Klarinet Archive - Posting 000638.txt from 1998/03

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Prepping for my first oil
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 20:39:10 -0500

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Hsien <jasonavhs@-----.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 1998 7:58 PM
Subject: Prepping for my first oil

>Okay... I'll come out and say it. I have never oiled the bore of my
clarinet
>before. (The things I missed playing a plastic clarinet for the past 7
>years...)

Okay...I've never oiled the bores of my clarinets before either (and my
instruments range in age from about 7 years to probably 50)

>I have tried to wait this out as long as possible, but it's been
>already 6 months since I bought it, and the instructions request that it be
>oiled once a month in the first year. (I hope I haven't irreperably damaged
>my horn, but I don't play it THAT much anyway)
>
The danger isn't from not oiling it - it's from overdoing it and getting it
all over places where you don't want it, like the pad surfaces and exposed
areas of the tone holes where it will collect and hold dust.

>I went to sneezy, and got the general jist of the situation. I have my bore
>oil and cotton applicator. I'm planning to double plastic wrap my pads.
>

Make sure the oil doesn't get into the tone holes, or it will just sit and
wait for you to unwrap the pads.

>Now... if any of you can help me on what to do next, I'd be very happy.

My suggestion after 6 months is just put the stuff away and wait until there
is even a realistic argument about whether it's needed.

>How much oil?

4 or 5 drops

>...Does the barrel also need to be oiled?

Nothing needs to be oiled after six months.
>
>Finally, the one question that has really bothered me, how to I wipe all
the
>excess out after I'm done?

When you DO oil a clarinet's bore, there shouldn't be ANY excess. You use a
very few drops and spread it around with whatever applicator you're using,
then let the oil soak in on its own. There shouldn't be anything even
slightly resembling a puddle anywhere inside or outside the instrument.

I'm probably coming off sounding a little sarcastic, and I don't mean it in
a nasty way. I know as well as anyone that there is a real difference of
opinion among people who know much more than I do about the mechanics and
acoustics of a clarinet. I'm not by any means the only grinch who won't go
within throwing distance of a bottle of bore oil. On the other hand there
are many experienced people on this list who are convinced there is a
benefit to oiling the bore once a year or so. I don't think I remember
anyone's recommending anything here like a monthly oiling, and on a new
clarinet whose wood has probably already been soaked in the stuff for weeks
before it was manufactured, I can't imagine why there'd be any need. Am I
out in left field on this, everyone?

Jason, I'm not ragging on you at all. You're only reading the manufacturer's
instructions (what make IS it?) If this had come out of another thread I'd
assume it was meant as a joke, but you seem to be asking the question
seriously. I just don't understand the point of such instructions.

Karl