 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Fred
Date: 2004-04-18 02:37
I can buy a Selmer Series 10 pretty cheap - but there is, of course, a catch. The LH B/E key is broken in half and the detached part is not available. The lever is missing - not the pad cup part.
I've never had to consider replacing an entire key before, so I'm on unfamiliar ground. Would I be likely to find a compatible key in a tech's boneyard, or would this be a special order to Selmer?
Any guestimates on a replacement cost?
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-04-18 03:17
In my experience the B/E lever is probably the easiest of all to replace or adapt. Most techs' scrapboxes would likely yield something that would work. Cost? -- hard to say, but I'd guess around a dollar or so 
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: Fred
Date: 2004-04-18 17:28
That's good news, Ron. I hate to pass up an opportunity to play a different clarinet for a while. I really savor the experiences. So maybe that Series 10 will join my stable for a while.
Thanks again!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-04-18 18:57
I agree with Ron, I'd suggest looking in your repairer's junk box for a Selmer-made wood? lower joint, Bundy, Selmer USA, 1960-80 vintage. Might fit without much revision! Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2004-04-18 20:16
Bundy, Selmer USA won't work without modifications. The Bundy and Selmer USA keywork have the RH keys resting on top of the LH keys whereas the Selmer Paris has the "peg and hole" system (for a lack of better terminology).
jbutler
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-04-18 20:34
TKS, J B, SORRY, off the top-of-head, didn't check, lets hope for a Sel-Paris junker. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2004-04-18 22:31
Selmer still lists the key in their parts catalogue as SP2714. I don't know about price. You would have to contact Selmer.
jbutler
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-04-18 22:44
I often find it is quicker and cheaper to just go ahead and make and attach the missing part, rather than hunting around, probably not finding the exact part, and more than likely having to spend a lot of time adapting it. Perhaps 1/2 - 3/4 hour for a missing touch piece.
Mind you, I very rarely condemn an instrument, so I don't have a large junk yard. What is in my junk yard is mostly Chinese or pot metal, and you wouldn't want it on a half-decent instrument.
Good luck with a junker.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2004-04-19 01:00
Be careful where you go to have the key repaired -- particularly if the shop has to fabricate it. I had a (n approximately) 30 year-old clarinet that I bought for around $75 that needed the arm and pad cup for the F#/C# key on the lower joint. I took it to the most highly recommended clarinet repairman in town. He estimated $40. Since the clarinet was made by Buffet, I told him to go ahead. Six weeks later, the work was done. The final bill for the key -- $104! I paid but I'll never go back to him and I'll never recommend him to anyone else. In retrospect, I now realize that I would have been better off going to one of the big band instrument repair shops in town. They might have had a close fit from another horn and I'm sure the work would not have cost anywhere near as much.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-04-19 07:02
Ouch, Jack...
In my neighborhood repair shops can't exceed the extimated amount without your permission - and they have to get it before they begin the work. Fourty bucks sounds to me rather high for a replacement from the scrap bin. $104 would definitely be out of bounds.
- ron b -
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Author: Llewsrac
Date: 2004-04-19 08:33
Go to WWW.dawkes.co.uk enter Windcraft, they have just about every part of every brand clarinet available, very helpful and friendly People.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-04-19 12:39
Really! I don't think so.
I have worked on 124 brands of clarinet alone.
Now that is probably a few hundred models, and changes even occur within models.
Could it be true that MORE models float around in a tiny country than a big country?
I even resorted to getting a mould made for a B&H Regent (pot-metal) bridge key when they became unavailable anywhere. I got reproductions made in sterling silver, at about half the price I had been paying when they WERE available.
Post Edited (2004-04-19 13:40)
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Author: Fred
Date: 2004-04-19 22:47
Another repair option, perhaps?
The key is broken "north" of the pivot, so pivot and linkage are there and intact. How ugly would a new touchpiece soldered onto the existing key be?
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-04-20 03:27
Let's establish that we're discussing silver (hard) soldering; not "lead"[Pb/Sn] (soft) soldering.
I've seen some pretty shoddy soldering. I've also seen a few jobs where you'd have to look real close to find the repair. It depends on the skill of the repairer. If you're careful and follow procedure well, a sliver soldered repair should turn out nearly as good as new.
A lever is nowhere near as critical as a key but you should still try to do a nice job of it.
- rn b -
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Author: Pete
Date: 2004-04-22 23:00
Soldering a new lever on to the existing key does sound like the easiest way to go.
