 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: msa
Date: 2011-01-28 21:08
I took my new clarinet to a local repair man to have the tenons looked at because they were so tight. Unfortunately, he took too much out of the bottom joint, so where the top and bottom joint meet, the clarinet rocks back and forth. Is this fixable? Thanks!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-01-28 21:54
It p****s me off when I've seen clarinets where the tenons have been sanded down so much the ends are all rounded off and they rock in their sockets - especially when it's the middle joint.
If he's taken too much wood from the tenons, then you will either need the tenon rings built up (with superglue and wood dust, then turned down to fit the socket) or if it's really bad, you'll probably have to get the tenon fitted with a metal cap and the upper tenon ring built up. But either way these aren't jobs to be taken lightly by a 'local repair man' who may not have the skill or equipment to undertake this sort of work.
Tenons should be a good fit in their respective sockets without the tenon cork fitted (which acts as an airtight seal and the pressure of the cork on the socket wall keeps the joints together), but even if tenons are around 0.5mm too narrow, they can rock and you want the middle tenon as rigid as is possible to be sure the long Bb is reliable.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-01-29 00:41
I always felt the cork on the tenons are too narrow. On most clarinets as well as mouthpieces I widen the the tenon so when the new cork is glued in, the cork is much wider and this will stop the wiggles. I can't take credit for this as Hans Maonnig, in philly.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2011-01-29 00:47)
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2011-01-29 14:38
Now if the makers put the C#/G# where it should be accoustically i.e. smack in the centre of the tenon as it is in the full Boehm system then one gets a decently long tenon that is very much less prone to rock even if abused or worn and which if treated sensibly will still be rock solid after 50 years.
And into the bargain you get a beautifully toned and tuned note...
Makers regularly did this on clarinets 100 years ago.
As for weakening the tenon as some suggest, in my repair career I have seen quite a few broken tenons but never yet on a full Boehm system.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-01-29 23:48
As for ridiculously short middle tenons, check out an early Selmer 10S - and with such a short tenon, the tenon cork is only around 7mm wide (if that).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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