Klarinet Archive - Posting 000439.txt from 1998/09

From: CmdrHerel@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] swabs vs.shove-its & silk vs cotton
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 15:35:08 -0400

<< At 03:08 PM 9/13/98 -0700, Jason Hsien wrote:
>I'm curious to whether swabs are better or worse than using shove-it pads in
>wooden clarinets. >>

I've missed much of this thread, but I'd like to throw in my dollar twenty-
five anyway. (Coffee's expensive here.)

In swabbing, I'd be concerned with two things. The first is whether or not
the shove-it actually holds moisture *in* the clarinet when it's left in there
during storage. When I was young, a repairman told me this was not good, and
to not do it. He said it actually keeps the pads damp - a bad thing. As I
think about it now, this still makes sense. It also makes sense to not want
the bore of the clarinet kept damp while the outside is dry.

The second thing I'd be concerned with is fray. As I recall, shove-its were
pretty fuzzy... (They may have changed since I've seen them last.) Over time
all that fray builds up in the toneholes. For this reason, I recently
switched to silk swabs rather than cotton. Tone hole gunk does effect
intonation over time, and swabbing is a culprit. It also is meticulous work
to clean it out, and I don't like to do it more than once every other year.

Teri Herel

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