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Taking care of Gold Plated Schilke P5=4, Platinium trumpets?



 
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slee331
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:28 pm    Post subject: Taking care of Gold Plated Schilke P5=4, Platinium trumpets? Reply with quote

Hello all.

Just a quick few questions for the group:

1. How best to take care of a gold plated finish on trumpets? Are silver polishing cloths okay to use or are they too harsh on soft gold finish?

2. Does anyone know or ever heard of Platinium plated trumpets and is a Platinum finish more durable? Will anyone do it? Any comments on the coloration of the sound? On a related point, I thought Schilke had tested various plating materials and wrote a report back in the day.

Thanks in advance and best of luck in your playing, we all could use a little help on that bad chops day.

Sam
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jvand678
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have gone the polishing cloth route on different mouthpieces. I don't know if it was the frequency of use or the harshness of the cloth, but a lot of plating is gone now. My GP Schilke P5-4 doesn't actually tarnish so I just use a damp micro fiber cloth to lightly wipe off water spots, fingerprints and dust. After buying my wife's ring a few years back I don't even want to think about a platinum trumpet! It was 1300 bucks an ounce back then!
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gringoloco
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gold is inert which means no tarnish or need for polishing cloth and the chemicals involved (which could actually remove some of the gold).
It should be fine with water and a soft cloth to dry it.
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Capt.Kirk
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You do not need to polish gold it does not tarnish gold plating should be 24k which should not tarnish. Never heard of Platinum plated trumpet but that does not mean it cannot be done as their are plenty of places that plate in platinum and palladium and other rare earth metals mostly for emissions gear! My wedding band and custom made class ring are platinum with out gold lining. I am allergic to gold believe it or not. So I went high end on my class ring and had to wait a while for it to be made. It looks a lot like the cheaper stainless steel class rings so most will probably assume it is nickel or silver since no large mass produced trumpet has ever been made in platinum,palladium or anything else like that normally Silver,Nickel and Gold. Platinum is one of the metals that Ic an wear all day and night and have no reaction too. You could also use Nitride Coatings like Titanium Nitride to coat a trumpet it is used to coat Machine parts and sometimes limited edition hand guns. It is super hard surface coating that is almost wear proof when combined with the most meager of lubrication systems! Even dry it will wear very little. To give you idea of how abrasion resistant it is you can get 150 hours of continuous hours of braking before wearing through the coating. We are talking about breaking on a car or truck. It will produce a golden yellow color that is translucent. Camshafts, crankshafts and other high wear items are often done in this surface treatment. It is super thin so it would react in much the same way as plating does.

If you find a place that will platinum plate your trumpet let me know!
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Crazy Finn
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Silver polishing cloths "polish" the silver by removing the top layer of silver which usually contains the tarnish. Tarnish is a oxidation process that involves the silver - if your horn is gold plated, it should not tarnish. There is no need to polish it.

Wiping gold plate down with a soft cloth should be more than enough to keep it looking nice. DO NOT use a silver polishing cloth as it removes plating. The gold plating on a horn is not thick - removing even small layers of it would be foolish. You did pay the extra cash for gold plate - so wearing it down to the silver would be silly.

Besides, the whole point of gold plate is that it is non-reactive and low maintenance. Wipe it down. Be nice to it. That's all.
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Adam V
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Go to your local fabric store and buy a yard of 100% white cotton flannel. Use it gently to wipe off any sweat or fingerprints.

Don't EVER use:
- chemicals (alcohol, ammonina, etc...)
- polishing cloth
- polish of any kind
- anything abrasive

These things will eventually wear the gold down to the silver... If you want to keep your gold looking dark and lustrous, the key is to clean/wipe off the horn as gently and infrequently as possible.
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slee331
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:47 pm    Post subject: Thanks for the Gold Plated responses, anything on Platinium? Reply with quote

Thanks everyone for your replies, just going to let the old gold beauty age gracefully, i'll just keep her clean with the monthly maintenance cleanings.

Though I do feel plating and trumpet coating does slightly affect tone coloration, I would think the metal the bell is made of would play a much larger role.

