plating at a commercial outlet is that they are normally able to plate at fast rates, this means that the deposit can be enough to change the facing, and if the piece is not level and symmetric to the annode, there will be more deposit on one rail than on the other, this is why Jon Van Wie didn't plate pieces he worked on.
To give you an idea, the nickel tank is 1000 litres, silver 500l. Big.
Soon I'll be starting to do all the plating inhouse. In South Africa cyanide solutions are still available and give a superior result.
You can even plate at your home and do the mpc yourself. The brush plating kits from Caswell are easy to use, but the deposit is very thin. The most difficult part on your side would be the preparation of the piece, and for this you will need to use a buff for the body, 2000 grit for the rails, various grits and a rotary tool for the inside, this is hard work. Buffing the body by hand will have tiny scratches all over the place (see with microscope)
You can consider Caswell's fastgold, $93.50 for 4oz, plates with the normal ss wand and gold kit power supply. They say that it's very hard wearing.
Good luck.
JG

Answer:
KevyD,
I play on 'raw' pieces all day, everyday. No problem.
I don't see any mentioning of Nickel. Nickel is a hard metal, and very clear and bright. Usually, where I live, we plate this way.
1 - Flash copper
2 - Nickel to brighten up the following
3 - 5 to 10u silver.
I plate my mouthpieces at a commercial plant. I do all the buffing and then take one mouthpiece at a time. I stand with the plater all the time and control the process. The real issue with plating at a commercial outlet is that they are normally able to plate at fast rates, this means that the deposit can be enough to change the facing, and if the piece is not level and symmetric to the annode, there will be more deposit on one rail than on the other, this is why Jon Van Wie didn't plate pieces he worked on.
To give you an idea, the nickel tank is 1000 litres, silver 500l. Big.
Soon I'll be starting to do all the plating inhouse. In South Africa cyanide solutions are still available and give a superior result.
You can even plate at your home and do the mpc yourself. The brush plating kits from Caswell are easy to use, but the deposit is very thin. The most difficult part on your side would be the preparation of the piece, and for this you will need to use a buff for the body, 2000 grit for the rails, various grits and a rotary tool for the inside, this is hard work. Buffing the body by hand will have tiny scratches all over the place (see with microscope)
You can consider Caswell's fastgold, $93.50 for 4oz, plates with the normal ss wand and gold kit power supply. They say that it's very hard wearing.
Good luck.
JG

Answer:
I'm going to leave the piece I'm using now alone. It is gold plated and has been refaced. I don't want to mess with the facing any more now that it is working superbly.
As for the brass poisoning thing, I have found nothing conclusive. Aside from inhalation kinds of absorption, manufacturing types of exposure. And people with Wilson's Disease who cannot eliminate excess copper absorbed, which I don't have anyhow.
If there's any ill effect in the mouthpiece scenario, it's probably too long term (something else will get you first), or doesn't affect nearly enough people to become an issue. If suddenly all the brasswind players who play on raw mouthpieces drop, would the World Health Organization take notice? Probably not. Even less probable the more subtle the effects.
I imagine at the slow rate any copper from the brass is absorbed, most people's bodies can eliminate the excess in a timely fashion.
Yes, probably a myth. Construed I suppose from these allergic reaction type stories of trumpet players and their raw horns, mouthpieces. Exacerbated by a certain manufacturer's discontinuation of unlacquered horns, which surely is just a legal CYA maneuver. (And maybe I'm not helping any by summarizing my thoughts here!)
Still, being someone paranoid to use their cellphone, I can't help but gravitate towards a plated (or mostly plated) piece. With the new one I just got fixed up, it is a moot point, because it is spectacular!
Bare rails don't bother me for above reasons. I've just heard talk that plating helps the durability. Which could very well be another myth! Seems more likely that it would cause changes in the facing, so I don't want to mess with it.
Taste of brass is fine. It's spicy foods that give me trouble.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Johannes Gerber KevyD,
I play on 'raw' pieces all day, everyday. No problem.
I don't see any mentioning of Nickel. Nickel is a hard metal, and very clear and bright. Usually, where I live, we plate this way.
1 - Flash copper
2 - Nickel to brighten up the following
3 - 5 to 10u silver.
I plate my mouthpieces at a commercial plant. I do all the buffing and then take one mouthpiece at a time. I stand with the plater all the time and control the process. The real issue with plating at a commercial outlet is that they are normally able to plate at fast rates, this means that the deposit can be enough to change the facing, and if the piece is not level and symmetric to the annode, there will be more deposit on one rail than on the other, this is why Jon Van Wie didn't plate pieces he worked on.
To give you an idea, the nickel tank is 1000 litres, silver 500l. Big.
Soon I'll be starting to do all the plating inhouse. In South Africa cyanide solutions are still available and give a superior result.
You can even plate at your home and do the mpc yourself. The brush plating kits from Caswell are easy to use, but the deposit is very thin. The most difficult part on your side would be the preparation of the piece, and for this you will need to use a buff for the body, 2000 grit for the rails, various grits and a rotary tool for the inside, this is hard work. Buffing the body by hand will have tiny scratches all over the place (see with microscope)
You can consider Caswell's fastgold, $93.50 for 4oz, plates with the normal ss wand and gold kit power supply. They say that it's very hard wearing.
Good luck.
JG
Your silver method sounds a lot like the decorative chromium process. Interesting.
My family's business does a little electroless nickel...
Theoretically, plating should go on very evenly and shouldn't bother the facing. But it's best that someone do it, I'd imagine, who knows refacing, so they could touch up the piece by any means necessary.

Answer:
Is there a way to polish a brass mpc and the "lacquer" it or something similar to preserve the natural brass shine without having to resort to plating the mouthpiece? Is this what is done with a lacquered sax?
If this is possible, who could perform this kind of work. I have an old King R&B that was originally silver plated that is now bare brass and I was wondering how I could keep from having to go the brasso route.
Any input would be appreciated!

Answer:
Rio Grande sell a water based laquer that's hard wearing - Gordon NZ use it on Piano pedals. It's use in the jewelry industry so it shouldn't be poisonous.
Should work well on the body. Don't know about the rails, and I don't know how thick this stuff is after it has dried. Apparently it's very thin.
Check it out.
Regards
JG