 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jeff
Date: 2000-01-06 02:12
Hello All!
My question is what is the difference between a clarinet with nickel plated keys and one with silver plated keys? Can someone please explain this to me?
Thanks,
Jeff
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-06 02:32
Literally one has nickel, one has silver as a plating. There's a difference in the feel of the keys under the fingers - that's about it, other than the visual difference.
My clarinet (Selmer 10G) came standard with silver plated keywork, so I'm used to the feel of silver & prefer it to those I've tried that are nickel plated, but I attribute that to the baby duck syndrome (it's what I started with, so it's what I'm used to, so anything else feels "wrong").
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Author: Brent
Date: 2000-01-06 12:26
I play on a clarinet with silver plated keys (10Gs also) but had previously played (for a LONG time) on clarinets with nickel keys. I too prefer the feel of the silver--i am less prone to slip when i don't want to.
You notice this effect even more on flute...
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-01-06 14:53
...and silver plated keys require a bit more maintenance.
I personally prefer to use a tarnish prevention scheme instead of an active tarnish removal strategy. Prevention of tarnish has a couple of great advantages. First, it's the lazy person's approach. Do as little as possible and get away with it. Second, since there is no silver removed, the plating has the potential to last for years longer than you would have with tarnish removal.
Here's the prevention scheme I use. I wipe down all of the keys and key pads with a clean soft cotton rag after I'm done with my playing session. I then store the horn in the closed case with a tarnish prevention strip. Every 6 months or so, I replace the strip in my soprano clarinet's case. A small box of ten strips costs about $5 US retail.
I've used this prevention technique for a couple of years on a brand new horn and it seems to work pretty good. But, as most folks will tell you, only time will tell.
Personally, I'd never use a harsh chemical or a rouge cloth for tarnish removal. Sure, they remove tarnish, but you should look at the gobs of silver that go with it. To me, it seems like a lose-lose situation.
I prefer win-win through prevention instead. I don't spend much time worrying about tarnish and I believe the keys will last longer.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-06 15:10
paul wrote:
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...and silver plated keys require a bit more maintenance.
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Or maybe you'll be real lucky, like my son & I - we both play instruments with silver plated keywork, and neither of us has had any problem with any tarnish at all - and it's been 7 years for my Selmer now. Must be genetic chemistry and luck :^)
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Author: Barry
Date: 2000-01-06 15:54
I was coming in here to ask this question in a new topic, put this should do. My question has to do with the material the keys are made of.
I have an old horn - some 70 years old. The keys are solid. The maintenance guy says they're solid silver-nickle. They were yellow when I bought the horn. After a polish however, the keys now look like brand new silver plated.
My question is, why is this material not used more often? The new models that have a coating (plated) tend to wear, showing the base metal below, making the keys look pretty bad. My Master Model's keys will never look like that. So what I'm I missing? Why is this material not used more
often? Why do people plate their keys. What are the disadvantages of using sold keys? Is it an option one can ask for?
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-01-06 17:24
One logical explanation for not using solid nickel silver is the cost. When anything is mass produced, small cost savings add up really fast to the company's bottom line.
That's one reason why you will see consistent reference to the big 4 clarinet makers. They have found the magic mix of skill and quality to mass produce horns that genuinely last a lifetime and play very well within their respective grade (student, intermediate, pro, premium pro) every day. These clarinet manufacturers are Buffet, LeBlanc, Selmer, and Yamaha.
Apparently, you may have gotten very lucky with your horn. That's great. Enjoy it.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-06 17:40
In case anyone was wondering, Nickel Siler (aka German Silver) contains no silver. It's a copper/zinc/nickel alloy. Very pretty stuff, and doesn't corrode easily.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-01-06 18:12
Mark - Didn't we go thru the key metal discussion some time ago? The Ni-Ag compositions have changed over the years. I listed what I knew either here or on Early Clarinet, which should be searchable! Don
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-06 18:25
Don - it was at <a href=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=10668>http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=10668</a>.
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-01-06 23:40
I bought a new clarinet today! The guy there said that as far as nickel plated and silver plated key work is
concerned, there is no big difference between intonation--just feel. He said that silver keys are more slippery and require more maintennance than nickel. I wasn't upset that I bought myself a nickel plated R-13 at all! Besides that, it's cheaper.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-01-07 00:08
My 45 year old Leblanc Symphonie II has the solid nickel silver keys. As some one has already remarked, nickel silver has no silver in it.
Basically I have not had any tarnish problems but over time they seem to get dull. The spots that I touch stay fairly shiny. The nickel silver is quite attractive but doesn't have the nice soft glow of nickel plating. Of course I wouldn't pick an instrument for it's plating but the silver plating is more attractive. But then again, I'll never have to worry about wearing through the plating, which is rather nice.
I suspect the reason that companies went to plated keys was cost. It is probably somewhat less expensive to use some type of base metal and then plate them. Does anyone know what they use for the base metal?
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Author: paul
Date: 2000-01-07 21:41
I would venture a raw guess that my horn's keys are made of a relatively soft steel base, with maybe a touch of nickle and perhaps chrome (i.e. stainless steel). I'm basing this guess on the fact that the keys can be bent with bare hands and hold the new shape forever. That's a typical behavior of stainless steel. But, could silver plate onto stainless steel? I know that the springs are blue steel, that's very easy to see. However, I don't have a clue what metal composition the rods are inside the pins. Could they also be more or less stainless steel?
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