The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SVSorna05
Date: 2003-08-21 23:08
Hey there I was just browsing through ferree's tools, has anyone had great success with Norbeck pads, are they better than double bladder/cork? Also someonw a while back recomended Leather pads for an older E&S Buffet K series, would this be beneificial over either norbeck or cork pads thanx for the info!
-Dain-
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Author: Clarinetpunk
Date: 2003-08-22 00:45
No. The Norbeck pads are extremely difficult to seat and I would not recommend them at all. (from a Repair tech at a local shop).
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-22 09:26
Norbeck pads need a blemish-free edge on the tone hole, because they do not bed in at all to accommodate imperfections. They also require a key cup correctly aligned with the tone hole.
I would suggest that a repair tech who describes them as "extremely' difficult to seat must be a rather rough technician. Care and accuracy is needed, but care and accuracy should be used all the time by a good technician. I would say that on average they take me up to 50% longer to install than bladder pads.
They are totally impervious to water, and seem to last forever.
I have only ever used them for the small tone holes, when water is a problem.
As with cork pads, there can be problems because they cannot be any larger than the INSIDE diameter of the key cups, and hence may not cover tone holes well on SOME instruments.
Some players would not like the way that they can stick very slightly (barely detectable) to the tone holes. I think they are silicon rubber, bonded to a composite cork backing.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-08-22 14:28
I hate Norbeck pads because the silicone rubber used absorbs every speck of dirt and crud in the vicinity, and the pad occasionally slides around on the cork backing. I use leather almost exclusively now on all sizes of clarinet, and of course on all saxophones.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-22 17:53
Yes they can retain lint & dirt, but why they are quite easy to clean, and why is dirt allowed near the pads? Get a silk pull-through from The Doctor, don't spit over the instrument, and put it away after use.
I have not had the sliding problem David describes, but I have not used them a lot. It might have something to do with the temperature used to heat the pad glue.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2003-08-22 18:34
I don't often disagree with Gordon but I must here. When I tried Norbeck pads, I found the sticking so annoyingly noticeable that I had to remove them. The problem was perhaps not as bad with wood as it was with plastic (or the metal of a register tube) but I found it unacceptable in every case.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-23 01:14
I've never used them with plastic instruments.
I've never used them with register keys. I always use cork here so I can shape the pad to greatly reduce fuzziness on the throat Bb.
I would not like the stickiness myself, perhaps because of my aesthetic sense of mechanical perfection rather than anything else, but a couple of my professional player customers have a few on their instruments, and they are quite happy with them.
So perhaps we are still largely in agreement!
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Author: jez
Date: 2003-08-23 13:20
I've never seen Norbeck pads, but have never had any problems with the synthetic ones I use made by Eddie Ashton.
You can read about them on the Peter Eaton site or google Ashton Superpads.
jez
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-24 14:06
Hmm. I disagree with a great deal of what he writes on the Peter Eaton web site. It smacks of blaming traditional pads for problems created by poor fittiing and adjsutment.
He paints a picture of felt being a very unstable material. That is not true of modern treated felts.
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