Klarinet Archive - Posting 000606.txt from 2004/11

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] An Eb quandry
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 08:17:20 -0500


Re. a wooden Cabart (Paris) Eb from eBay, Curtis Bennett wrote,
>I'd go over the break, and the thing would just vapor
>lock. No sound would come out. I figured maybe it
>just needed a tune up and it'd be ok.
>
>The guy told me that he just adjusted some keys, and
>replaced the cork where the barrel attaches (it was loose),
>and the d#/Bb flick key was "corked down" meaning
>there was an excessive amount of cork to where you
>couldn't move the key. Apparently, the previous owner
>had big fingers and didn't like it getting in his way.
>The repair guy removed that for me as well.
>
>So now it's an improvement, but it's still not in good shape.
>I took it to band (I'm in a community band) and it was
>horribly out of tune. I had to pull the barrel out almost
>2 millimeters to get the throat notes in tune. And the
>throat A is way off.

Since your repair tech already found evidence that the previous owner had
some wrong-headed things done to this clarinet, I wonder whether your
throat A and Ab keys are maladjusted. A tiny leak at that connection can
cause both the bad intonation and the fact that you have trouble getting
sound above the break. It's also a fairly cheap area for your repair tech
to work on, since those two keys aren't connected to any others.

You can do a simple, preliminary test. Open the A key. Place a cigarette
paper or a slip of tissue paper under the A key. Let go of the lever and
let the key close. With no fingers on any keys, pull on the paper. It
should be very tight. Now do the same with the Ab key. With no fingers on
any keys, the Ab should also close tightly on the paper. If that paper
slides out from under either key easily, then that's a trouble spot. (In
fact, while you're at it, try the tissue paper test on all the keys that
should stay closed until you open them.)

Another test you can do yourself: Watch very carefully as you press just
the Ab finger lever. Does the A key move, too? It shouldn't. Now press
only the A lever. Both keys should open. Watch what happens when you let
go of the lever. Do both keys snap closed immediately and completely?
(Test again with the paper.) If not, you've probably got a weak or
improperly fitted leaf spring, under the A. Do this test several times,
and do at least one where you rock the lever quickly as if you were playing
a trill between A and G, too, because the spring might behave some of the
time but not all of the time. Sometimes the keys might snap down and other
times they might drop down s-l-o-w-l-y and maybe not all the way. The leaf
spring under the A key often develops metal fatigue after a number of
years. It's possible that the spring needs changing or that the previous
owner's tech replaced the original spring with one that was too long, too
short or too flabby.

If the clarinet has an adjustment screw where the throat A and the Ab cross
(sorry, but I'm not familiar with Cabart clarinets; not all clarinets have
this screw), then the screw may be too tight or too loose. That's a pesky
and very important adjustment. Half a turn either way makes a difference.
The tech can also check whether the corks under the A and Ab key touches
are the wrong thickness; or maybe a pad is too thick, too thin or too
crooked. If those keys aren't perfectly adjusted, then one or both will
leak air. I'm an amateur, not a professional repair tech, but I've
restored quite a few old clarinets now, and I think I've spent more time on
that fershlugginer A / Ab crossover that on anything else on the
instruments.

Lelia Loban
Cthulhu for President in 2008!
Why settle for the lesser evil?

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