I have made an amazing discovery!

One thing I do, above and beyond what the customer expects for 
mouthpiece work, I try to clean up the mouthpiece as well as I can.  
Even to polish it lightly, by hand, never buffing wheel.

I had two mouthpieces to reface, one a Meyer tenor, not bad looking, 
cleaned up well.

The old Selmer Soloist (1960's) alto looked like a piece of dried dog 
excrement.  A player would have to think twice before putting it in his 
mouth.  This old mouthpiece was crusty, green and brown, and ugly.  I 
just could not send it back like that, even though it had been nicely 
refaced and played well.

I had gone into the kitchen and looked for something to scrub off the 
white crusty saliva stains, and saw something new my wife had been using 
and raving about.  It is a white sponge called "Mr. Clean Magic 
Eraser".  As I scrubbed, with water and the Magic Eraser the white 
saliva stains, the calcified crud, disappeared.  Then I noticed the 
sponge turning brown, it was removing the oxidized rubber discoloration!

As I worked on it, and this only took a few minutes, it removed most all 
of the discoloration!  The hard rubber was left black, but dull.  I am 
sure the "shine" had gone away a very long time ago.

Then I used my old favorite, Kit Scratch Out, a fine plastic polish 
available in automotive stores, and a soft cloth.  I am sure Flitz Metal 
Polish, or other fine polish would work as well.  In just a few minutes 
I had the old Soloist buffed to a nice near new shine, with the color 
mostly black.  It looked no worse than a mouthpiece just a few weeks old.

Sometimes I amaze myself!

Seriously, try it.

Paul Coats

Great tip Paul.

I try and balance making a piece look nice and keeping the logo imprint
crisp.  Some mouthpieces are more prone to browning than others.  My
Morgan's seem to all take on an ugly color after some time.


Ed 

-----Original Message-----
From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Paul Coats
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 9:30 PM
To: MouthpieceWork Group
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Making old mouthpieces shine again

I have made an amazing discovery!

One thing I do, above and beyond what the customer expects for 
mouthpiece work, I try to clean up the mouthpiece as well as I can.  
Even to polish it lightly, by hand, never buffing wheel.

I had two mouthpieces to reface, one a Meyer tenor, not bad looking, 
cleaned up well.

The old Selmer Soloist (1960's) alto looked like a piece of dried dog 
excrement.  A player would have to think twice before putting it in his 
mouth.  This old mouthpiece was crusty, green and brown, and ugly.  I 
just could not send it back like that, even though it had been nicely 
refaced and played well.

I had gone into the kitchen and looked for something to scrub off the 
white crusty saliva stains, and saw something new my wife had been using 
and raving about.  It is a white sponge called "Mr. Clean Magic 
Eraser".  As I scrubbed, with water and the Magic Eraser the white 
saliva stains, the calcified crud, disappeared.  Then I noticed the 
sponge turning brown, it was removing the oxidized rubber discoloration!

As I worked on it, and this only took a few minutes, it removed most all 
of the discoloration!  The hard rubber was left black, but dull.  I am 
sure the "shine" had gone away a very long time ago.

Then I used my old favorite, Kit Scratch Out, a fine plastic polish 
available in automotive stores, and a soft cloth.  I am sure Flitz Metal 
Polish, or other fine polish would work as well.  In just a few minutes 
I had the old Soloist buffed to a nice near new shine, with the color 
mostly black.  It looked no worse than a mouthpiece just a few weeks old.

Sometimes I amaze myself!

Seriously, try it.

Paul Coats





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--- Paul Coats <tenorman@...> wrote:

> I have made an amazing discovery!
> 
> One thing I do, above and beyond what the customer
> expects for 
> mouthpiece work, I try to clean up the mouthpiece as
> well as I can.  
> Even to polish it lightly, by hand, never buffing
> wheel.
> 
> I had two mouthpieces to reface, one a Meyer tenor,
> not bad looking, 
> cleaned up well.
> 
> The old Selmer Soloist (1960's) alto looked like a
> piece of dried dog 
> excrement.  A player would have to think twice
> before putting it in his 
> mouth.  This old mouthpiece was crusty, green and
> brown, and ugly.  I 
> just could not send it back like that, even though
> it had been nicely 
> refaced and played well.
> 
> I had gone into the kitchen and looked for something
> to scrub off the 
> white crusty saliva stains, and saw something new my
> wife had been using 
> and raving about.  It is a white sponge called "Mr.
> Clean Magic 
> Eraser".  As I scrubbed, with water and the Magic
> Eraser the white 
> saliva stains, the calcified crud, disappeared. 
> Then I noticed the 
> sponge turning brown, it was removing the oxidized
> rubber discoloration!
> 
> As I worked on it, and this only took a few minutes,
> it removed most all 
> of the discoloration!  The hard rubber was left
> black, but dull.  I am 
> sure the "shine" had gone away a very long time ago.
> 
> Then I used my old favorite, Kit Scratch Out, a fine
> plastic polish 
> available in automotive stores, and a soft cloth.  I
> am sure Flitz Metal 
> Polish, or other fine polish would work as well.  In
> just a few minutes 
> I had the old Soloist buffed to a nice near new
> shine, with the color 
> mostly black.  It looked no worse than a mouthpiece
> just a few weeks old.
> 
> Sometimes I amaze myself!
> 
> Seriously, try it.
> 
> Paul Coats

Paul:

that Mr. cLean IS an amazing product.  Especially good
for when you bump your black horn case against a white
wall.  But I never thought it could be used for this
application Just wondering though, do you think that
when you use it on the inside of a piece that it
removes any material?

Take care,

Bob
> 
> 
> 



		
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>
> Paul:
>
> that Mr. cLean IS an amazing product.  Especially good
> for when you bump your black horn case against a white
> wall.  But I never thought it could be used for this
> application Just wondering though, do you think that
> when you use it on the inside of a piece that it
> removes any material?
>
> Take care,
>
> Bob

Bob, I can't see that it removed any material at all.  The trademark, 
ligature line, etc, are all still sharp.

Paul