My Bb needs a bit of a refirb, so I'm actually looking to get it Platinium plated, or perhaps a more durable silver metal like Rhodium, that being said, assuming I can find an instrument plater to do this.

Anyone on Platinium plating and effect on the tone color of the trumpet? I can't really seeing it being a factor other than cosmetic given the plating would be so thin anyway.
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Adam V
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:49 pm    Post subject: Re: Thanks for the Gold Plated responses, anything on Platin Reply with quote

slee331 wrote:
Thanks everyone for your replies, just going to let the old gold beauty age gracefully, i'll just keep her clean with the monthly maintenance cleanings.

Though I do feel plating and trumpet coating does slightly affect tone coloration, I would think the metal the bell is made of would play a much larger role.

My Bb needs a bit of a refirb, so I'm actually looking to get it Platinium plated, or perhaps a more durable silver metal like Rhodium, that being said, assuming I can find an instrument plater to do this.

Anyone on Platinium plating and effect on the tone color of the trumpet? I can't really seeing it being a factor other than cosmetic given the plating would be so thin anyway.


I've never heard of any trumpet being plated by anything other than silver, gold, or nickel (although nickel isn't common anymore). Why would you want a different metal?
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slee331
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:09 pm    Post subject: Why different metal? Reply with quote

Really simple actually, 1) I want something that looks nice, low maintanence and scratch resistent. 2) I don't think it affects tone color too much given amount of it used.

I've heard Rhodium, though not as bright as Silver, is very durable and very scratch resistent and still has a nice lustre.

So my logic is simple, I just want to protect my baby with the best looking and most durable outfit possible.
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shofarguy
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There have been other threads like this over the few years that I've been here. Some have pointed out that the gold plating is porous, whereas the silver below isn't. This means that the silver can tarnish beneath the gold.

If this happens, silver polish will remove the tarnish and brighten the whole look of the horn, or mouthpiece. The gold can be rubbed off, eventually, so one has to use restraint. Perhaps, chemical silver polishes are better in this case?

Brian
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etc-etc
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Titanium plating, perhaps?
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slee331
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:02 pm    Post subject: Actually for durability Reply with quote

Tungsten Carbide Plating? That would look really cool on a trumpet and being scratch proof would be icing on the cake.
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etc-etc
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If only it was also dent-proof ...
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Crazy Finn
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Thanks for the Gold Plated responses, anything on Platin Reply with quote

slee331 wrote:
My Bb needs a bit of a refirb, so I'm actually looking to get it Platinium plated, or perhaps a more durable silver metal like Rhodium, that being said, assuming I can find an instrument plater to do this.

Well... good luck with that. You'll probably end up spend several times the original cost of the horn to plate with either of those materials.

There's a reason they're considered precious or rare metals. Compared to those two, Gold is rather common. The prices reflect that. Check the market prices.

There's a reason gold and silver are used for instrument plating. They're relatively cheap and work fairly well.
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shofarguy
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:48 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks for the Gold Plated responses, anything on Platin Reply with quote

Crazy Finn wrote:
slee331 wrote:
My Bb needs a bit of a refirb, so I'm actually looking to get it Platinium plated, or perhaps a more durable silver metal like Rhodium, that being said, assuming I can find an instrument plater to do this.

Well... good luck with that. You'll probably end up spend several times the original cost of the horn to plate with either of those materials.

There's a reason they're considered precious or rare metals. Compared to those two, Gold is rather common. The prices reflect that. Check the market prices.

There's a reason gold and silver are used for instrument plating. They're relatively cheap and work fairly well.


Besides, gold makes the horn, especially a vintage trumpet, look like it might have been played for King Tut or someone like that. Y'know, "It was right there when we finally opened the tomb!"

Come to think of it, these bags and wrinkles make me look like I might have played for King Tut, back in the day.

Oh, now look! I made myself all teary. I want my Mummy...

Brian
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There is one reason that I practice: to be ready at the downbeat when the final trumpet sounds.
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