Klarinet Archive - Posting 000313.txt from 1999/10

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Keywork
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 23:19:28 -0400

>From what I have heard from several sources, clarinets tend to wear out
after 20 years or so of good use.

My roommate's R13 is prime example - his keywork is wearing down a bit.
His rods aren't as stable, and the tension in his rings is almost
nonexistant (at least in comparison with my two year old GL). My prfessor
also has his first R13, in a little worse wear (I believe he is on his
second, having purchased it due to the wear on the first).

I'm aware that clarinets can be repadded, recorced, replated, ect...but
I've never heard of keeping the grenadilla body and replacing the keys and
posts. Is this sort of thing done?

I can sort of understand if it isn't - usually by the time the keys have
worn down, if the clarinet hasn't been oiled and maintained properly, some
of the dimensions of the body have probably changed as well (hence the
recent discussion on soaking one's horn). Perhaps it's just easier to
purchase a new clarinet.

However, because I play a Greenline, I have high hopes that nothing
concerning the body of my clarinet changes (short of dropping it now and
then, and using it to beat down the usual annoying saxamophone and
trombone players). Granted, this is not a certain thing, as Greenline
production is but a mere 3 years so far, so we can't really say until 30
years from now, can we?

Anyways, point is, in 20someodd years, once my keywork has begun to wear,
would it be possible to retain the body, but replace the worn keys and
rods? (I'd certainly thing such an option would be cheaper when one
thinks as to what the cost of clarinets will probably be in 20 years.)

(This is also assuming I don't win the lottery and purchase a new set of
Greenline Prestiges in two months as planned.)

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"If I wanted a 'job,' I'd have gone music ED, thank you very much!"

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