 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: aubert
Date: 2003-05-22 00:12
Would love to get some guidance about pad selection for Bb and A Buffet
R-13 clarinets I'm about to have overhauled. Is there any sound reason for selecting one type (say Gore-Tex, Valentino, cork, others) over another, or is it just about durability and/or personal preference? Would like to hear opinions and reasoning about this ...... Thanks !
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-05-22 04:01
I'd cast my vote for Personal Preference, Aubert 
Personal experience persuades me that good ol' double skin pads are about as good as it gets. I've found over the past three/four years, and dozens of horns, that they hold up as good as others and hold a seat well over their average three to four year lifespan. Of course, if you like the idea of Valentino, cork or other kinds of pads there's a wide variety to choose from - including kidskin if it's long range durability that interests you. I've seen some of those still functional after fifty years, believe it or not. I've also seen Valentinos poop out within a year and they're supposedly bullet proof.
- ron b -
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-05-24 01:39
Cork pads on most of the upper joint has been working well for me, with regular pads on everything else. Plus, I don't find the cork to adversely affect the tone or be too percussive or anything.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-05-24 11:01
Percussive? C'mon.
Aubert, if you had a tonehole that regularly collected a water drop... that's the place for a cork pad (and they last!)...
I like the Hermes 42M with a beveled backing.
Having a decent leather pad on the last three toneholes is nice, too.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-05-24 11:41
I agree with Benni & Ron B.
I have also seen the odd cork pad swollen badly, like the end of a wine cork sometimes does.
BTW the properties required of a normally-open pad are rather more demanding than the requirements for a normally-closed pad.
Many pad types are suitable for normally-closed pads, providing they do not perish and go hard or sticky, or move around.
However felt has unique properties - microscopic 'hooks' which help it to retain the shape that is forced upon it, while still retaining a little resilience, i.e. elasticity - which make it hard to beat as the basis for normally-open pads.
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Author: Alex
Date: 2003-06-17 00:55
Hello,
I like very much Gore Tex pads,because of the sound.Like cork,they are also very safe,but not so noisy.Compare to Valentin, Gore Tex has better sound.
Regular double skin pads have good sound but very short life.I always repair my clarinet myself therefore its not a problem to change few old pads.
But if you have to send it somewhere and also pay for this,better to choose Gore Tex(or cork)
Good luck!
Alex
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-06-17 01:51
Alex wrote, "Regular double skin pads have good sound but very short life."
This depends a great deal on the quality of the pad. Some pads currently being used by some French instrument makers have such a thin, brittle membrane that the pads sometimes start cutting out within a year. Shame on these makers!
I have found membrane pads from Music Center in Italy (previously 'Pisoni'), the worlds biggest pad maker, to last very well indeed.
I once used Hermes pads, which died very quickly. Perhaps a bad batch - I don't know - but I'll never buy them again!
Post Edited (2003-06-17 04:08)
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-06-17 22:26
I'll vote for all cork pads except the bottom three large pads. I can't seem to get a good seal on those.
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