 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ronish
Date: 2008-02-28 18:16
Does anyone have any suggestions for a temporary pad repair? One of my pads is leaking and until I can get it replaced I want to keep practicing. I`ve got some cloth tied over it which works somewhat but maybe there is a better way. The pad is the little one above the Rt. index finger and is not that accessible.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-02-28 18:29
Just wrap a cigarettepaper around the key cup. Oh I see you have some kind of cloth tied over it but what kind of cloth is it ? This is the only temporary pad repair I know about but then I just think that clarinetists should know how to replace a pad.
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Author: Chelle
Date: 2008-02-28 18:55
A friend of mine gave me an old Buffet that had been sitting in her basement for who knows how long (she's a former music teacher that repairs instruments in her free time to help students out) and she'd bought this one a long time again meaning to fix it up, but never got around to it so she gave it to me.
Anyway, at one point, she'd put masking tape over several of the pads just to see if the instrument would play. Amazingly, it actally didn't play too bad considering about 4 or 5 of the pads had tape over them.
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2008-02-28 18:57
Trick I learned from Harold Wright is to wrap the pad and cup in food wrap (Saran e.g.). This will seal well if the pad is leaking because of a tear or puncture in the skin. Won't help if the pad is not seating squarely! Harold used to play a clarinet this way, sometimes for weeks before he could make a pilgrimage to Hans Moennig -- the only tech he would trust!
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-02-28 19:12
Scotch tape, sticky side up, between pad and hole. Operate key -> tape will cling on pad. Trim excess with nail scissors.
(You may want to take a blunt (tableware) knife or some other kind of improvised pad slick to properly seal the edges of the tape, else it might buzz like a swarm of angry bees.)
--
Ben
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Author: Ronish
Date: 2008-02-28 20:32
Thanks all for your contributions. Nope the Clarinet did`nt like the tape. Maybe my trimming was not as precise as it should have been. Anyway while I had the key off I covered the pad with a fabric. Looks OK and works fine.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-02-28 20:48
You are making the assumption (?) that the leakage is caused by a defective pad rather than the adjustment of the pad closure? The cloth may actually be reducing the effective pad travel rather than compensating for a break in the skin.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-02-29 00:00
One of the clarinet players was struggling with her clarinet during a rehearsal, and the pad in cross Eb key on the top joint was too small in diameter and not seated correctly (the front wasn't closing at all) by whoever put it in.
The only thing I could do there and then (she uses the cross Eb key, so I couldn't block it off completely) was to stick some Blu-Tack over the pad, and cover it with plastic torn from a small plastic bag to seat against the tonehole (and not stick to it as Blu-Tack would normally do) - the Blu-Tack taking the impression of the tonehole making it seat. It worked a treat, but looked bloody ugly.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Ronish
Date: 2008-02-29 02:35
Well I said awhile back that my cloth treatment did the trick of "fixing the leaky pad" but now after playing for awhile I`m not so sure. What was happenning was that the Rt. hand notes with the Lt. ones held down started to sound muffled and progressively less distinctive. That is low Bb, A and G. The problem seemed to be fixed immediately by sticking some tape over the pad`s hole. I took the arm holding the pad off and the pad was not torn but was a more flattened on one side than the other. A trial bundle of cloth over the pad was OK but my neat little patch the exact size as the pad is not as good. Chris P`s idea might be the answer.
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-02-29 05:17
reset the pad with a lighter (head the pad cup until the glue underneath the pad begins to raise the pad.
if the pad has a hole, try using a dab of glue and waiting for it to dry off before playing.
my 2 cents
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-02-29 06:06
To me it sounds like the bridge key may not be adjusted properly and the pad on the left middle finger is touching before the pad on the right hand. As a test, try turning the joints so that the '1 and 1' fingering has some excess play. Do you still have the problem with the pad on the right hand? If not, turn the joints back until the 1 and 1 is just right.
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2008-02-29 14:01
Replace it now with cork. With patience you can do it. Keep a supply of cork pads for future use. Ferree Tools pads are good and reasonably priced.
richard smith
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-02-29 14:53
I don't think it's wise to suggest to anyone to attempt to fit cork pads if they've had no experience in fitting pads of any kind as this can make things worse than they already are - cork pads are the last kind of pads to be used by anyone with no prior experience.
The easiest kind of pads to use by a novice are leather pads, though again they do have to be seated correctly. They have the advantage of being supple so they will take to the tonehole bedlace much better than cork pads which have very little give and won't seat under pressure (spring or finger pressure) if they're not seated correctly to begin with.
Not that I'm against the use of cork pads as I perfer them over skin and leather pads any day, but there are important things to be done when installing cork pads to ensure they do their job well, and a leaky or ill-seating cork pad at the top end of a clarinet will knacker up the playability of the whole instrument.
As it's the throat G vent pad (LH1) you need to take off the throat G# key, then the throat A key, and also the thumb ring so the pad cup lifts right up to gain better access to it.
Ideally you should take all the side keys off and remove the ring keys (they both usually come off when you remove the screw running through the LH 1 key barrel) to remove the pad and clean out all the remaining glue in the pad cup before replacing it with a new pad.
A cork pad IS best for the throat G vent provided you have plenty of opening (and cork pads stay flat instead of sagging in the middle), but it does need to be seated correctly and of the correct thickness so the finger ring isn't too high in relation to the tonehole chimney, or too low so the pad isn't closing.
I'd suggest you make an appointment with a tech, and see if they'll let you watch while they work on your clarinet.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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