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RE: dampits

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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