Is Silver or Nickel plating the best?
Most student flutes are made of “nickel silver”. Nickel silver is made of a brass/nickel alloy and has NO silver in it. This base metal is then plated with real silver or nickel. In a plated instrument, there is no difference in the sound between nickel plate or silver plate. The difference is in endurance of the finish. Now, nickel does not need to be polished as it does not tarnish when exposed to the air IN THE SHORT TERM. But as it gets older, nickel tends to get, what I call, “smoky” in appearance. This cloudiness will not polish out. Silver on the other hand, does tarnish quickly, and will need to be polished with a silver polishing cloth. (Please do not use liquid polish) But a tarnished silver finish can be made to look very nice with proper polishing. In my experience, silver holds up better in the long run, but nickel requires less maintenance.
