{"id":46881,"date":"2017-10-14T18:35:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T22:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/?p=46881"},"modified":"2024-04-11T13:13:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T17:13:04","slug":"need-a-metal-sax-mouthpiece-facelift-contact-matt-marantz-for-a-replating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/need-a-metal-sax-mouthpiece-facelift-contact-matt-marantz-for-a-replating\/","title":{"rendered":"Need a Metal Sax Mouthpiece Facelift? Contact Matt Marantz for a Replating"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many years now I have been looking around for someone who replates saxophone mouthpieces.\u00a0 Back in the 90’s,\u00a0 I had a mouthpiece that had the bite plate fall off and then the gold plating was all wearing away.\u00a0 I read about health hazards that could come from playing a raw brass or copper mouthpiece on the internet at that time but I ignored all that as rumors and hogwash.<\/p>\n

Although probably unrelated, if you have read my “Funny as a Brain Tumor<\/a>” story you will see that shortly after that time I was struck down with a brain tumor, cancer, bacterial meningitis twice, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, increased intracranial pressure, a number of various allergic reactions, depression (who wouldn’t be depressed with all of this…..), back surgery twice, and lastly a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.\u00a0 Although my doctors, during this time, always insisted that playing a raw copper mouthpiece wouldn’t cause all of these issues (Yes, I did indeed ask them this…..), I always had my doubts……..<\/p>\n

Around the year 2000 I started to look around to have my mouthpiece replated and have a new bite plate put on.\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0 the company that made it didn’t do replating work on their old mouthpieces and I could find any other company to do it for me.\u00a0 \u00a0I did hear of “Anderson Plating” but was told that they just plate and I would probably have to send it to a mouthpiece refacer afterwards to have them check it and adjust it.\u00a0 That scared the tar out of me as I really loved this mouthpiece so I never took that chance.<\/p>\n

By this time, there was a big hunk of copper missing out of the mouthpiece where my teeth usually sit on the top (I didn’t like mouthpiece patches back then as I felt they changed the sound I was hearing in my head.)\u00a0 \u00a0 I decided to retire the old girl and it went into the infamous mouthpiece drawer where all loyal beatup mouthpieces go to live out their end days.<\/p>\n

Now 17 years later, I have two Otto Links that I really love but when I got them they were raw brass.\u00a0 \u00a0I was kind of joking above with my list of medical problems and all that but at the same time, I can’t help but think about some of the rumors I have heard people spout on the internet every time I play these two mouthpieces. You read words like metallic poisoning, lead leaching, allergic, brass poisoning, etc…… Here’s a picture of the two mouthpieces:<\/p>\n

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Bare Brass Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link Top View<\/strong><\/p>\n

One is an Otto Link Double Ring 7\u00a0 that I got in a trade for a Freddie Gregory mouthpiece years ago.\u00a0 The other is an Otto Link Florida model 7*.\u00a0 Both of these were refaced by Brian Powell at some point before I received them.\u00a0 As you can see, there is not an ounce of plating left on these two mouthpieces.\u00a0 It’s almost like they were stripped down to the raw brass by someone on purpose.<\/p>\n

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Bare Brass Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link Table View<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Bare Brass Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link View from Above<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read on SOTW that Matt Marantz was fiddling around with plating mouthpiece back in 2016 sometime and it caught my attention.\u00a0 I was a bit nervous to send him anything I really cared about back then as he admitted that he was still experimenting and getting things figured out.\u00a0 This year he sounded more confident and the pictures of his work he was posting online looked incredible.\u00a0 \u00a0I decided to take a chance……<\/p>\n

After communicating with Matt about the process and having him assure me that the facings on the mouthpieces would not change to any noticeable degree I sent them off.\u00a0 Three weeks from the date I sent them I received them back and this is the first picture I took.\u00a0 Nice right!<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link Top View in Shade<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the sax mouthpieces don’t look 100% perfect and brand new I am ok with that because they are plated and look a heck of a lot better than raw brass.\u00a0 Matt admitted to me that old sax mouthpieces usually have a lot of imperfections, scratches, bumps and dents you usually don’t see in raw brass but once you put a shiny gold plating on them much is revealed that you couldn’t see before.<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link Top View in Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a description from Matt Marantz on the work he does while replating:<\/p>\n

