Klarinet Archive - Posting 000070.txt from 2004/08

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Silva-Bet pads with bolts
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 17:01:17 -0400


I wrote,
>Recently, I bought a full-Boehm H. Bettoney
>Silva-Bet Bb clarinet (probably from the1930s).
>It's a metal clarinet with silver plating, similar to
>my other Silva-Bet except for the extended range
>and a curious set of pads. The clarinet is in
>unplayable condition, but there's no damage: It
>just needs a full overhaul. My question is about
>what type of pads I should install.

I lied -- there's no damage that should affect playing, but there is one
ugly-looking old repair that adds to my suspicion that I shouldn't assume
that whoever overhauled this clarinet last used the right type of pads or
installed them correctly. The bell has a big, sloppy smear of solder on
the outside. On the inside, I can feel the remains of a crease bad enough
that it cracked through. It's the kind of crease that might come from
dropping a metal clarinet on the edge of a curb. The bell seems okay
otherwise, not distorted -- the person who soldered it did a good job of
taking out the dent, at least. After I repad, I may take the clarinet to
Peter Ferrante at Presto Brass and Woodwinds, in Arlington, VA, who can
smooth out that bub-fudge job of soldering. (He did such a great job of
getting rid of a crease and a huge bulge of solder on the neck of a 1926 C.
G. Conn tenor sax that it's hard to believe it's the same neck.)

Lelia Loban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban
America can do better: Kerry and Edwards in 2004!

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