Klarinet Archive - Posting 000580.txt from 1998/04

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: Lost low E
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 05:01:52 -0400

To review the bidding on this, Nigel Millar wrote:
>>>Where has my low E gone? All I can get is a very breathy F# (approx)
instead
>>>of low E>
to which Bill Hausmann said
>>Sounds like bent keys to me. When you push the appropriate keys down
>>normally, do the pads close all the way down onto the holes?
and Jack Kopstein contributed
>My guess is that you have leak, that is in the pads chalumeau - G to low
F. Take the righthand joint and remove the bell. Then take the palm of your
hand and place across the lower opening. BLow strongly into the upper end,
placing your fingers in the tone holes and also ensuring the lower keys are
also covering the tone holes(the down position)if you perceive any air
escaping you have a leak.Another problem which you may have is that the
cork beneath the F key above the boehm patent mechanism may either be gone
or no longer effective.Also the tenons may be defective . That is the corks
which ensure an airtight connection.

Another way to look for leaks is to darken the room and use a light in the
bore, Repairmen have special lights they've made, but a penlight on a
string will probably work well enough. Assuming Bill and Jack are right
about the low F#, F, and E pads being the likely culprit, take the lower
section of the horn, turn the light on, dangle it in the bore and hold the
keys down -- not super-tight, just normally tight as if you were playing.
Then look for light leaks around the pad seats. (Be sure the room is
totally dark, because the gleam of light through a defective closure can be
very, very small.)
If that doesn't show anything, repeat with the smaller pads, and if they
check OK go to the upper section. If all the pads pass the light test, then
think about the cork in the joint between the sections. That very seldom
fails in this manner, and if it looks good, and feels good when you
assemble the horn, it probably is good.
If you find a leak, and the pad looks good - is there an unbroken ring
indented in it where it seats? - suspect the mechanism. The long shafts
controlling these keys can be worn or, more likely, slightly damaged, and
the arms holding the pad cups can get bent, rugged as they usually are.
I have often bent the mechanism of saxes and clarinets to correct a fault.
Sometimes I succeeded, and sometimes I regretted trying it, because it made
the repair shop bill larger than it needed to have been. My advice to Neal
would be to try Jack's and my suggestions, and then even if he finds the
trouble, send the instrument to a reliable repair shop. Most medium-sized
to larger cities have at least one. Ask around. A music store that sells
instruments is usually (but not always) a good place to ask.

Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.net>

   
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