Klarinet Archive - Posting 000147.txt from 1997/08

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Float Test and cologne/Koln
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 22:31:49 -0400

On Tue, 5 Aug 1997, Harvey G Landry wrote:

> True story: A friend of mine who is a band teacher told me once that one
> of his clarinet students tried to wash his instrument in the bathtub.
> And it was a WOOD clarinet. What's the matter what kids these days?

These days?? I went to high school with a spoiled, rich kid more than 40
years ago. He decided that his new and expensive saxophone needed oiling,
so he got out the household oil and put about a quart of oil wherever he
found a place that looked like it could ever be subject to friction.
Naturally, this caused dust to collect, so he decided to clean it. He
removed all the keys, put it in the bathtub, and scrubbed it with Ajax
cleanser and steel wool, removing all the oil (and all the lacquer) in the
process. Then, he tried to reassemble the instrument, but couldn't figure
out where all the keys went. So, many keys were bent into odd shapes to
make them fit in places where they were never intended to be, the threads
on the screws were stripped, springs were broken, etc. He couldn't figure
out why it wouldn't work, and his parents couldn't figure out why the
repair bill was more than twice what they had paid for the instrument just
a few months before. True story?

Ed Lacy
EL2evansville.edu