Klarinet Archive - Posting 000756.txt from 1997/04

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: swabbing kills the clarinet?????
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 09:35:06 -0400

On Thu, 24 Apr 1997, Mark Charette wrote:

> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 07:35:51 -0400
> From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.com>
> To: klarinet@-----.us
> Subject: Re: swabbing kills the clarinet?????
>
> AnneVacca@-----.com wrote:
> > In a message dated 4/23/97 4:55:27 PM, someone wrote:
> > >The number of times you swab your clarinet is inversely proportional to the
> > >useful life of the instrument.
> >
> > Jerry-
> >
> > How is this true?
> > Just wondering.....
>
> Anne,
> There has been controversy on this list for years on
> changes in the bores causing them to "wear out", and that
> swabbing is the prime contributor. Literally hundreds
> of postings are in the archives about this - it's a
> recurring theme/question. (Search for "blow out"
> some day or for "swab or swabbing"). Swabbing with a
> rough swab is going to take a miniscule amount of wood
> with it each time. However, I think that cumulative
> thermal effects and moisture content far outweigh the
> "swab effect" in causing physical changes. However,
> I have NO empirical data to base my guess on.
> ---
> Mark Charette "How can you be in two places at once
> charette@-----.com when you're not anywhere at all?"
> http://sneezy.mika.com/clarinet - Firesign Theater
>
Perhapd this story dates back to the days when clarinets were
frequently
made out of something other than blackwood...
Roger Shilcock