I can plate it for you in your choice of silver rhodium, black rhodium (like a gunmetal color), or 24k gold. The plating I do involves a strong, thick barrier layer of nickel over the brass before plating a fine metal over it. Unlike some other alloys, brass contains a large percentage of copper so you actually do not need to flash plate a copper layer on brass, you can just plate a nickel barrier then go straight to your fine metal.<\/em><\/p>\n

My pricing for electroplating is as follows: If someone sends me a pre-polished (by a pro) mouthpiece that is ready to simply electroclean & dip into the plating tanks, I do it for $60. However, 95% of the time there is at least some (or sometimes quite a lot) of cosmetic preparation that needs to be done to achieve\u00a0a quality result, and the only way you are going to get that service is if you send it to a mouthpiece guy who knows how to prep for plating without changing anything about the facing or the playing characteristics of your (often) prized mouthpiece. <\/em><\/p>\n

It can take me anywhere from one to two hours to remove scratches, divots, internal machine marks, or anything else that gets in the way of making your mouthpiece look beautiful if the desired result is a quality aesthetically pleasing finish, and for that plating-prep + plating service I charge $100 total. <\/em>Plating only enhances blemishes, so I try to make it look nice before dipping it in the tank. <\/em><\/p>\n

Functionally, plating doesn’t change much about the piece other than the fact that your brass will be protected and the mouthpiece may play a little smoother at first because of how clean it will be when you get it back.<\/em><\/p>\n

The advantage of sending it to someone like me is that I specialize in both mouthpiece work as well as electroplating. I almost gave up on the electroplating last year out of frustration, but I have finally ironed out all the difficulties associated with the semi-mystery behind the electroplating process and currently feel 100% confident about my plating setup. It’s completely a breeze now, just took me a lot of time and practice to figure out how to do it. It is not exactly easy to learn how to do it.\u00a0<\/em>I plan to keep using the same formula in the future now that I’ve found a combination of solutions, temperatures, and dip times that work consistently well every time.-Matt Marantz<\/em><\/p>\n

Let me know if you want to send it in. Contact me at\u00a0www.marantzcustommouthpieces.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link and Florida Otto Link Table View<\/strong><\/p>\n

My two Otto Links were totally plating free so as it says the price was either $60 to just plate them and nothing else or $100 to take the time to make them prettier.\u00a0 \u00a0I ended up paying $100 for each of them.<\/p>\n

I actually sent Matt a third mouthpiece that I’m not including in this article because I didn’t get a before picture.\u00a0 It is a RS Berkeley Chris Potter mouthpiece<\/a>.\u00a0 It has a unique looking brushed look to the unplated raw brass but any time I play it, it ends up looking terrible.\u00a0 Starts turning a shade of dark green and turning all my reeds green as do the two Otto Links above.<\/p>\n

I never knew what this green color on my reeds was in the past but Matt was happy to inform all of us on SOTW:<\/p>\n

“The green tarnish you see on your mouthpiece is caused by oxidation of the brass, i.e. chemical reactions between the copper in the alloy and the atmosphere of the earth. Copper carbonate is what you most often see showing up on brass. The resultant discoloration is often called patina as well. It is not harmful for you to play this mouthpiece, but it will also turn your reeds green. You’ll notice that if you play a non-plated mouthpiece a lot with cane reeds, and especially if you leave the reed on the mouthpiece overnight as it dries out, you’ll get green discoloration transferred to the reeds as well.” -Matt Marantz\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link Top View<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link Table View<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second thing I did after opening the package of the returning mouthpieces and visually inspecting them, was to play them.\u00a0 All this pretty gold shine means nothing if it changes how these mouthpieces played for me.\u00a0 \u00a0First, I tried the Double Ring Otto Link.\u00a0 The reed sealed.\u00a0 That’s a good sign.\u00a0 I played it and it sounded and responded like I remembered. Awesome!<\/p>\n

