Black surface of Hohner Performance 64X

[Ed McCullough]

You sold me one of those last fall. It has many good features, which I wrote about in the SlideMeister website.
There's ONE prt of the harmnica that I need help in improving: The black surface of the mouthpiece. It is quite good, but still not as slick as the silver plated mouthpieces of the previous generation of Super 64. Is here a way to polish the black surface to make it slipprier when wet?

What is on the surface of the mouthpiece of the standard Hohner Performance 64 ?   Is it silver plated? Chrome plated? Stainless steel?

[George Miklas]

You sold me one of those last fall. It has many good features, which I wrote about in the SlideMeister website.
There's ONE prt of the harmnica that I need help in improving: The black surface of the mouthpiece. It is quite good, but still not as slick as the silver plated mouthpieces of the previous generation of Super 64. Is here a way to polish the black surface to make it slipprier when wet?

What is on the surface of the mouthpiece of the standard Hohner Performance 64 ?   Is it silver plated? Chrome plated? Stainless steel?

The 2018 Super 64 has a stainless steel mouthpiece.
The 2018 Super 64X has a “stainless steel mouthpiece polished with high end coating”

[Ed McCullough]

George,
How can I remove the black coating from the stainless steel mouthpiece.

Then, What is the best method of buffinig the stainless steel mouthpiece to make it brilliantly polished? Would that be slicker than the original black coating?

If I polish the stainless steel mouthpiece to oa high shine, what is the process for plating it with silver? Does another metal need to be plated onto the stainless steel before the silver is plated onto it?

[George Miklas]

George,
How can I remove the black coating from the stainless steel mouthpiece.

Then, What is the best method of buffinig the stainless steel mouthpiece to make it brilliantly polished? Would that be slicker than the original black coating?

If I polish the stainless steel mouthpiece to oa high shine, what is the process for plating it with silver? Does another metal need to be plated onto the stainless steel before the silver is plated onto it?

Ed
I need to research this. Your request is the first for this modification.

Stay tuned.
George

[Ed McCullough]

I will go to a Guitar Center store iin Houston, Tx. in hopes of seeing a Performance Super 64. Last time I looked, they only had a basic 280.   

A Hohner 280 is a pretty decent harmonica, but might not have a stainless steel mouthpiece for me to see.

One question is "How much can  you polish the stainless steel mouthpiece of the Performance Super 64"

[SlideMeister]

Most stainless steel actually polishes up pretty nice. I love polishing stuff. Heck, we still use the flatware we got with a vacuum cleaner we bought fifty-eight years ago. 

[SlideMeister]

Here's another example. This is a bike my brother built. the crash-bars and mufflers are polished stainless steel.

[Ed McCullough]

A.J.
I have a few of the same stainless steel knives, forks and spoons. I think a local drug store was using them as a promotional item in the 1960s or 970s.

[Edward Brock]

Here's another example. This is a bike my brother built. the crash-bars and mufflers are polished stainless steel.

Those don't corner the best but they sure like going down the road.
That gave the guys at Boss Hoss the idea. Luv them flat-heads.

[Lockjaw Larry]

My wife just bought a full set of black stainless steel “ silver ware.”  It’s pretty slick to hold and takes skill to keep spaghetti on it. 

[brorat]

 

I thought I had a set like that. Black SS silverware.
Turns out it was my grandma’s sterling. Who knew you had to polish to get the black tarnish off??

[SlideMeister]

A.J.
I have a few of the same stainless steel knives, forks and spoons. I think a local drug store was using them as a promotional item in the 1960s or 970s.

Yeah, got mine with either a Kirby vac or maybe a set of pots and pans (which I still have a couple of) in 1964.

[Ed McCullough]

"Stainless Steel"     is not just one item. There is a range of materials that are called Stainless steel.
We need to learn what is the best way to highly polish the stainless steel that the mouthpiece of the Hohner Performance 64 is made of.

[wolfman]

Do not use a stainless steel scrub pad Ed.

 Roman 

[ejacob4]

I’ve seen this a few times. This is where I go stupid. Silversmiths who do plating exist. They know what to do, having some expertise in metallurgy. I would trust the guy. If I don’t trust them, I’m in the wrong room.

Does anyone know for certain what the black stuff is?

Best regards,
Ed

[BeauKim]

Try and ask Hohner.  As for plating services, I'm sure a place that does brass instrument plating can handle it no problem.  It's quite common for brass players to get their mouthpieces re-plated to a different metal or because the plating wore off exposing some brass, which can cause allergic reactions in some people.  Your local music shop should be able to handle it or connect you to a service.  I think one of the main ones in the states that does this service is Andersons. 

I don't know what the black coating is but maybe you can email Hohner in Germany or the US.  Otherwise, maybe George could order you a Super 64 performance mouthpiece as it appears to be just polished stainless steel.  I haven't compared both models side by side before with this in mind, and I only have the Super 64x performance which the mouthpiece doesn't give me issues of sticking.  Since you asked, you should be able to polish the solid stainless steel mouthpiece to no limit.  You only have to worry about over polishing if the metal is plated, lacquered, colored, and of course if there's a certain mechanical tolerance. 

Boaz

[Ed McCullough]

I let my mouth get really wet and that made the 64X black mouthpiece get plenty slick enough.