 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: chumbucket804
Date: 2004-06-21 00:50
ahhh!! ok i have a problem with my register key.. i played open G and everything worked ok. then i played on the upper register and then when i came back to play open G it was just fuzz. i looked at my register key and found out that after i pressed it, it doesnt completly close on its own. any reasons why this would be happening and how i can fix it? any help is much appreciated.
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2004-06-21 01:09
Probably this one little spring wire isnt tight enough... should be a quick and easy repair for a pro, but I don't know how you should do it yourself.
Post Edited (2004-06-21 21:33)
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2004-06-21 01:24
Problems could be: broken spring or fatigue, spring end "digging" into clarinet rather than smooth motion, rusty steel (rod), bent rod, bent key, or a combination of the above.
jbutler
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-06-21 01:40
As Kevin says, it could be as simple as the long spring, underneath the key, being turned to a side, OR it could be that a small drop of oil on the pivot rod might help. Is the pad in good shape? We presume your cl is a Bb [soprano] not a larger cl with more complex key structure. Some more info from you might help our "diagnosis" Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Bnatural
Date: 2004-06-21 01:47
Does it feel normal when you press it that first time?... and is the pitch there when you play open g but just fuzzy or is it just fuzz?... Like everyone has said check the condition of the pad and maybe just oil the key before spending the money to take it to the shop.
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Author: chumbucket804
Date: 2004-06-21 03:28
yes.. it is a Bb clarinet. i oiled the key and that helped a little but it is still bad. that pad is still in good condition. it is a cork pad.. if that helps at all. when i press the key for the first time it feels normal. when i hold the top of the reg. key down and play open G it sounds fine. but after i press the key and then go back to open G all i get is fuzz.. no pitch at all. i'm probably going to take it in to the shop tomorrow.. the rest of the horn needs new pads anyways. thanks for the help.
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Author: clarinetpro
Date: 2004-06-22 04:59
It's not returning.... that's all (spring?). Inexpensive fix and quick. Have your technician do it though.
Don
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-06-22 10:39
When a key does not return, it is almost NEVER a problem with the spring, unless somebody has messed with the spring. Strengthening the spring in such cases just delays dealing with the real problem. If that real problem was rust, then the problem can get a whole lot worse, and considerably more expensive to correct, by band-aiding it by misguidedly strengthening the spring. Very little spring force is needed to close a register vent.
As has been said, the pivot is almost certainly binding for some reason (rust, bent rod, bent tube, jamming between posts, gummy oil residue - very common with old instruments inappropriately lubricated). Lack of oil (alone) does not cause this either.
The pivot rod must be removed for diagnosis.
Very short springs can bind, 'crashing' against a 'wall' worn into the timber spring groove, but this is very unlikely to happen with the long type of spring that a register key normally has.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-06-22 15:18
I've also had a clarinet where a screw, over the course of time, would simply tighten down due the motions of open and closing the key. Backing the screw off a hair was all that was required.
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-06-22 15:20
Hey, JB --- I really DIG your response! mw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-06-23 04:26
"I've also had a clarinet where a screw, over the course of time, would simply tighten down due the motions of open and closing the key. Backing the screw off a hair was all that was required."
I gather you mean pivot ROD. For jamming that occurs suddenly when the rod is screwed in hard, the likely causes are:
If the pivot rod does not turn, relative to the key, as the key is operated:
- An internal burr at the end of the pivot tube, which catches on the threaded end of the rod. This burr could be metal that is 'worked' over the internal edge at the end of the tube, through much use, especially when without lubricant.
- Both pivot tube and rod are bent, but in one particular position relative to eachother, the tube moves freely.
- The threaded part is not straight, so when it is screwed home it tends to bend the pivot rod.
- The posts are not correctly aligned.
If the pivot rod now turns within the posts, with the key, as the key is operated:
- The pivot tube is jamming on the shaft because of a bent part, gummy oil, or rust, and is now using the posts as pivots, and causing wear in most undesirable places.
I guess by 'tighten down' you mean jam against the tube. A pivot rod that is screwed tight into its threaded post should never be a problem.
If you mean a pivot point screw, then the most likely cause is that the timber has shrunk. so the two pivot screws become closer to eachother and jam into the ends of the key's hinge rod.
In any of these cases, loosening the screw is a band-aid fix, and does not deal with the underlying problem.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-06-23 13:32
Use an elastic band as a short term "assist" until the shop can help out.
I recommend the 'Scunci' brand of hair elastics for carrying as a temporary
fix when a spring fails. If you take care not to involve other keys, or cover toneholes, it will get you through until service.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-06-24 00:38
I recommend no direct contact between the rubber and any silver plating. The sulphur in the rubber can do a lot of damage to silver plating in quite a short time.
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2004-06-24 05:43
This sounds simple, but it was happening to me at one time... The cork on the back of the register key (which touches the clarinet when the key is pushed down) had somehow gotten something sticky on it which was making it stick to the clarinet and not close on time (if at all). All I had to do was take the register key off and remove the residue from the clarinet/cork with a rag. It hasn't bothered me since....
If all else fails you might see if this is the problem. Good luck
DH
theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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