Klarinet Archive - Posting 000471.txt from 1998/09

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] swabs vs. shove-its
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 01:29:05 -0400

At 07:00 PM 9/13/98 -0500, Roger Garrett wrote:
>On Sun, 13 Sep 1998, Vicki Coffman wrote:
>> I doubt it. I've always been advised against using shove-its
>> with sax, because they keep moisture inside instead of getting
>> it out. I imagine that would apply even more strongly with a
>> wooden instrument....
>
>I was advised by a student of Donald Sinta that shove-its draw the
>moisture out of the horn and that, while they may be good for daily use,
>if you store your horn for more than a month, your pads will dry out.
>
>I keep my Selmer MK VII (one of the few good ones) stored with the
>shove-it in the case....but not in the horn - unless I use it regularly
>(which hasn't happened lately!).
>
If a Shove-it can actually desiccate to that degree, then it should do that
equally effectively whether in the horn or out but in the case. All it
really is supposed to go is wick excess moisture away from the pads. The
argument involves whether or not it then HOLDS the moisture inside the
instrument, rather than letting it evaporate quickly, and whether this is a
problem. As far as I can tell, the jury is still out. By the way, I use
them in both clarinet and sax, but always swab FIRST.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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