The Clarinet BBoard

Re: Quick Bass Clarinet Fix

Author: clarnibass  Date:   2012-01-09 05:13 To make it clearer, the part with the pad on it is called the G/D key. The part you actually press (entire part with its hinge and everything) is called the G/D lever. The part you actually press with your finger (the round piece) is the G/D touchpiece. So... the G/D key doesn't go up like it should, unrelated to any part of the lever. Based on the blurry photos and assuming it's similar to the 1193, this key uses a flat spring, so there's no spring to come off its cradle in the usual way. There are several possibilities. It doesn't sound like a sticky pad since you say it lifts back a little bit and from your description it sounds oilke it's somewhat stuck. First of all, what screwdriver are you using? You need a strong one, that fits excellent in the slot, with a big enough handle to allow more torque. If you are using one of those normal small screwdrivers that usually come in sets with relatively thin metal handles, they are often lousy for this if a screw is even slightly resistant. I sometimes see these is woodwind cases. Most likely you need to remove the rod screw to find out what the problem. It could be the posts having a misaligned face or maybe they are bent. Sometimes they don't come completely aligned from the factory, though it's rarer that this is the reason if it just suddenly starts. Misaligned means the fact is not perpendicular to the thread hole, so once the rod screw is all the way in it gets slightly curved and making the key stuck. Bent means the post, which is screwed into the body, turned slightly (i.e. screwed itself out). The key hinge tube itself sometimes has a burr at the end. Then only once the rod screw is screwed all the way in it will catch on that burr. Again you need to remove the screw, check it all the way inside the hinge off the instrument i.e. make sure the thick (not threaded) part of the screw go past the other end of the tube and it doesn't bind. It might be a rusty rod screw causing binding. At worst case the screw needs to be changed (a new one is made) but more often it's possible to repair. The flat spring might be rusty and/or slight digging into its plate (or the wood itself sometimes) making a small hill for it to climb up, impossible to work. If you can remove the rod screw, you can try to remove the flat spring (be careful not to lose the tiny screw holding it in place!) and mount the key back on the instrument without the spring. Check if it moves freely. If it does, the spring is most likely the problem. If not, the spring is not the problem, or at least there's another problem you need to fix first, before you can isolate a problem with the spring. The key could be tight between the posts and playing it more for the last months made this borderline situation worse. If that's the problem, a tiny bit of the key hinge is usually removed using a special tool (you could use a file but it's a lot less accurate and leaves a rough surface). Unless the screw is really stuck and needs a few days of oil+heat to remove (which is very unlikely, especially on newer instruments, but can happen), then at the worst case it would still be possible to fix the same day IMO. So you probably don't need to leave the instrument there for a week. Try to schedule a time when the repairer will have some time to look at it and repair it. It's very possible it will take significantly less time than it took to write this post (depending on how fast you type!)

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Re: Quick Bass Clarinet Fix

Author: CuriousClarinet  Date:   2012-01-09 23:30 Well... I do type pretty fast... =p But thanks for that post... It was very informative. I did call the closest repair tech I'm familiar with and he's caught up enough on his work for awhile he could probably fix the problem fairily quickly. The screwdriver could possibly be the problem, although why it would work on an 1180 and not an 1183 baffles me... Their keywork is very similar. In the little experimenting I've done with the resistent key it seems that the most likely secenaro is the one you listed in your second to last paragraph. That said, it seems rather odd that this has happened to both wooden bass clarinets I have owned. Is there something I'm doing with the instruments that is causing this problem to keep occuring, or perhaps a way I can avoid it in the future? And sorry for the blurry pictures... I'd invest in an actual camera but I'm not much of a photographer so it wouldn't do me any real good, the pictures would probably end up just as fuzzy anyways.

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