Klarinet Archive - Posting 000490.txt from 1996/06

From: Dave Lane <davelane@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Choosing Pads
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 01:28:26 -0400

At 06:41 PM 6/28/96 -0700, you wrote:
>> I recently bought an old French (sans name) clarinet that needs
>>a $500 overhaul and that's $150 more than can be gotten for it. Logic says
>>trashcan, fingers say fix it. There seems to be three choices in pad
>>types, Norbeck, cork and bladder. I'm inclined to use Norbeck. One of my
>>sons' former teachers liked using cork in his instruments. Bladder seems
>>like it would resolve pad to tone hole misalignment best. Which is the
>>best pad? Which is the best compromise?
>> The pads I removed measure 3.5-4 mm. thick. I have yet to see any
>>reference to thickness other than thin, medium and thick. Which choice
>>would the measured thickness equate to? TIA..........
>>

Doug MacDonell wrote:

>Cork top joint, bladder bottom. Cork is hard to work with, but the pads
>last almost forever. Cork really seems to clear up the throat tones,
>especially G.
>Some people are fond of Valentino pads, but they tend to get sticky fairly
fast.
>(Valentino pads are another synthetic material... useful for band directors
>who need a quick fix on the spot.) Most of the major pad suppliers dropped
>Valentino pads several years ago, anyhow, although they are still
>obtainable. (Sorry if you're reading this, Mr. V.)
>
>My experience with Norbeck pads is that they are a good idea. The problem
>with them is that they retain their original shape too well. I can notice
>when a piece of lint gets caught between the pad and the tone hole (I tried
>them on my R13 just to test them). It seems as though traditional materials
>deserve a lot of respect... I think twice before moving away from them!
>
>Some instrument makers are now using Gortex. I think that this may be in
>response to the increasing scarcity of mambrane for bladder pads (epithileal
>tissue from an animal's intestine, just in case you're interested.) I
>haven't personally seen any Gortex pads, but I'm kind of curious about them.
>
>By the way... where do they get $500 for a clarinet overhaul? Maybe I need
>to relocate my shop!
>
>Doug MacDonell
>Ashland, Oregon, USA
>
Allow me to add to Doug's comments:

Norbeck pads seal perfectly when the keys fit well, but they do not "take a
seat", since the material has no memory and they always return to their
original (flat) shape. This makes key fit much more critical and very
intolerant of the type of slight misalignment a marching horn always seems
to incur. This, in my opinion, makes them unsuitable for use on the kind of
horn you might want to waterproof, which is their greatest claim to fame.

Goretex pads are found exclusively on the top line Buffets, unless another
brand has been repadded; they are only available from Boosey- Hawkes/Buffet,
however I repadded my own Concertos with them, and they remain on my
Prestige A. I like them very much. They will take a seat as well as a skin
pad, and in fact they are standard Buffet skin pads with an additional layer
of the goretex material stretched over them. Some people feel the goretex
makes for a brighter sound than plain skin, but I'm still not sure.

If this is your first pad job, you may want to use skin pads until you gain
confidence. They are dirt cheap compared with Goretex, and won't frustrate
you like cork and Norbeck.

By the way, Valentino is going stronger than ever. Betcha didn't know that
-every- Buffet comes with a Valentino pad in the register key, and many
other manufacturers are using their artificial cork key silencers and pads.
I consider myself a purist in these matters, but I recently broke down and
bought a large assortment of their stuff!

Best Regards

Dave Lane