Klarinet Archive - Posting 000230.txt from 2002/03

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: [kl] Bass clarinet question - again.
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 21:09:53 -0500

First, thanks again for all the helpful suggestions. Lost of good advice
here, for sure. I'm making progress, both technically and by practice.

Back to the leather pads. Whether they are sax pads or not, they seem to
work, and after a good deal of finicky adjustment (read "a lot of trial and
error") they seem to be sealing. At least my feeler can't find any more
suspects. I still have trouble with the high B & C (above the staff) which
are unstable, but I can find no leak above that point after a lot of
looking. My prime suspect was the automatic Bb vent, which opens if the
register key is depressed and the thumb plateau is not depressed, but I can
find no hint of a leak there. I adjusted the pad under the A lever which
closes along with the thumb plateau, and now they are hitting in
sync. There is no sign of trouble with the Ab and A vents, nor the two
upper trill keys. (Now THERE's a trill key - over a foot long!) So maybe
the problem is just me, and will get better with practice.

However, leather is leather, and not inherently waterproof, unlike the fish
bladder used for soprano clarinet pads. It would seem to me that leather
should need some kind of dressing once in a while, like other leather
goods. I notice that Faree's sells a "Silicon Treatment" (aka "Leather Pad
Preservative"). Anyone tried this? Anyone tried anything else? And how
did they work? Will the Doctor recommend animal fat (butter?) since
leather is an animal product?. Or is the best treatment no treatment at
all, as some think about bore oil?

George Kidder
Bar Harbor, ME

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