Rhodium Mouthpiece Plating - An Alternative to Silver or Gold? - First Impressions

[@handavid6421]

always exited to see that the development of instruments hasn't stopped even if it's the smallest changes and are experimental.

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Yes, I totally agree! Music is a living art and so should be the manufacture of musical instruments, mouthpieces, and related equipment. :)

[@vegastokc5386]

Great video. Sorry for responding on an "older" video, but I just came across this during a mouthpiece materials search. (Hope you get to see this comment) I have a Minick trombone mouthpiece that I had plated in Rhodium about 25 yrs ago and then replated a few years back. Was my main piece 25 years ago for a while. Loved the feel. Always comfortable and seemed to help with fatigue. I'm not sure if the science would confirm, but it always seemed like the Rh was more tolerant to temperature changes. Not as drastic as plastic/lexan/acrylic etc, but very comfortable. Cheers, Michael (recently moved to Rock Hill)

[@mozart5689]

He really does upload every Tuesday

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

I sure do!

[@piotrbalmusic]

nice presentation. I learned a lot. thank you for this video. 🤝

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@12500cherry]

Thanks for another interesting video, Jon. I look forward to them every Tuesday. Don't know if you take requests, but I'd be interested in hearing your opinions on high register playing and practice techniques. There are plenty of videos from "screamers" on KZbin, but you don't see many well-rounded, classically oriented players discussing it. I think it would be interesting to hear something on the subject from a player like yourself who has excellent fundamentals and mastery of the instrument, but whose job demands probably don't call for many paint peeling double high Cs :). Thanks!

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Glad you enjoyed it, Dylan! You’re too kind... Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll put that in my list of video ideas... I had imagined my channel being more about equipment but I may take you up on that at some point. 🤓

[@LugiasMansion]

Would a full rhodium plated trumpet sound much different than gold, silver, or brass?

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Potentially. Plating is very thin so it doesn’t contribute that much to the overall mass of an instrument or mouthpiece. That said, many people feel different plating materials have slightly different sonic characteristics - but my opinion as of this moment is that probably the overall bell composition and shape is going to cause a much bigger difference than using a different plating can cause.

[@oripando]

I bought a wooden mouthpiece from Rieger und Gräf, very interesting. I like it a lot. More than the derlin one I have. I wouldn't make it my main mouthpiece but it's pretty cool. Very different feeling, specially the weight of it. I thought it was going to detract from projection and core but it's not bad at all. Anyways. Thanks for the video, love your channel. Thanks

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Wood!! Very cool. I’ve played a wood too mouthpiece before but hadn’t thought about it for years. Going in the list of alternative mouthpiece materials to look into, thanks for the suggestion! Glad you like the videos, thanks for your support. 🤩

[@aRhapsodicHitcher]

You should check out AR mouthpieces... they have a ton of options with mouthpiece material.

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Thanks for the recommendation, I see they have buffalo horn or something?!

[@PostBopDuck]

@@JonTalksTrumpet they're amazing - and yes buffalo horn is an option. The titanium and steel options are great for those of us with allergies 🙃

[@vincegreen5443]

I'm curious how the Rhodium is working for you long term. Are you still using it?

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Hey Vince! Actually, no. I found that it was actually too grippy for me especially considering the already grippy rim design I use. I felt like it was a little more difficult to adjust the embouchure for different registers.

[@vincegreen5443]

Thx. I just sent a Mpce to G Black and shall see. Keep the videos coming, GREAT vids for us trumpet nerds and our students!

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Awesome!! Thanks for the kind words, Vince - so glad you are enjoying it!

[@paulgrimm6850]

What brand and size mouthpiece did Louis Armstrong use?

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

That's a really interesting question. Based on a quick search on trumpetherald I found some people saying he played on many pieces through his career, including one by Giardinelli as well as Purviance. I may have to dig into this one a little more - thanks for asking!

[@paulgrimm6850]

@@JonTalksTrumpet I would love to know the size

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

@@paulgrimm6850 Trent Austin has made a copy of one of his mouthpieces. I would email him.

[@mr.starfish4965]

What are your thoughts on stainless steel mouthpiece?

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

That's a great question with a long answer - definitely will be the subject of a future video! They have a different overtone signature and playing characteristics when compared to a typical brass mouthpiece.

[@mr.starfish4965]

@@JonTalksTrumpet Glad to hear that. I don’t play trumpet (I play euphonium more than anything else), but I like watching your videos because they’re very entertaining and informative.

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

@@mr.starfish4965 So glad you enjoy them!!! I certainly enjoy making them for you all. :)

[@deansimms1502]

I really would like to hear you hear you the way that you sound on your rhodium mouthpiece

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Hey Dean! I know, it’s sort of funny that I don’t demonstrate the sound of the Rhodium in this video, and that’s because there is no discernible difference in sound between the silver rim and rhodium. Mouthpiece plating is super thin and the rim is still made of brass so the sound is unchanged (unlike when using a plastic rim). The big difference is how the rhodium feels on the chops compared to silver, and the rhodium is definitely more grippy!

[@mattildahubbardo]

You are a cool dude

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

No way, that’s you!

[@flash7355]

I love slippery gold but most of my mouthpieces are silver. Interesting though.

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Yeah, same! I still only have the one rhodium rim. It plays well but is slightly too grippy for me with my already grippy rim design. Then, of course Gold is pretty expensive if you don’t prefer it that much over silver. Glad you found this interesting, so did I!

[@visit402]

Don’t want to toot my own horn but Idk just wanted to comment on this

[@JonTalksTrumpet]

Hope you enjoyed the video while you were here!