 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iacuras
Date: 2004-10-15 03:22
Is there any quick fix for sticky pads? I was playing in a concert tonight and when my solo cane up I got a sticky pad and my bass wouldn't change from D to E which was a big problem, I only barely pulled off something that sounded ok. any help would be appreciated to make sure this doesn't happen again. thanks.
Steve
"If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon."
"If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly."
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Author: kal
Date: 2004-10-15 03:49
You could dust said pad with talc before a concert, but I'm sure I'll get reamed for suggesting that.
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Author: ned
Date: 2004-10-15 05:28
I agree with ''kal'' a little dusting with some talc works quite well.........and now for all of those reasons why we should not...............
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-10-15 12:07
But I wonder what caused the sticky pad in the first place. Not partaking of those "buttershots" I assume!
Bob Draznik
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2004-10-15 12:55
take a dollar, put it under the pad, close the key down hard but not too hard, then slowly pull the dollar bill out, do this maybe 5 times, itll be fixed for a little while
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-10-15 14:27
The reason and cure depends a lot on the cause of the stickiness.
1. Dirt, sugar, tar from tobacco smoke, grime (or 'verdigris' if it closes on a copper alloy body.) Also possible is a sticky surface (from manufacture) on the membrane of low quality bladder pads.
2. Excessively wet membrane-type pad, or a pad with a loose membrane. Although the pad may lift satisfactorily, it may make a click sound as it lifts.
3. Low quality pad incorporating excessively 'squishy' felt that has developed a very deep seat that tends to 'grip' the walls of the tone hole.
4. Lifting spring is too weak.
5. LIfting spring cannot adequately do its job because it is fighting excessive friction, perhaps in a binding pivot (from simply being tight, form having gummy residue from inappropriate lubricant, or from being bent) or in an inappropriate linkage material in the mechanism.
Leather type pads:
6. An inappropriately-sticky coating used by the pad manufacturer to impart waterproofness & airproofness to the otherwise porous leather. Very common recently.
7. Similarly, cheap quality leather that has laminated to its surface a layer of polymer that has sticky characteristics.
The cure could be:
a. Dry the pad. Close the pad onto cigarette paper (no glue!) or tissue paper.
b. Tighten a loose membrane by ironing it with a warm metal surface, but there is a good likelihood that you will mess up the sealing of the pad on the tone hole. Also, if the metal is too hot it will damage or destroy the membrane. This is really an operation for an experienced technician.
c. Cleaning the pad and tone hole edge/face by abrasion. A dollar bill is slightly abrasive and can work on dirty leather pads as described in aother post, but can be very damaging to the very fragile membrane of bladder pads. Some technicians use very fine sandpaper instead on the metal tone holes of saxophones as a cleaning aid, with the grit facing the tone hole, with slight pressure on the key. Even various forms of paper are slightly abrasive, and may help for abrasive cleaning.
d. Applying Solvents, oils, or silicone or teflon spray - some sax players use lemon oil or 'Pledge', or even WD-40. Usually reserved for use on leather pads, although I have found alcohol or lighter fluid sometimes effective for removing the accumulations on bladder pads. I 'wet' a strip of paper and close the pad on it. I have recently discovered that Yamaha leaning Paper is thin, very strong, and is not softened and weakened by solvernts. A damp pipe cleaner may be suitable also. Caution.... These materials have the potential for softening the coatings in 6 & 7, making them MORE sticky.
e. Reduce stickiness by applying a powder, usually talc or teflon powder (see http://www.spurlocktools.com/id39.htm).
If powder is dusted straight onto pads it is likely to get in many other places, and arrive in excess, ready to mix with condensation to make a 'porridge' which may be MORE sticky that the previous pad condition. Powder on the mechanism tends to absorb protective lubricant from where it should be in pivots, followed by rusting pivots. Powder also seems to facilitate corrosion of the surface of some keys.
One option is to buy Yamaha's "powder papers", which are dragged gently form under the lightly closed pad. Another option is to make your own powder paper... Rub some powder into a paper strip, and then shake off all visible powder.
f. In some cases, especially 6 & 7, the only solution with any reliability and permanence is to replace the pad - with one of high quality.
Post Edited (2006-12-10 04:09)
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2004-10-15 14:48
We used to use cigarette paper (for people who roll their own) under the pad just like the dollar bill. The dollar is a bit thicker than the paper. I think you can even find something kin to the cigarette paper on the market specifically for woodwind pads. ?
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Author: Brenda
Date: 2004-10-15 15:29
Boxes of Zonda Classico reeds always contain packages of what they call "woodwind drying paper", cigarette paper without glue. They quickly wick moisture and also dry very quickly. I use each sheet over and over so have several packages left over.
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Author: Jamietalbot
Date: 2004-10-15 17:27
Scrub a pencil(the softer the better) over a piece of paper-put it in between the pad and the tone hole with the "drawn on" side touching the pad.Close the pad and pull the paper out,leaving the residue from the pencil
on the pad.The grafite in the lead will stop the pad sticking.It,s easy,you can always get paper and a pencil even during the gig,it,s clean and it works.
Good luck!
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-10-15 18:19
Hard to add much to Gordon(NZ)'s excellent list, but I have observed one phenomenon --- when the rim of a tonehole is very sharp (thin), pads seem to have a greater tendency to stick to the tonehole. I've cured this problem on many instruments by removing the key and very subtly sanding the rim of the tonehole, not enough to "un-level" the seating surface, but just enough to take the edge off the rim. You might try this if all the other suggested steps fail to cure the problem.
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