 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: superson
Date: 2010-03-23 14:33
Hallo, I have an ebonite hanson clarinet, i bought secondhand but almost new from ebay a few months ago. A couple of months ago I noticed that my clarinet seems to be turning a bit green, especially around the bell. The only thing that has changed recently is that recently my clarinet has become neglected during weekdays (due to schoolwork overload) and spends a lot of time in its case. Has anyone had a similar experience? Do you think the case could be part of the problem? Does anyone know how I prevent my clarinet from going green further? Any help appreciated, thankyou.
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Author: RoBass
Date: 2010-03-23 15:29
That's a normal effect for an ebonite model. If it's made from the ebonite called material (I would assume, because the minor Hanson's are), then it's made from rubber.
The hard rubber (ebonite/vulcanite) is from vulcanized latex with sulfur inside. This sulfur now will sweated out as a slightly green or brownish colour coat. Mostly this process endures some months to years and then the whole instrument is coloured ligtht brown/greenish instead of black ;-) You can polish this color away (but you mustn't use waxes or aromatic chemistry!!!), but it will become green again and again.
Increased humidity and UV-beams are some pushing factors for greening the instrument, but it's not avoidable completely.
kindly
Roman
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-03-23 16:52
One major cause of discolouring is sunlight which brings out the sulphur content. If the clarinet is kept in a closed case then it should not become noticeably lighter for many (like 10,20, 30) years.
Of course Ebonite (hard rubber) compositions do vary and some will turn more quickly than others.
I have 20+ year old Vandoren Ebonite mouthpieces that are still pure black.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2010-03-23 18:13
It won't effect the sound; it might effect resale value. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2010-03-23 21:18
I have the cheapest student model that I bought about 7 years ago. It's been well abused and left out in the sun. It now has a slight green tinge.
I only use it for marches now, but if I HAD to choose one of my clarinets that I knew wouldn't let me down, I would choose that one!
The Vandoren 5RV that came with it is also a bit green. Still sound okay to me.
Steve
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