 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: CPW
Date: 2003-03-23 21:59
Sounds like a parachute shape that causes air to balloon out the fabric.
and, oh yeah......
CPW 3:23
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jce
Date: 2003-03-24 09:08
I bought a couple of black silk triangular swabs, which cost $10 each, but I didn't like them. My favorite is micro fiber, which is about half the price of silk and very absorbent. I always use two swabs to clean my instrument. The first one goes in from bell to barrel to extract the majority of moisture while the second goes from barrel to bell a couple of times to finish the job and smooth the bore in the direction of flow. This works for me.
Best regards,
John Elison
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-03-24 09:49
What exactly are the perceived properties of silk that make it a good fabric for the outside of a swab.
I have found dry silk to be rather reluctant to absorb or wick water.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-03-24 10:27
There are many poorly designed swabs made from all sorts of fabrics on the market - IMHO the design is crucial and almost secondary to the material. Everyone to their own tastes in swabs but there are some good points about silk. The caveat is that the silk must be pretreated to remove the sizing or other treatment used on the fabric. Most of the silk sold in fabric bolts is for clothing purposes and thus the finish designed for some fashion statement- e.g. shiney or velvet finish for women's blouses. Silk is very moisture absorbent and will leave no lint or other debris behind in the bore. Microfiber is also good, but because of it's tendency to generate and hold a static charge (one of the selling points for its use as a dusting rag) it will grab onto other dust (in the case pocket - floating in the air) and eventually deposit more material in the bore than silk. Absorbent ribbed jersey cotton swabs are also good but tend also to leave lint after many uses by the physical scouring of the fabric surface by the bore and other protrusions like the register tube.
The Doctor
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-03-24 15:12
The Doctor is right, as usual. I use a Gigliotti swab, which has a "tail" at the opposite end from the weighted tape, with which you can pull it out when it inevitably gets stuck. It seems to me this is worth everything else combined.
Some people have recommended pulling the swab through from the top for the initial swipe. The theory is that you distribute the condensation through the bore and thus equalize the moisture levels throughout the instrument.
Probably more theory than reality, but it couldn't hurt.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ron H
Date: 2003-03-25 01:27
Is it true that you should not run the swab through the mouthpiece?
Thanks
RonH
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ctt489
Date: 2003-03-25 02:29
I use a sock with a string attached.... you think I'm kidding?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ctt489
Date: 2003-03-25 02:30
I'm kidding. I use a black silk that now is ripped in the center. I Got it from the SaxDoctor (you know who in Boston) but dont know the brand.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CPW
Date: 2003-03-25 03:02
The Doctor has a good swab, as does Gem.
As for the new one mentioned in this topic, I tend to avoid products that include messages in their advertisements that allude to matters of metaphysics.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: PJ
Date: 2003-03-25 04:38
I've used silk for years and have gotten great results. I wasn't aware that most silk is pre-treated, as stated by The Doctor. I used to use Gigliotti swabs until my last one ripped. At that point, and in a jam, I ran to the local JC Penney's, bought a silk hanky and tied a string to the end. It's been with me ever since. After reading The Doctors statement, I'm not so sure this was a good idea. I'm thinking it is time to replace mine!
THANKS DOC!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-03-25 12:50
I have one of the "Demand" swabs advertised.
It is simply a double layer rectangle of silk about 9 x 5", with one elongated corner, and with a strip of cotton fabric inside, about an inch wide, running the length, sewn along one seam of the rectangle.
I think "...unique envelope design which traps air inside the swab and pushes the silk towards the interior walls of your instrument.. " is a rather imaginative statement. If any air is trapped it is because of the nature of fabric, not the design. It is not air that pushes the silk outwards, it is the slight rigidity that is the nature of the fabric (indeed most fabrics) that does so.
However the swab is well made, and I guess, better than most if not all. I have not actually used it yet.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-03-25 14:16
Ripped swabs, double layers, metaphysical printing.
That's what's wrong with the clarinetists of today. They've all been corrupted by that damn Cartesian dualism.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Todd W.
Date: 2003-03-25 16:06
Didn't Sabine Meyer and (Mr.) Acker Bilk record the Cartesian duets? On the Descartes label, I believe.
Todd W.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
