 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tb0b
Date: 2000-11-18 00:52
how do you use them?
shoudl you wet them all teh way?
and...where in teh case do you put it? like rright next to the top and bottom joints in the case or inside the clarinet?
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Author: MRidgeP
Date: 2000-11-18 02:58
IMHO I believe it is better not to use Dampits in your clarinet case. Here are my reasons.
1. The Dampits hold very little moisture and you may need to fully soak them up to twice a day.
2. If using Dampits do not put them on the inside of your clarinet. I believe that this causes very uneven distribution and absortion of the moisture by the clarinet. This could even lead to cracking.
3. I've heard stories of the rubber from the Dampit reacting with the silver plating. I'm not sure what the effect was.
May I suggest that you take a small empty medication bottle, poke numerous holes in it, and insert a damp/wet spounge. Just stick this in your case. The spounge will not dry out for a long time and the distribution of the moisture will be more even.
Matt Ridge
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Author: Jodi
Date: 2000-11-18 03:08
The second I saw your question I was going to write what Matt did... so.. DITTO.
jodi
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Author: Robert Gifford
Date: 2000-11-19 18:19
I personally use HW Pad Savers. They use the moisture in your clarinet already and basically moves it away from the pads into the bore. I also agree with the medication bottle, it works also.
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2000-11-20 00:56
Robert, that may be what the company claims, but there are some serious problems with pad savers as well. I've explained the reasons that I don't think pad savers are a good idea in an excerpt below from a previous post of mine.
> I have a few caveats about mouthpiece mice. They also make the mouthpiece mice in longer versions to put inside the clarinet. They call these "Pad savers". Two things to watch out for with these, they do have a metal winding inside. There are little rubber ends on these. When they fall off the ends are sharp, and can easily damage your clarinet. Second, after a while these things get gross and dirty. At that point, every time you put them in you clarinet, you can get that gunk on the pads. After a while, it pretty much wrecks the pads. They aren't washable like swabs, either. Once they get dirty, good luck. They aren't so bad for mouthpieces if you are careful, as long as the rubber caps stay on, and you take extreme care that the metal inside does not touch they mouthpiece when removing it and inserting it. This will actually grind away the plastic wherever it touches - not good. Also, when these get dirty, germs accumulate in your mouthpiece. Nobody wants this, yuck! I recommend getting a good swab. And take the mouthpiece off when you swab it, it can cause wear on the mouthpiece. You can wash the mouthpiece, but don't use hot water! This can warp the lay. To put it simply, it is best to - swab clarinet, wash mouthpiece.
I'm not sure I like the idea of dampits, either. They were meant for string instruments. I think the idea of a whole case humidifier is better. It distributes the humidity better, and avoids direct contact with the wood and pads. As far as the idea of pad savers as a humidifier, I think that idea is gross. You may as well put your clarinet away without swabbing it. Yuck. -- Nate Zeien
PS - If you don't believe me, ask your local instrument repair tech for an opinion about pad savers. Most will probably give you quite an earfull.
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2000-11-20 11:59
Question:
How is a Mouthpiece Mouse used? Same question for Pad Savers? What are Pad Savers?
TIA,
Matt
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2000-11-20 14:55
In regard to MRidgeP's comment regarding the rubber parts reacting with silver, the presence of rubber can cause silver to tarnish. Rubber is vulcanized with sulfur and sulfur fumes from the rubber react with silver, causing it to tarnish. Therefore, if you have an instrument with silver-plated keys, it is not a good idea to keep anything rubber in your case, such as rubber bands. I'm not familiar with Dampits and do not know if they have rubber parts.
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