Posted by Klaus on June 10, 2002 at 07:42:30:
In Reply to: Re: Polishing a MP posted by Hans on June 10, 2002 at 06:40:17:
In general I am against any polishing of mouthpieces, especially of the rim area. When any abrasive or hard clothing is involved, I find that the tiny scratches, that such polishing induces, gives dirt a better seat, than if no polishing is applied.
If a silvered mouthpiece has got black stains through a storing period, I wipe it with valve oil on a soft cloth, and then I wash it with soap and water.
The tiny amounts of silver oxide left have done no harm so far.
Yet I have had one experience, where toothpaste and toothbrush were well applied to a mouthpiece:
30 years ago I lead a small brass band in a Christian youth organisation. The funding was very low. I got a tuba on loan and managed to raise money for a mouthpiece.
A few months later I saw the inside of that, silvered, mouthpieces. A very prominent layer of brownish lime had built up in the throat and backbore areas. Looking less than pleasant. I clearly told the player, that I did not like that level of maintenance.
At the next rehearsal he showed me the shiny throat and backbore areas. He suffered from a tendency to build tooth plaque rich in lime. He had applied his special toothpaste to the affected areas with good results.
Aside from dropping mouthpieces, the dumbest attitude towards mouthpieces, that I ever experienced was delivered by a bass trombone player (not me, I played lead flugel in that German band).
On a cold winter day he did not like the temperature of his gold plated DW mouthpiece, when he took it out of the instrument case. So he rubbed the rim area very intensely against the legs of his terylene pants. Of course friction creates heat, but it also has other effects. Especially on the notoriously thin gilding of DW mouthpieces.
Klaus