 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: S.Koumas
Date: 2000-12-21 21:55
Hiya,
First some good news, my local Wind Band was in need of a Bass Clarinetist as theirs dropped out. I was asked to join and have and am going on tour in Italy for about 5/7 days i think next August! Yeah!!!
Bad News... The bass they have lent me seems to have a problem with its 'Spike' i think thats the correct name (the stand at the bass of the clarinet) i tighten it up and the bass just slides back down it!!! Any suggestions on what to do!
Thanxs in advance
S.Koumas
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Author: Liesel
Date: 2000-12-21 22:06
They make neckstraps for bass clarinets. The bass I played in concert band last year was missing the spike, I guess that's what you call it. So, I used a neckstrap. I also once saw a girl rest her clarinet on a little stool. I don't know how steady that would be though. I had a tendancy to hold the bass clarinet like a tenor sax when I used the neckstrap, but you can still play it the way you would with a spike.
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Author: Tony
Date: 2000-12-21 22:17
Try a piece of rubber surgical tubing slipped down the peg. It will be a very tight fit but will keep the bass up. Good luck.
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Author: Ashley
Date: 2000-12-21 22:19
I've always heard it called a peg. stop at your music shop and get a new screw, maybe the one on it (on the bell, that holds the peg in place) is stripped. or use a neckstrap, just dont hold it like a sax!! Hold it the way you normally would except its supported by your neck instead of the floor. if you angle it down under your chair a little its supposedly better for your embouchure, as its closer to the angle of a soprano clarinet (unless of course you have a cool neck, unlike mine, that bends the way they're supposed to..the bass clarinet neck i mean, not your neck )
-ashley-
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Author: Andy
Date: 2000-12-21 22:56
I got caught out one day and found out that if you sit down and roll your foot in so that your big toe is facing up and then place the bass on top of your foot it works quite well. The problem is though that you do get a kind of RSI in the foot, maybe not RSI, but it starts to hurt after a while.
Yellow pages are also great for an alternative peg if you have the energy to carry is around with you.
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2000-12-21 23:41
This a problem I've hade a few times before. What kind of horn is it?
OK, this is going to take some work, but here's what I think the most likely cause is: (assuming the peg isn't just too small)
The thumbscrew has a nut part and a bolt part. The bolt part has a circular section cut out to accept the peg. Friction is applied by moving the nut part sideways so the peg is pinched between the notch in the nut part and the "tube" that is attached to the bell of the horn.
There is also a guide pin in the nut part that keeps it aligned. Look carefully and see if this is what is preventing you from tightening the thumbscrew. If it is, it will likely be bent, and you will see marks at the end of its guide channel. If this is what is happening, file the little guide pin off. After a few tries, you will learn how to assemble your horn without it and you will not be limited in tightening the thumbscrew.
Its a shot in the dark, and don't proceed with filing until you have confirmed the cause, but that's what did it for me. (On an old Selmer owned by my high school, I believe.)
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2000-12-22 00:25
I had the same problem and we did the file work and it is fine. If you need a patch job fine out where you want the peg to be and put a little tape on the peg and that will stop it from slipping.
have fun
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-12-22 15:21
I have exactly the same problem on my Leblanc BBb contra.
There are 3 types of problems:
THE MECHANISM IS OK, BUT YOU CAN'T GET IT TIGHT ENOUGH
1. If you have a wing-nut (with "ears") to tighten, put short lenghts of silicon rubber surgical tubing on the ears. It saves your fingers and gives you more leverage. You could also wrap a wide rubber band around the ears in a figure-8 pattern.
2. If you have a round nut, replace it with a wing nut, or wrap a wide rubber band around the edge.
THE DESIGN IS A SCREW GOES THROUGH A SLEEVE AND PRESSES AGAINST THE PEG, BUT IT STILL SLIPS
1. Try a slip of paper inside the sleeve. Put it on the side away from the screw tip, since the paper isn't strong enough to do much in the tiny area where the screw tip presses.
2. Have a repair shop drill a "dent" or cut a small notch in the peg, so the screw tip can fit there. That's what's done on my Buffet bass clarinet.
3. Take a file and roughen up the area where the screw tip presses.
THE DESIGN IS A SLEEVE IN THE SHAPE OF A SPLIT "C" AND THE SCREW SQUEEZES IT AROUND THE PEG, BUT IT STILL SLIPS
1. Most of the time, the problem with this design is that the split in the sleeve is too small, so the edges of the "C" close before the peg is securely gripped. The first stage solution is to put a strip of paper inside the sleeve, to fill the extra space and give a little more friction. If this doesn't work, the problem needs to be fixed at a repair shop, where they file down the edges of the "C" so that they never quite touch. This is tricky, because the screw supports can break loose and also may have to be moved and re-soldered.
2. If you're sure the ends of the "C" are not touching, then it's time to put in a strip of paper or roughen up the peg with a file.
If it's a school instrument, you really must clear repairs with the band director. The only thing I'd do on my own would be to wrap a rubber band around the screw or put a strip of paper inside the sleeve.
Good luck. The trip sounds wonderful.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2000-12-23 08:47
Well said Stephen. But I would prefer to leave the pin intact and modify the slot that it goes in - perhaps file the slot deeper if that is the problem.
Another problem can be if the screw thread on the bolt part does not have a long enough thread. That is especially possible if the spike at some time has been replaced with a slightly thinner one.
Also, the nut part will jam before it goes on far enough to tighten if it has the wrong thread inside it. That could easily be the case if it has been replaced at some time.
It should be be an easuy problem for a good repair technician to fix.
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