Most trumpet mouthpieces are made out of brass that is silver plated. Some mouthpieces are made out of other materials such as plastic, steel, or titanium. We recently had a client who requested we make a custom rim out of the precious metal sterling silver. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.5% of other metals, usually copper.
Sterling silver is about 25% denser than brass providing the benefits of a heavier mouthpiece without adding volume to the blank shape. It also has beneficial resonant qualities.
Sterling silver is rarely used in mouthpiece manufacturing due to its expense and because it is extremely difficult to work with. We were honored that our client trusted it with several hundred dollars of material that was masterfully hand carved by our own Brett Kendall.
Here’s a video that takes you behind the scenes of the process:
