 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2006-05-25 23:33
My poor used Selmer-Bundy gets played several hours a day, almost every day of the week. I say poor, because it is subjected to my playing.
The spring for the upper "A" key has broken. It appears to be nothing more than a piece of piano wire that fatigued over time.
I normally like to work on the horn myself but, in this case, I was unable to determine how the springs are actually retained. It appears that the round projection through which the shaft that the key pivots on retains it, but I cannot tell.
As I did not want to damage it, I took it in for repair, but I am curious as to how these springs (the piano wire ones) are retained.
Any information would be greatly apprecieated.
Thank you all in advance.
Ah Clem
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-05-26 00:16
The springs could more accurately be called needles; short rigid lengths of rod that are tempered so as to retain their resilience.
On many clarinets, they are nothing more than a friction fit through a hole drilled through the post. Some instruments have them crimped into place, or given some other means to retain them in place.
And, they can really lacerate you if you catch your flesh on one that's popped off of its post or retention slot.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2006-05-26 04:33
Ah Clem wrote:
> I say poor, because it is subjected to my playing.
I'll wager you're a lot better than you give yourself credit for. Several hours a day? You can't put that amount of time into anything without getting some results.
Good going!
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-05-26 09:36
Bundys have stainless steel springs, cut from a length of wire. The end that's in the pillar is flattened out slightly so it grips in the hole drilled for it and pushed home with wire cutters until the flattened end is flush with the pillar.
If you want to do this, get some stainless steel spring wire the correct gauge and cut the correct length off. Smooth the cut ends with a file and slightly flatten the tip of one end so it flares out (with a hammer and small anvil), but not too much as you both want it to hold fast in the pillar (without turning and losing it's tension) whilst you also want to be able to remove it again easily if it breaks.
The worst needle springs are made from phosphor bronze - when they break, they break right at the pillar so removing them can be a pain. Boosey&Hawkes used them, and I think the US made student flutes (Emerson, Bundy, Gemeinhart, Armstrong, etc.) use them as well.
But I think you should be able to get a set of springs from your nearest Conn-Selmer dealer or straight from Conn-Selmer themselves.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2006-05-26 11:03
>>The worst needle springs are made from phosphor bronze - when they break, they break right at the pillar so removing them can be a pain. Boosey&Hawkes used them, and I think the US made student flutes (Emerson, Bundy, Gemeinhart, Armstrong, etc.) use them as well.
>>
Some cheap brands of recently-manufactured clarinets have phosphor-bronze springs. Buying these springs for replacements is a false economy, imho. For instance, Ferree's Tools sells the best needle springs, of blued steel in measured sizes, at $1.20 per dozen or $8.20 per hundred for the series of sizes that fit clarinets. Larger saxophone sizes run $1.60 per dozen or $11.40 per hundred in measured sizes. An assortment of 100 miscellaneous blued steel springs sells for $100 there. (My experience is that the sizes tend to run large, for saxophones, in the miscellaneous assortment.) The stainless steel round springs for Bundy and similar clarinets sell for $1.50 per dozen or $11.00 per hundred in measured sizes. With prices this reasonable on good-quality parts, why save a few cents by buying junk?
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-05-26 14:19
This is a design flaw, dating from the late 1950s, when Bundy replaced the flat spring with a needle spring on the throat A key. The problem is that there isn't enough room for a properly sized spring, and the one that will fit has to bend too much. As a result, it breaks frequently.
The problem is especially bad if the repair shop uses a standard blued steel spring, which is stiffer than the stainless steel spring and won't stand as much bending. When I had a Bundy in the 8th grade, the spring broke about once a month. Use a rubber band as a temporary replacement when the spring breaks.
Most repair shops can get the stainless steel material if you remind them, or perhaps cannibalize a spring from a junker Bundy. The only permanent solution is to have a flat spring put on, or perhaps buy a Bundy with a flat spring and sell yours.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-05-26 17:44
The throat A key on Boehm systems isn't a good key for either type of spring - a flat spring will only have contact against the body just beyond the key barrel so getting it right is hard work as it's right under the fulcrum. Leblanc have a better design with a longer spring as they've shifted the pillars up the joint more (and still have enough venting), but as the throat G tonehole is so close to the A key barrel it's a pain, a needle spring should work better in theory, but in practice it's not much better either.
As for phosphor bronze springs on Gemeinharts, I just saw a new Gemeinhart flute today and it had stainless steel springs. They must have changed that in the last 10 years or so, which was a good move.
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Author: Ah Clem
Date: 2006-05-26 22:40
Thank you all, once again for the incredible amount of great information. I think, at the moment, I am glad that I am letting the professionals take care of the issue.
Now that I know how the springs are installed, and what they are made of, I may attempt replacement myself the next time.
Thank you all again!
Ah Clem
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