Asked Stomvi a Simple Yes/No about lead content in MP's

Capt.Kirk · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Feb 2009 Posts: 5075

So I asked a very simple yes/no question. I told them I did not want to know what else was alloyed in their "Flex Brass" all I wanted to know is if it had lead in it.

I was told they do not discuss the content of their brass and asked if I was "allergic to lead"..... I explained it was a heavy metal. Obviously they do not know that most if not all mammals on earth are allergic to lead as it is a neural toxin. I explained I did not want to put anything that contained lead up to my lips or the lips of any developing kids because platting wears off. Leaded brass leaches lead badly.

I guess I should ask other MP manufactures this same question. It is worth knowing if someone is using leaded brass in anything that touches your lips even if plated.

Had they answered the question yes or no I would have kept it to myself. The lack of an answer on something this serious seeing how we removed it from or gasoline because it was affecting the health of the nation including children IQ's alarmed me!This is not a joke or something to be sneaky about. Look at all the public service announcements in brochures still about leaded paint and children eating paint chips to this day even though lead has been outlawed from paint for a long long time.
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spitvalve · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:35 pm Post subject:

Cap'n:

To my knowledge nobody has died from playing Stomvi trumpets or Flex mouthpieces. Look up the word "proprietary" in the dictionary. They don't have to tell you diddly.
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adagiotrumpet · Veteran Member Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 171

Capt. Kirk: "Lead ... is a neural toxin." That explains a lot.

nieuwguyski · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:51 pm Post subject:

Mouthpieces are turned from free-machining brass, Cap'n. It contains a bit of lead.

Play Kelly polycarbonate mouthpieces.

There are other alternatives (delrin rims, stainless steel mouthpieces, wooden cups), but you'll have a predictable cow about the cost.

Kellys are cheap.
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TowsonTrumpetGuy · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:16 pm Post subject:

While it's understandable that almost every type of brass will have some minute degree of lead content, their Flex alloy has a plating on it that can be shined with Weiman silver polish, which I know has no effect on lead. The guys working over at Stomvi-USA are modern geniuses and I'm sure take the health of their customers into account. If you really want to figure it out then get a mass spectrometer, but I can tell you that I have owned two Stomvi Flex pieces and have never had any negative results.
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dmb · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:17 pm Post subject:

Cap'n, it's a very good probability that all of the (brass) mouthpieces you use or have ever used have a small amount of lead in the mix, somewhere around 2% (+/- .5%).
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Don Lee · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject:

nieuwguyski · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:27 pm Post subject:

Flattergrub · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Posts: 699

I guess Stomvi USA got the word on the Capt. in advance and "buzzed" him off. Good on em

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lipshurt · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:24 pm Post subject:

There are only about 5 allowys that are available.

I could look it up, but basically they are something like this:

360 free machining brass. 3% lead

356 no lead

406 Naval brass, even more lead

353 no lead

That is the gist of it anyway, I might be wrong about the numbers, but everyone uses 360. Actually old schilke pieces are something different cuz the don't cut very well at all in my experience.

If stomvi are using something other than 360 free machining brass, it's probably naval brass, which holds up better to corrosion. I have never tried it, but have tried the other alloys with no brass, but did not like them.

I know several people who are playing of bare pieces made of 360 leaded brass. I always wondered about it, but someone on here who knew a lot about this said it would not leach. He even said that you can use a lead test kit to detect lead and it would not show on bare 360 brass.

I wonder if anyone knows for sure. I will research this in the next few days and post why I come up with
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giuseppepepperoni · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:57 pm Post subject:

Maybe the presence of lead has already effected him and he's hoping to reverse it, or at least not make it worse?

Besides the Kelly polycarbonate ones, there are stainless pieces available, too. I don't believe any company is obligated to tell you what's in their product - the exceptions being those required under the law, which are plainly labeled.

afp · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:21 am Post subject:

For lead to be dangerous when not traveling at high velocity or when its in its liquid state, it needs to be pulverized and ingested. So unless we are grinding up and eating, melting, or shooting our MPs, it shouldn't be a problem.
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Brad361 · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:33 am Post subject:

Well Kirk, the fortunate thing for you is now you have another company to add to your list of those you love to criticize. Guess we can add another evil OEM to the list here, right?
And kudos to someone at Stomvi for apparently figuring out, quickly, that you're someone to simply dismiss.

Brad361
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lmf · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:15 am Post subject:

feedback@stomvi-usa · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 2:33 pm Post subject:

We apologize for any misunderstanding regarding company policy and our proprietary Flex Brass. Our Flex Brass is not only an alloy but involves a treatment as well that we are very guarded about as it is unique to our products.

Regarding allergies and our products. As has been posted by others, brass alloys sometimes have a small percentage of lead content. This was originally done years ago as lead acts as a lubricant when machining. This was necessary with older form tools as they needed this to facilitate good cutting and tool life.

With the advent of single point machining, better tool coatings and lubricants, the need for lead in brass has diminished although it is often present.

Plating of course acts as a barrier to prevent the raw brass and any of it's components from touching the lips. Plating can, of course, wear off.

If one is extremely worried about lead any brass mouthpiece should be avoided. Fortunately there are alternatives like Kelly Mouthpieces or a plastic rim on a brass mouthpiece which we, and others can supply.

We occasionally encounter players that are allergic to silver. The easiest way to deal with this is to use a gold plated mouthpiece.

We learned recently that, in many cases, a silver allergy is actually a cobalt allergy. Many plating solutions contain cobalt and it is this that causes the allergic reaction.

We learned this thanks to a very bright college trumpet player who did a lot of research and traced his allergy to cobalt.

The plating bath we use for our Flex Mouthpieces is cobalt free and thus, if you have a cobalt allergy, you need not worry about our products.

For the bulk of trumpet players, silver plating is fine.

We hope this clarifies matters.

Have great gigs!
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chuck in ny · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:16 pm Post subject:

Flattergrub · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Posts: 699

From a Stomvi instruction sheet that came with their mpc sets.

"Now we reach a field which has not yet been explored : The usage of new materials which will influence the colour, timbre or ease of our sound. The materials recommended by Stomvi are the following

*Brass - Silver - Gold - Titanium - Ebonite - Carbon fiber

The material marked with an asterisk is standard, the others are custom made"

Wonder what that rim of ebonite or carbon fiber felt like.
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etc-etc · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 3963

plp · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:35 am Post subject:

Brad361 · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:45 am Post subject: