 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Rusty
Date: 2009-04-16 10:01
Could you folk who own wood clarinets have a look under a good light at the surface of the wood. I only had plastic ones previously and have never looked closely at a wooden one`s surface. I notice tho` that there are hundreds of tiny very superficial longitudinal surface cracks. A tech assured me this is only the suface of the wood and all is OK. Any one else notice these? Its a Yamaha CSG.
Post Edited (2009-04-16 21:05)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-04-16 11:04
That's normal and these aren't cracks - wood has vessels in it that draw water from the roots all the way to the highest branches and all by capillary action. Pretty amazing if you consider how tall some trees can get to.
Yamaha generally don't polish their clarinet joints up to a bright shine, so you will notice these surface vessels more on these as they haven't been filled in during buffing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-04-16 11:53
My old Normandy 10 is so plant-like I reckon a bit of rooting powder would have it sprouting leaves in no time!
Steve
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2009-04-16 14:08
I have a number of "older" woods, dating from early 1900s to about 1970, some are unstained/non-shiny showing wood grain, others are nearly as shiny as plastics, most need interior and exterior oiling with almond/other "wood oils" for preservation and appearance. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: susieray
Date: 2009-04-16 17:59
That's just the woodgrain, and Yamahas are like that, more than other brands. But it's normal and nothing to worry about!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: cxgreen48
Date: 2009-04-16 19:00
Yeah, that's what my YCL-450 looks like as well. I'm always wondering if any of them are cracks because i've never seen how severe/obvious a clarinet crack looks.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rusty
Date: 2009-04-16 21:13
Whew!, glad to here that. Re the almond oiling is it usual to only oil the bore or should I give the outer surface an occational wipe?
How do you coat the bore? Because the tech said you can`t use a coated pull thu` as it just wipes the oil off. The tech joint uses a long feather, but there are no turkeys here.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: cxgreen48
Date: 2009-04-16 21:22
Some people, like me, don't even oil the clarinet.
I thought you could use a swab with a few drops of oil on it. I'm not sure how doing that "wipes the oil off."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-04-16 23:19
Check out the Doctor's site. He has an oiling rig that does a nice job at an economical price. Add a bottle or two of GreanadOil to the shipment, and you'll be sitting fine.
Jeff
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: blazian
Date: 2009-04-16 23:58
At one point when I first found out clarinets could crack, I thought my YCL-550 was totaled. Of course, I was just a paranoid little kid. The grain is much more obvious than on some of my other wood clarinets. Now that I have seen real cracks (in my poor unidentified fb (possibly a Conn or Selmer)) I know that my Allegro (the YCL-550) is just fine.
- Martin
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: blazian
Date: 2009-04-17 22:02
Occasionally the inside and outside of the Yamaha and only once on my FB since it's a recent acquisition. The FB already had the cracks pinned (but opened up again) and had a ring put on the top tenon before I got it.
Are you saying I should?
- Martin
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rusty
Date: 2009-04-18 10:47
Not at all Martin. Just trying to find out whether the norm is to oil or not oil.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: blazian
Date: 2009-04-19 04:16
I don't know if I'd be considered the norm. I take care of my instrument but I don't have set patterns of re-oiling or adjusting keys or anything like that. I just do it when I have a little spare time and the wood looks dry or keys are clicking.
- Martin
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Katelyn
Date: 2009-04-21 03:07
When I went off to college I migrated from the west coast to the east (US), and my clarinet experienced a radical fluctuation in humidity. I used to not oil my clarinet at all, but now my practice is to give it a good wipe through the bore every few months (especially in the winter). More often I oil the ends of my joints; they get pretty dry for some reason.
Really there's no "right" answer to how (of if) you should oil your clarinet. You could talk to a local trusted tech and see what s/he thinks.
Post Edited (2009-04-21 03:09)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
