Mouthpiece plating wearing off?

[herrerabone]

The inside of the cup on my Bach 7C has started to turn a gold color. Is this because of the plating wearing off, or is it just tarnish? What should I do? It's a relatively new mouthpiece, only in use for 3-4 years (but it has seen a lot of use in that time).

Here's a Google Drive folder with some pictures:

[BGuttman]

Quick test: use some silver polish on the inside of the cup. If it comes up silver, it's just tarnish. If it comes up still copper color it's wearing off. If the rim is still intact, you probably don't need to worry any.

[LeTromboniste]

If the rim is still intact, you probably don't need to worry any.

If we're talking ease/comfort of playing, plating wearing off the rim isn't inherently bad. Raw brass rims just feel different, the same as gold plating, silver plating, stainless steel, acrylic, lexan, delrin, etc all feel different. I play on raw brass mouthpieces, so do most historical trombone players, and they can actually be quite comfortable to play on as long as it's a smooth surface. I wouldn't put silver on my rim even if I was offered money for it.

Now if we're speaking about lead poisoning... Mouthpiece blanks contain a non-negligible amount of lead, so an unplated rim could be a source of worry on that level, however the plating wear in the cup should probably be just as worrisome.

[Doug Elliott]

Do you smoke?

I'm guessing it's a smoke or coffee stain on the surface.

[Driswood]

Do you smoke?

I'm guessing it's a smoke or coffee stain on the surface.

Mine looks like that. I’m a coffee drinker, never smoked.

Jerry Walker

[mrdeacon]

Assuming you haven't actually worn through the playing and this is just discoloration you can get rid of that with silver polish.