 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Melissa
Date: 2000-04-19 17:54
I am a poor college student who is studying engineering.
Because of these two situations, I would like to put new corks, pads and joint corks on my clarinet myself instead of paying over $100 for someone else to do it.
I payed less than that for the clarinet, and I am saving to get something nicer.
I have called everywhere, and no one will sell me the supplies or even tell me where they get them from.
I finally found Woodwind and Brasswind, but they no longer carry a kit that has the supplies and instructions as their catalog advertises. (Made by Valentino)
I have been searching for months and I'm getting ready to give up playing my clarinet because it is going to be too expensive for me to have repaired.
If anyone can tell me where to get information and supplies for doing this work myself, I will be ever so grateful!!
If it matters, I have a Buffet that I bought used ten years ago. (And the pads and the cork that haven't fallen off yet are THAT old!) I think that it may be model B-12 but I am not sure.
I would really like to get my clarinet in working order again so that I can enjoy it and possibly try-out for ensembles in the fall.
Again, much thanks for any help or advice I can get!!!
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-19 18:02
Contact Ferree's. They are listed under resources on the menu at the bottom of the bulletin board.
The B-12 is Buffet's plastic student grade instrument. Before the B-12, some of the low end Evettes were made in plastic I think. Doesn't it have any other markings besides Buffet on it?
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Author: Peter Spriggs
Date: 2000-04-19 19:48
The main difference between replacing pads and corks on your clarinet and replacing one of your heart valves is; you probably won't kill yourself doing the clarinet. The similarity is that you would not be successful with either.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-19 22:05
Peter Spriggs wrote:
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The main difference between replacing pads and corks on your clarinet and replacing one of your heart valves is; you probably won't kill yourself doing the clarinet. The similarity is that you would not be successful with either.
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Not necessarily so. It really isn't all that hard to replace corks and pads if one studies the process before hand, is patient, and takes care to make sure the pads are properly seated. The procedure for pads is documented on this web site. Basic books on band instrument repair describe the corking procedure. There should be such a book at your library if the library isn't too small. If you goof just redo it.
Don't mess with springs. If they are bad or any of the keys are bent, get an expert to take care of that as it can be tricky. However having a tech fix a few things like this isn't very expensive.
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Author: Donn
Date: 2000-04-19 22:10
Here in Sneezy, look in Equipment - Care and maintenance for articles about pad replacement and tenon cork. Not too bad a job if you use contact cement. Ferree's address also there
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-04-20 02:43
I jave seen repad kits for sale on ebay. However You may be wasting your time and money trying to do the job yourself. i have watchec my guy replace a fews pads and it take proper heating equipment and a leak light and the proper sizes pad to do the job.Best of Luck (i told you so)
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Author: Aaron Hayden
Date: 2000-04-20 03:45
If it were that easy to replace pads, there would be no technicians left. I've had the do it yourselfers come to my shop saying that I just repaded my clarinet myself, buttt I need you to adjust it, or I can't seem to get such & such note, or can you make it work they way it is. Well after I take a look & play test it, I tell them that the clarinet has to be repadded, but after I fix the damage that was done(this occurs 99.9% of the time). Even after a techician graduates school, most of the time they can't repad an instrument properly, it takes a few years experience and many, many repads to do it properly.
Aaron Hayden
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-20 06:16
It may be advisable, if you can, to start with an old clunker that "sorta plays". Try one pad at a time and check it for playabilty after each pad. If it plays better, your on the right track. If it plays worse, that last pad isn't right. Check your local library (especialy at a local college) for an instrument repair book. Lack of funds is what got me to repadding years ago. The big problem is that some music stores wont sell them. Try talking to a local WOODWIND tech in the morning before they get too busy. Bribing him/her with a cup of coffee and a little groveling is acceptible.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2000-04-20 19:03
Melissa,
When I was in college I had to get my clarinet AND tenor sax repadded when I was dead broke, though working to pay tuition, etc.
Luckily I was in Boston. I went to Symphony Hall, and through one of the musicians tracked down a woodwind tech who had an apprentice.I begged, and for the cost of materials he repadded both my horns. In exchange, I washed and waxed his car.
I don't know where you are, but you might also try to find someone just starting out as a tech who will be willing to help out. Avoid well-meaning amatuers. A smile and an offer (a lawn mowing, a house cleaning, 5 hours of babysitting, etc.) can often clinch the deal.
Good Luck
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 2000-04-20 20:43
Melissa wrote:
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I am a poor college student who is studying engineering.
Because of these two situations, I would like to put new corks, pads and joint corks on my clarinet myself instead of paying over $100 for someone else to do it.
Melissa-
Your message and its responses brought back memories from my College days many years ago. Although I had good intentions of being a serious Engineering student, someone talked me into joining the band. Not long after that, I found myself doing part time work as a Band Assistant, which included minor instrument repair. I had access to all kinds of tools and supplies, as well as a catalog from which anything needed could be ordered. There was no charge to band members for work I did.
The warnings about letting amateurs work on your instrument are quite valid. For example, pads come in different thicknesses. If you use the wrong one, it won't open to the correct height, which messes up intonation. Any others that close in unison won't. If you change the others to make them close in unison, it messes up intonation even worse.
Still, this may be an avenue for you to explore. See if your school's music department has its own repair shop. Perhaps there is one, but no one works there. Perhaps someone does, and will help you or teach you how.
If there is no school shop, perhaps a woodwind instructor does their own repairs, and will help you out.
Good luck,
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-04-21 18:15
Donn wrote:
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Here in Sneezy, look in Equipment - Care and maintenance for articles about pad replacement and tenon cork. Not too bad a job if you use contact cement. Ferree's address also there
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To clarify, contact cement is good for corks, but please don't ever use it on pads. I restored a sax that someone had repadded with contact cement. What a nightmare. To get the pads out, I had to cut them up and pull out pieces of them until I could get down far enough to soak out the cement with acetone, which is toxic and requires rubber gloves and good ventilation. Contact cement sets up instantly, so you can't "float" the pads and move them around to get the right seal.
Believe me, there's just no way you can seat a pad right in one go. Even very experienced technicians expect to move pads around a bit check with a leak light, move again, etc. French cement and other types of hot-melt glue used for pads let you keep on re-heating carefully and moving and adjusting things around indefinitely, until the seal is right.
The address for Ferree's Tools is
http:www.ferreestools.com
In addition to supplies, Ferree's carries the Erick Brand repair manual, which is one of the better ones. However, I wonder if it's really cost effective to buy all the supplies and tools necessary to do the job right, when you're only going to repair one clarinet? I doubt it. It might be more cost-effective in the long run to save up the money and make sure to get the job really done right, unless you think you might want to learn how to repair instruments and get multiple uses out of the supplies.
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Author: Donn
Date: 2000-04-21 21:43
I have recorked and repadded two clarinets, one wooden and one plastic and they both worked out fine. They were both el-cheapos. Had they been pro-grade and I an ultra-perfectionist I probably would not have tried it, but being as how I consider myself a pretty good mechanic, I went ahead and took the bull by the horns. Besides, I weighed the difference between what a pro would have charged me, and the approx. twenty bucks it cost me, and that pretty much cemented (?) me into doing-it-myself.
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