Next I tried the Florida Otto Link and that too sealed and sounded like I had remembered it sounding.\u00a0 No change that I could perceive of.\u00a0 \u00a0Lastly,\u00a0 I put on the RSBerkeley Chris Potter mouthpiece and that also played exactly like I remembered it.<\/p>\n

Whew!\u00a0 \u00a0This part of it was what I was most anxious about.\u00a0 That being said, this is also why I had confidence in sending these three mouthpieces to Matt Marantz.\u00a0 If nothing else, Matt is very exact, measured and precise in his descriptions and communications.\u00a0 These communications and public posts he has posted have led me to believe he is focused on the minute details.\u00a0 He said the facings would remain the same and he would take every precaution to assure that and I believed him.<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Double Ring Otto Link View from Above<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt is also a phenomenal player besides being a mouthpiece craftsman.\u00a0 He’s not just some tech in the back of a shop plating mouthpieces with no further thoughts about the objects they are plating.\u00a0 \u00a0Matt knows the value of each mouthpiece and what it means to the customer involved.\u00a0 He knows what it means if he messes up and hurts a prized mouthpiece.\u00a0 He understands the magnitude and importance of the task at hand.<\/p>\n

In my mind, these things are what made me take a risk and send them to Matt to have them replated.\u00a0 Usually, I am very worried about this kind of work but I actually slept like a baby for those three weeks. (Except on Thursday when the USPS package was supposed to be delivered and wasn’t…..I was a little restless that night but did receive it Friday afternoon.)<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Florida Otto Link Top View<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you examine the pictures you can see small imperfections like I mentioned in the beginning of this post.\u00a0 I believe those are\u00a0 imperfections that were in the raw brass and possibly even fingerprints I didn’t get off the mouthpieces (although I tried like crazy to get every last one off…..I guess it doesn’t help to take the pictures while I’m holding them with my oily hands……)<\/p>\n

I’m also taking these pictures outside in the bright sunlight so nothing is hidden. The first picture I took of the newly replated mouthpieces (the fourth picture in the article) above was at dusk and you can see how\u00a0 much harder it is to see any defects, scratches or imperfections.\u00a0 Although this picture was great, I decided I wanted to do the rest in more light the next day.<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Florida Otto Link Table View<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have some mouthpieces that need replating you can contact Matt Marantz through his website at Matt Marantz Custom Mouthpieces<\/a>.\u00a0 He is great to communicate with so if you are not convinced by this article then ask him any further questions you might have.<\/p>\n

Great job Matt!\u00a0 Thanks for replating my mouthpieces and taking care of them.\u00a0 Also, thanks for being one of the few independent mouthpiece craftsman brave enough to work with these plating chemicals and fumes.\u00a0 \u00a0I have read that this can be a dangerous process with serious health affects so please stay safe and healthy!\u00a0 \u00a0 Steve<\/p>\n

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Gold Replated Florida Otto Link View from Above<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I have not received any compensation or products for writing this review. I paid Matt his full asking price to have these two mouthpieces replated. Regardless, I only review mouthpieces and other saxophone related products that I\u00a0enjoy and believe will be a good choice for other saxophone players to try also. \u00a0 \u00a0Steve Neff<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many years now I have been looking around for someone who replates saxophone mouthpieces.\u00a0 Back in the 90’s,\u00a0 I had a mouthpiece that had the bite plate fall off and then the gold plating was all wearing away.\u00a0 I read about health hazards that could come from playing a raw brass or copper mouthpiece […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":46909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1659,1638,1657,1661,1658,1662,658,1660],"class_list":{"0":"post-46881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-saxophone-stuff","8":"tag-gold-plating","9":"tag-matt-marantz","10":"tag-metal-mouthpiece","11":"tag-raw-brass","12":"tag-replate","13":"tag-replating","14":"tag-review","15":"tag-silver-plating","16":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neffmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}