HMG mpc question

[mbltrombone]

Hi trombone chat. I recently purchased a Courtois Prestige Alto trombone and spent this afternoon trying all my small bore mouthpieces on it. Most of these mpcs were purchased or given to me back in highschool and haven't been used much since (Image 6.5AL, Bach 5GS, 7C, HMG 12 C, and the courtois TA-11 that came with the alto). The mpc that worked by far the best for me on it was the HMG 12C. I googled "HMG 12C" to see if I could find a cleaner, newer one to purchase but I couldn't find it anywhere. My question is pretty simple, who manufactured HMG and where could you by one of their mpcs today? Sorry if this is a general knowledge thing but I'm really not a gear guy. It was probably given to me by my trombone teacher in highschool. Ideally I'd like to get a gold plated one, if that is impossible do you guys know of a manufacturer that would take an old mpc and gold plate it?

Thanks!

[BGuttman]

Doug Elliott does gold plating. Also, Benn Hansen (and probably other techs) send batches of mouthpieces to Anderson Plating (you can't get them to plate just one). I understand Kanstul does gold plating, but another thread has thrown their viability into question. Also, there is an outfit called "Goldchops" that plates gold.

I recommend against having a jeweler do the gold plating unless you can get them to plate 24 karat gold (pure gold). Otherwise, they will usually plate 14 karat gold which contains a fair amount of nickel.

[CharlieB]

A company called Leblanc made an HMG trombone. Maybe they also made the HMG mouthpiece ?
Leblanc has been out of business for many years.
One afternoon of auditioning different mouthpieces isn't much face time. You might want to consider allowing more time for your embouchure to adjust to the new horn and mouthpiece(s). Your preference may change.
If you can post pictures of the mouthpiece here, along with measurements of the rim and bore, members here may be able to direct you to modern mouthpieces that are very similar, or maybe even better.
Members here also have the ability to refurbish your old HMG, or to make an accurate copy, and even do gold plating, as Bruce noted above.

[Doug Elliott]

Any of those mouthpieces will do just to learn the alto. Your preference will undoubtedly change as you learn to play it. I recommend against going too far along the lines of thinking that's THE one and it must be goldplated.