 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-10-29 06:34
A few months back I mentioned that I'd bought a Selmer full boehm from that auction site for a very good price indeed. I played it as it arrived for a couple of months and found it a very nice instrument. The pads were looking a bit past their use-by date, so I decided to repad and overhaul it. I rarely work on full boehms, in fact I've only ever repadded one, a Kohlert. That went well, took a bit longer than a normal Bb but no real problems. Based on this I wasn't anticipating any great drama with the Selmer. Was I wrong!
It came apart OK, I cleaned and polished the keywork, cleaned and buffed the body. Reassembling and repadding was straightforward and then things started going downhill. I have never come across a clarinet that gave so many problems. Few of the key cups seem to align well with the associated tonehole and just about everything that could leak did. The instrument does not appear to have ever been repadded before, and its general condition indicates that it has been only lightly used.
I eventually stripped it again and then carefully refitted the keys in isolation, forming them as necessary to line the cups up. Eventually I got most of the leaks and I've spent many hours since then gradually eliminating the remainder. Every time I think I've got it sorted another leak rears its head. The only good bit about the whole soul-destroying exercise is that it is my own instrument and I don't have to worry about how long it has taken. I've worked on Selmer 9's and 10's before without any of these problems, and this one really surprised me.
Tony F.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-10-29 10:49
What letter prefix is your Series 9? I've got three Series 9 full Boehms - an R, W and A series, the R series is in A and is the best built of them all - the others are later and don't have the same level of care and attention to detail in their workmanship seen in earlier ones, the A series especially so.
I've yet to rebuild the W series which has early and late style pad cups on the same instrument, so it was made at a point when they were using up the remaining old stock and starting to use new pieces.
But I never encountered problems with leaks when I repadded the A series which I used as my main clarinet until I rebuilt my full Boehm CT.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2013-10-29 22:44)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-10-29 22:36
Hi Chris,
It's a T prefix. Still chasing leaks.
Tony F.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-10-29 23:00
I've cork padded mine (with the exception of the largest pad cups from Ab/Eb downwards) so they're leak free.
What condition are the toneholes in?
Fill in any defects and level them if they're not perfect.
Is air leaking around the lower joint socket lining?
Remove the lining and refit it using Araldite making sure there aren't any leaks.
Are there any cracks in the wood caused by the socket lining?
Fill in the cracks with superglue and repair any chipped toneholes.
Are the speaker and thumb bushes sealing well?
Remove them and refit the speaker bush with wax and the thumb bush with shellac.
Are the keys fitting well between their point screws?
If too loose, countersink them into the pillars to eliminate any play. If too tight, either shorten the ends until they fit better between the pillars or if they already fit betwen the pillars but bind up when the screws are tightened, countersink the ends of the key rods until they fit perfectly.
Are any springs fouling against their key barrels preventing them from closing?
Either bend the springs to clear the key barrels or create a recess in the key barrel with a rotary burr or file to give the spring clearance.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-10-29 23:43
Hi Chris,
Many thanks for the pointers. I'll work through and see if things improve. I checked the tonehole condition while it was stripped, they look pretty much as new. I'll post back when I figure out what the problems are.
Tony F.
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Author: Ralph
Date: 2013-10-30 11:14
Chris,
I believe that I read somewhere on this board that the Series 9 bore/tone hole location had been tweaked over a period of time to address intonation issues. In your experience, have you noticed this ?
Ralph
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-10-30 13:04
Even if the tone hole rims are OK, the pad and rim often don't meet at a zero degree angle. Fixing this involves some high-torque bending of the short connecting stub between the cup and the rotating rod.
Selmer made basic design mistakes on the Recital model (on which key and post designs weren't adjusted to match the increased diameter of the body) and the Signature model, where the pad cups were too small (resulting in leaks from the slightest misalignment or wear). I'm not sure about the Series 9, which was very close to the preceding CT model.
Also, the wood grain of rim edges needs to be sealed to prevent micro-leaks. This can make a dramatic improvement in response.
Finally, the interaction between the ring for the left ring finger, the bridge mechanism and the articulated C#/G# mechanism is a beast to get adjusted right.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-10-30 16:03
Each Selmer clarinet model has at some point in their time undergone small changes in tonehole size and position, bore size and taper, keywork design and various other aspects as the result of feedback from prominent players or as production methods have changed.
If you compare an early and late Series 9 side by side (eg. an S and an A series), you'll see these differences very clearly.
This is the same with all makers as they change things over the time of a production run on a single model - usually for the best, but occasionally for the worst. Hence the "we reserve the right to change the specification of any of our products without notice" blurb you see in small print on catalogues.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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