 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ChrisC
Date: 2004-01-10 05:59
Following last week's crack predicament with my Rossi, I have become obsessed with care and maintenance questions as I search for things I might have overlooked that could have prevented the crack. (A minor update on that topic--I got a repairman to fill in, but not pin, the crack, and am holding onto the instrument for the time being.) At any rate, I just had a conversation with a fellow clarinetist, which I rarely get a chance to do in the offline world, and he said that the crack was most likely due to the fact that I didn't oil my instrument...I have never used oil on a clarinet before, and most of the discussion on this board seems to suggest that either soaking the clarinet in oil or applying it to the bore is something to be done with old clarinets that have been lying unplayed for a long time, not brand new instruments. I also know that the wood that Luis Rossi uses is extensively aged and cured, which presumably includes oiling. At any rate, my main question is this: would oil treatment have prevented the crack, and could it possibly prevent further, permanent damage from befalling the instrument? If so, how would I go about applying oil to the bore in a way that won't ruin the pads or cause other problems? I will discuss this with my repair tech next week before doing anything drastic, but I would also like to gather some wisdom on the topic from this board.
Thanks so much.
--Chris
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-01-10 12:18
On a brand new clarinet, there really is nothing that you can do to prevent cracking. If it is going to crack, it will. The probability of cracking goes down after the first year or so as all the "infant mortality" has occurred by then. A few horns will crack later but the rate is much lower than in that first year.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2004-01-10 14:29
Oiling a new clarinet without specific instructions to do so from the manufacturer would have been a very irresponsible thing to do. Don't beat yourself over the head about this; it appears that clarinet was going to crack regardless of what you did. Your "fellow clarinetist" friend doesn't sound qualified to be making recommendations on instrument care. He/she probably meant well and may be a great person, but that advice/opinion was wrong.
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Author: sherrietanner
Date: 2004-01-10 14:33
Chris, Have you contacted Rossi about your problem? I bet they could give you the best advice.
Sherrie
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