The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: James
Date: 2000-10-16 02:54
When I first bought my buffet r 13 clarinet, the pads on all the keys had nice round contour of the tone holes on the bottom that fit snug and tightly to it. When the bottom four large pads were replaced the new pads are hard as a rock and there are no contours of any kind on the pads. The pads are perfectly flat and does not seem to cover the tone hole airtight. How can I get the nice round contours on the pads? Is there a special kind of pad unlike the cheap store brand. Please give me any suggestions or advice. Thank you.
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2000-10-16 04:05
James,
I assume that you had a tech replace the pads...? There are different kinds of pads and some use a harder felt than others. However, the pads should have an impression on them (seated) although with the harder felt pads it will not be as deep as a softer felt pad. The pads are seating correctly if you are not experiencing any problems with the clarinet. The premium pads usually do use a harder felt. I use the Ed Kraus 101T pad in most cases which has fairly firm felt to it. The impression is light, but it holds up very well and when properly seated does very well. The Lucien Deluxe pad that usually comes on the Buffet clarinets is not quite as firm, but is a very good pad. I use them in certain instances. It does leave a little deeper seat to it, but not a VERY deep seat like the pads that use a softer felt (the Prestini come to mind). Don't get me wrong here either because the Prestini is a good quality pad it is just used for specific applications (Vito, LeBlanc, and a few others).
Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "the cheap store brand". Certainly there are pads that are not manufactured as well as others, but most pads that technicians use are good. Ask the repair tech what pads he/she uses. It couldn't hurt to specify that you would like the Lucien Deluxe or equivalent.
J. Butler
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