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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000049.txt from 2007/02
From: "Angela Wells" <oneflute1oboe@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [DR-L] Blown out (was: "Age of my English Horn")
Date: Sat, 03 Feb 2007 19:59:45 -0500
Hi Phil and List-
I am by no means an experienced technician (I'm almost finished with the
program at Red Wing), but our shop's general "overhaul" and "repad"
practices include 100% new pads and corks as well as a thorough cleaning of
the instrument. We don't try to save old pads or corks even if they look OK.
This is different from annual maintenance of an instrument that is mostly in
great conditon and needs only adjusting and maybe a few pads and corks. But
if you're paying for a complete repad, that's what you get.
To answer your question about spring replacement: in our shop, springs are
not replaced unless they need to be. Spring tension is adjusted, and that's
usually when you find worn out springs, if any.
The bottom line, though, is that instruments leave the shop with good
mechanical action and an airtight seal when pads are closed very lightly.
Whether your oboe is 1 year old or 50, it doesn't matter. Maybe more repairs
need to be done to an older instrument, but when you're done, all oboes are
equal as far as the Magnehelic machine is concerned. The adjustments are
perfect, the tone holes are squeaky clean, and the keys are properly vented.
So, why does my 30 year old oboe play a lot differently than the new ones I
tried at IDRS a couple years ago? My experience playing newer oboes is
usually: ZOMG the scale is in tune with itself!!!11!! And the high Eb sounds
like a note! All of the notes have the same tone quality (to the extent that
this is possible with an oboe)! And it's not horribly sharp all around!
Wheee!
And if we want to talk about bore warping: my oboe is noticeably bent. As
in, shaped like a rainbow. I'm not sure if it left the factory that way, but
it's quite a trip.
I suppose my point is that as far as the mechanics go, it's all easy to fix.
There seems to be Something Else at work here. Something that we don't know
how to look for or fix. Something that makes my overhauled (by a real oboe
guy, not myself) oboe still not perfect. Maybe it left the factory kind of
sucking, or maybe it's a lemon, I don't know because I wasn't even born
until it was 6 years old.
~Angela
----Original Message Follows----
From: philfrei@-----.com
Hi -
I think the phenomina is real, that oboes do go out of kilter with age, but
suspect that the explanation (they are "blown out") is spurious or some sort
of short-hand.
Here is what I have noticed: corks become compressed, pads become
compressed, springs weaken, residue can build up in tone holes. There's lots
of concrete things that can go out of whack. And maybe the wood can warp a
bit, too. Perhaps there are stresses that build up that don't go so far as
to "express themselves" as cracks, but do create tiny misalignments. Also,
are there changes to the inner wood surface after repeated dousings with
saliva?
Now, I don't know to what extent repair people go to when they do an
overhaul, but generally, I'd assume a pad won't be replaced unless it leaks
(even though, being slightly compressed, the hole might be a minute bit more
open in resting position). Springs change over time, too, but unless they
fall out, are they replaced in an overhall?
I'd assume a cork on a key lever won't be replaced unless it is worn
through, instead adjusting screws will be adjusted, if they exist. But there
are lots of corks that never come in contact with an ajdustment screw, for
example, corks on either side of the main A-flat key and on the rod it
connects with that limits the height of the A key. True, there is a single
adjustment screw on the connecting rod. But can an adjustment at this single
point optimally counter uneven compression of these three corks? All three
matter, as the A key's closure limits the amount that the A-flat key will
open.
Interactions abound. Getting everything to match properly is a major
headache. I went through an experiment a while back to add some tension to
the A key, and found that repeated guesses had to be made to adjust the G
and A-flat springs to match in strength (so when releasing these keys, they
would come open together, not have the stronger springed key open first).
Each guess, each adjustment, required taking the main rod off of the entire
top joint as well as the f-sharp connector. It took a couple hours to get
the three key springs to match up in a reasonable fashion again.
I'm guessing "blown out" means this: the time and level of detail necessary
to bring the oboe back to tip top condition is not profitable at normal
repair rates. Or, the expertise to do so is limited to a very few.
- Phil Freihofner
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