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Re: Restoring old clarinet

Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2006-08-12 04:36

"The G# hole is cut in the tenon in the middle joint."

It sounds as if this clarinet has an articulated G#.
There are several reasons why this can be a particularly challenging part of a clarinet to get adjusted correctly. These include:

- Very little space for a key cup, so the pad is typically rather small in diameter for optimum conditions of sealing and reliability. A 'squishy' type of pad is totally unsuitable. Usually a thin, firm pad is necessary for reliability. Many technicians may not carry such pads.
- One spring opens the key, and another spring overcomes this spring in order to close the key. This means there has to be excellent balance between these springs in order to get a good 'feel' and also apply a reliable closing pressure to the pad.
- Because the closing pressure for the pad tends to be on the low side (on account of this spring interplay), the pad alignment with the tone hole must be impeccable.
- The linkage between the G# lever (the part that you press) and the G# key (which holds the pad) is a pretty precarious piece of engineering. The geometry between these needs to be accurate to within about 0.1 mm. IF it is not right, then friction here destroys most of the closing pressure that the spring is able to apply. Adding to the precariousness, the key itself is often weak and easily bends from this ideal geometric set-up.

In short, it takes a much better-than-average technician to set this mechanism up so that it functions well and reliably. It really is beyond the scope of almost every DIY person, and many technicians. I suggest that if your current technician cannot get this right, you will need to see a better one.

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Restoring old calrinet new

clarinet@55

2006-08-09 17:16