Klarinet Archive - Posting 000237.txt from 1995/05

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Swabs
Date: Sun, 7 May 1995 15:23:33 -0400

With respect to swabs, I want to make special mention of the requirement
to buy one with a long pull for use with the low C bass clarinet. Many b.c.
swabs are made without this capability and are, therefore, unusable for
the lower joint of such an instrument. I have had difficulty getting b.c.
swabs with a long pull.

I have had considerable success with the silk swab of Gem Woodwind Products,
PO Box 586, Longmont, CO 80502.

I recognize that there has been some criticism of silk because it is not
nearly as absorbent as other cloths, but I mention that the lower joint of
a b.c. generally does not get flooded with saliva.

I have never used any of Gem Woodwind's other swabs and cannot comment on
their utility. But I do point out that their b.c. swab does NOT function
on a clarinet or a narrow bored basset horn. The matter has to do with
the weight used on the silk b.c. swab. It has to be heavy enough to dash
right through the horn. As such the manufacturer has chosen a size that
happens to be too wide for the standard clarinet and narrow bored basset
horn, there is no double use possible, even thought the large silk square
of a b.c. swab would easily pass through a clarinet, so compressible is it.
I mention this not in criticism of the weight size or style, but only as
a comment to keep in mind if you are thinking of trying one of the GEM
b.c. products for use on your soprano instrument.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================