Nickel silver mouthpieces?

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Doldom
Posts: 139
Joined: May 12, 2018

by Doldom »

I have a sudden curiosity that,

Is there any nickel silver mouthpieces?

I know nickel silver is much harder metal than regular brass so it's much harder to forge, but

There are already some makers that deal with stainless steel, even titanium.

I'm very curious what it will feel and sound like if a mouthpiece is made of nickel silver.
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muschem
Posts: 372
Joined: Jan 17, 2021

by muschem »

AR Resonance can make tops and/or backbones out of nickel. I haven’t played a nickel top yet, but the nickel backbones give a very fast, clear response. The difference is similar if you’ve ever compared brass vs nickel in other components - leadpipes, slide tubes/crooks, etc.
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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

Some densities, just for reference...

Nickel Silver: 8.70 g/cm3

Yellow (70-30) Brass: 8.58 gm/cm³

Gold (85-15) Brass: 8.73 gm/cm³

Red (90-10) Brass: 8.80 gm/cm³

Sterling (7.5% Copper) SIlver: 10.36 gm/cm³
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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

We really need harnesses as well. Steel isn't dense but it is hard and thus has lots of overtones.
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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

[quote="BGuttman"]We really need harnesses as well. Steel isn't dense but it is hard and thus has lots of overtones.[/quote]
The hardness of any given alloy can vary quite a bit depending of the manufacturing process (I would think that mouthpieces would be turned out of annealed stock, but that's just a guess).

I'm wondering if modulus of elasticity might also be a factor.