| Back when I was a Yamaha 14A4a player I owned the regular weight(two actually, bought one and one came with my piccolo) and the heavy gold-plate. There was a subtle difference in the sound and response from the regular to the gold. The heavy gold was a hair more stable and thicker sounds, but again, very small different. What I did notice was just how much softer gold is on the lips. You really can feel the difference. When I tried the sterling silver(only spent a few minutes with it) I couldn't tell any difference at all. It played just like the regular ones as far as I could tell. And at $500 canadian I wasn't terribly interested.
I don't think it's any coincidence that Yamaha is the only manufacturer that makes a SS mouthpiece because it makes little if any difference. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Yamaha are the only ones that do it. |