The pouch you bought to protect your mouthpiece may be the thing scratching it. In Episode 25, Adam and Bella take on the humble mouthpiece pouch and the two ways most of them quietly damage the gear they are supposed to protect.

First, the zipper problem. Silver plating on a trumpet mouthpiece is only a few ten-thousandths of an inch thick — a few microns of soft metal — and gold flash is thinner still. On most top-loading pouches the zipper coil sits directly across the opening, so the rim and cup edge drag across the teeth with every insertion and removal. Even molded plastic zippers are harder than the plating, and after months of gigging the coil carries embedded grit that works like fine sandpaper. Side-zip cases trade that for a different problem: every piece exposed at once, tumbling against the open zipper track.

Second, the  ...