Klarinet Archive - Posting 001015.txt from 1998/09

From: Jack Kissinger <kissingerjn@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: [kl] playing in the rain :(
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 11:12:36 -0400

Hi Ben,

Ah, do it yourself pad replacement. Depending on who you talk to, you will
hear every opinion from "out of the question" to "a piece of cake." The
truth is probably somewhere in between. I suspect if you are patient and
follow the steps on "Sneezy" you can do it (on your Bundy, do you have much
to lose?) and you will probably learn alot about your instrument and figure
out how to fix some of your other problems. Among the vast selection of
materials and tools Ferree's Tools sells for clarinet repair, are Norbeck
pads. These are actually cork covered by a space-age material (sort of a
rubbery plastic in feel). Ferree's claims that, once you have these pads
properly seated, you will never have to replace them and that you can
submerge your clarinet in water for a month or so, pull it out, dry it off
and it will play just fine.

Sound too good to be true? My curiosity piqued, I bought some and tried
repadding an old plastic Evette to create the ultimate bad weather clarinet.
What I found was that these pads are much harder to seat properly than
regular pads (at least for an amateur, like me). Also, they have a tendency
sometimes to stick to the tone hole a little bit. In the end, I had to give
up on some of the larger lower-joint tone holes and revert to regular pads.
It may have been that the tone holes were no longer level (the pads have no
give whatsoever) and, probably someone like Clark Fobes could make the pads
work but they are a challenge. They won't get soggy in the rain, though.
;^)

Best regards,
Jack Kissinger
St. Louis

Ben Stutzman wrote:

> Just this afternoon our HS marching band put on a show for the middle
> school. Outside it was already soaking wet, but we played anyway
> because it wasn't raining. At the moment. In the middle of our show it
> started pouring. We kept playing.
>
> Tonight when we tried to warm-up for the football game, a number of
> woodwinds noticed they couldn't play. Doh! Fortunately, I wan't one of
> them. As soon as I started playing, though, I noticed my fairly
> free-blowing clarinet played harder. But it is not ruined. It is
> highly likely this will happen again later. Is there anything you can
> do after you play to revive your pads? My Bundy is NOT worth fixing.
> How hard is it to replace pads yourself? A lot of other things are
> wrong with it. Is it worth overhauling a bottom-of-the-barrel Bundy?
> (no alliteration intended) I also will use it in concert band when I
> don't take my R13 to school.

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