If the original key is not plated, the repair will be quite easily accomplished by a good repair person. If the key has plating on it, it may have to be stripped and replated to make it perfect. The high heat of silver soldering will make a mess of silver plate. Nickle plating can usually be shinned and buffed.
Good luck!
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2004-04-22 23:34
Orderin replacement keys can be time consuming and VERY EXPENSIVE. I recently ordered 3 replacement keys for a Buffet R-13 and the price was almost $160. After that, cork, springs, and pads needed to be installed.
If he was planning on using new keys, the tech estimating $40 for a key replacement was not doing homework. The key itself probably cost that much.
I have ordered replacement keys from Selmer, Buffet, and Leblanc. Only Leblanc has its act together. They have a website, for registered dealers only, where they show exploded diagrams of all the current clarinet models. Click on the part you want, and it will add it directly to your shopping cart.
Unless it's out of stock, the part shows up on your doorstop two days later. Gertting a simnilar part from Selmer or Buffet takes on average, 6 weeks, and you sometimes get the wrong part.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-04-23 03:01
Walter, my experience with Buffet is similar to yours with Leblanc, it just pays to ask nicely. Of course, if Buffet's inventory shows a part it may be at the factory in France, which means additional time for France to LA to customer - no drop shipping, I've asked before. When Leblanc doesn't have something in-house, you don't get it - they tell you "it's back ordered" which in Leblanc Lingo means forget it. Of course, they threw the mold away when they hired Dave Surber.
Personally, I don't think the cost of the 3 Buffet keys was out of line. One shouldn't have to replace keys, and if you do - you have to pay - like anything else.
Wholesale & jobbers are (way) better when looking for parts than going to the manufacturers. Occasionally, when dealing with an honest jobber, they don't re-mark old OEM parts (that will fit) every year. I know of one jobber who will jack the price everytime anyone calls. "Oh that was from the Spring catalogue" etc. Caveat emptor. Of course, why pick on the Jobbers when the parts pricing @ the manufacturers is so skewed towards the big catalogues. I think it's OK to a point, but ....
Post Edited (2004-04-23 10:58)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-04-23 14:03
Well, thank goodness, at least repair parts for things such as automobiles, refrigerators and computers are cheap.......
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-04-23 15:43
Ok, learn me. I had compressors changed on a Frigidaire & on a new GE just out of warranty. The trip charges for the repairman were as much as a network computer tech. The quoted compressor replacement charges caused me to think about putting them "out by the curb". My local NAPA & AutoZone stores are pretty proud of their products, so I go to Walmart when I need auto stuff. Authorized service for my car is unconscionably high - I have heard surgeons say they went in the wrong business!
(fyi - Blue Coral Leather Cleaner is great for leather & faux leather cases)
BTW: on buying (new or used) keys & fitting them to a horn - I would tell anyone to count on the labor exceeding the cost. That is, a $40 part would probably bring a $100 repair bill. That $40 part will cost $5-6 in shipping & & handling to the dealer or repairman.
BBTW: Look at the cost of having something like a Tenon cap installed. There was a recent informal survey - prices range from $40-90 retail for a small piiece of formed metal!
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Author: Alastair Hanson
Date: 2004-04-28 23:09
Regarding spare parts - our company policy is for 'free exchange replacement parts'.
That is; if a key is snapped (for example) we supply the replacement at no charge. All we ask is that the customer covers postage at cost and returns the broken part for inspection.
This is good for the customer and good for our company;
The customer benefits are obvious. For our part we have the opportunity to inspect any potential weakness in our designs and prevent the possibility of any major production glitches. Also it demonstrates confidence in our products which I'm sure builds end user confidence and therefore our sales figures.
Win/win.
Alastair
www.hansonclarinets.com
Post Edited (2004-04-28 23:15)
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-04-28 23:11
It's win-win and definitely "smart-smart". Kudos. mw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-04-29 06:36
Pete wrote, "The high heat of silver soldering will make a mess of silver plate."
This is not true if the job is correctly fluxed, the silver-solder has low melting point (i.e. say 42 or 45% silver, flowing around 620 Celcius), and the job is not over-heated.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2004-05-04 00:01
A happy ending to the story . . .
I bought the clarinet.
A local technician had a Selmer France lower joint in the boneyard.
Key replacement, straightening some bent keys, adjustment/reseating some pads (general PC tuneup) - $65.
Life is good.
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