[habschi2]

Hi, maybe you can help with the following problem:
Purchased a phantastic modern (!) Link tenor mpc, probably 20 years old. The gold lacquer almost gone remaining the silver (?) lacquer underneath.
But under the silver lacquer I encountered numerous "bubbles"/blisters on the table of the piece, probably caused by corrosion. What to do ? Can that be removed without altering the mpc ? Thanks for you knowledge.

 

[Seasax]

i think you'll find that:
1. 20 years old is NOT modern
2. it is gold plate not lacquer
3. if the bubbles stop the reed sealing then send it to a refacer.

 

[habschi2]

Hi, thanks for posting !
1. "20 years old is NOT modern "
ok, haha).
This was just to state which kind of Link I´m refering to, as opposed to Early Babbitt, Florida etc. The "modern" Link or "current production" was started manufacturing in 1980. Just tried to give a hint on kind of material to the specialists.
2. "it is gold plate not lacquer"
Thanks for the right term ! Sure it´s gold plated and underneath silver and not lacquered. Sorry for not doing my homework.
3. "if the bubbles stop the reed sealing then send it to a refacer."
Dont want a refacing, its playing great, ok sealing could be better but just wanna get rid of them blisters !
What about unplating -lacquering the whole piece ?

 

[Henry D]

You almost certainly don't want to lacquer it. Given the wear on a mouthpiece it'd look crappy very quickly, would flake off in your mouth and, unless left unlaquered where the reed contacts, would probably screw up quickly in the table/ rails, tip area. That, as I understand it is where you're concerned in the first place.

Replating does just that; placing a microns thick layer of metal over whatever is there. "Microns thick" by and large means that if you can see a scratch or imperfection in the surface prior to replating with the naked eye you'll see it just about exactly as well afterwards. Ask anyone who tried to shortcut surface prep prior to plating.

I suppose you could polish/prep, reface and then plate- potentially refacing again after plating but you could probably buy the mouthpiece new for that and throw in a touch up reface on top.

 

[habschi2]

No no, was just asking for opinions to UNlacquer or UNplate the table. That is chemical removal of old lacquer, to get rid of them d###** blisters.
No relacquer pleaze !

 

[mlscnr]

Metal mouthpieces are not lacquered, they're metal-plated.

Links are made of brass, then nickel-plated (which looks silver), then gold-plated. The reason for the nickel-plating is because gold-plating does not adhere to plain brass very well, and would flake off in a hurry.

About the best you can do to remove the corrosion on the table is to polish it with a fine metal polish, and forget about it. Be sure to clean the mouthpiece well after using the polish.

JJ Babbitt (makers of Link mouthpieces) will replate a Link for you, for a cost. www.jjbabbitt.com

 

[MojoBari]

Modern Links are Silver plated under the Gold. Some older ones have Nickel. Theo thought Rhodium was used too at one time, but I have not read that anywhere else. I would doubt it unless there were a few years way back that it was cheaper than Silver.

 

[whaler]

Modern Links are Silver plated under the Gold. Some older ones have Nickel. Theo thought Rhodium was used too at one time, but I have not read that anywhere else. I would doubt it unless there were a few years way back that it was cheaper than Silver.

I have a newer (15 to 20 years old) Link that has lost its gold plating, and almost down to bare brass, but the plating that is left is more like a matte finish. This could be the rhodium that is being mentioned. It looks like the finish that is on the Millenium Links that were offered.

 

[mlscnr]

I sit corrected!

 

[MojoBari]

The Millenium Links have a sand-blasted Nickel plating.

If the gold has worn off and there is a Silver-looking layer left that is over 90% intact, it is probably Nickel. If the piece is mostly bare brass, the under layer was probably Silver. It is thinner and softer than Nickel so it wears away soon after the gold goes.

 

[habschi2]

Hi, Mojo, thanks for replying. I think it´s the nickel model. Do you think I should open the blisters ? As they seem to make the table uneven. reed still seals though.

 

[MojoBari]

Hard to say. If it plays OK, leave it alone.