 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: lloft
Date: 2014-02-09 22:54
Hello all! I was wondering how often you should take your clarinet for a routine service and what that routine service usually includes? Thanks in advance!
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2014-02-10 03:59
If you listen to some techs, they insist that clarinets should be brought in at least once a year for a regular check-up, but I believe if you are sensitive and careful, your clarinet should be able to go much longer than that without leaks, timing errors or tone hole build up. I think this is especially true if you do things like bore oiling, wiping down keys, cleaning out register tube, and regular swabbing. Why service the clarinet if nothing leaks and if key height seems proper for venting?
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2014-02-10 04:53
I think that the question depends to extent on whether you are professional or amateur.
It also depends on your own level of mechanical aptitude, competence and inclination.
As a professional your job and hence livelihood depends on your level of performance and to compromise that by failing to keep your instruments at peak performing condition would be foolish.
Many professionals take a very keen interest in the maintenance of their instruments and routinely check them over and do regular lubrication and fine adjustments.
Others, equally musically proficient, prefer to leave virtually all mechanical work to a pro repairer.
The same can probably be said also of amateur players.
So if you are knowledgeable on the mechanical workings of your clarinet and reasonably competant with simple tools you can probably go for several years between visiting a repairer. There is a very good guide by Stephen Howard that provides useful information to help you.
If you want to leave the mechanical work to a pro repairer then as an amateur I would suggest a visit every 2 years would be adequate.
Typical work involves checking condition of pads and seatings, corks and springs. Cleaning toneholes, checking mechanical wear, lubricating mechanism and regulating the pad height and mechanical linkages etc.
There are many other things which can be done and some are purely cosmetic like cleaning body or keywork. You pay your money and make your choice.
However if you have one of the more complex models e.g. Bass or Alto clarinet or basset horn then it is probably much safer to leave all that work to a pro repairer.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-02-10 04:55
If you oil the keys (turns out this is a controversial topic on this board!) and the bore every month or so, all you really need to watch is for pads becoming brittle (they turn dark brown) and cracking resulting in leaks. I am now using Valentino Masters on my clarinet and hope that MY service interval will be around 20 years or so. I'll keep you posted.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-02-10 06:55
Oiling the keys shouldn't be controversial provided that the entire clarinet doesn't end up swimming in oil. So only apply a single drop of key oil (as opposed to bore oil) to each bearing point where the key barrels/rods meet their pillars with a needle every month or two.
I repeat - apply only a SINGLE DROP OF KEY OIL to the mechanism at 1 to 2 montly intervals and NO MORE THAN THAT.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2014-02-10 08:41
Once a year, have the pads and key corks checked out.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2014-02-10 14:18
If something goes seriously wrong, of course I go to a pro. I think pro repair people are worth every cent they charge. However ( . . . fair warning, I'm an amateur), I never take clarinets in for regular checkups. The mechanical complexity of clarinets has fascinated me since childhood and I got great pleasure out of learning how to do basic maintenance (corks, pads, springs, screws) myself as an adult.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2014-02-10 20:31
How did you go about learning to change pads and such?
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2014-02-10 21:05
Just to focus on one thing Paul said, I was oiling my bore " every month or so" until I read in Pinot's book that an over oiled clarinet can sound stuffy. I'm wondering if at least some so-called blown out clarinets might suffer from over oiling. Pinot's recommendation is that once the new clarinet is adequately oiled ( which may take two or three applications within a few months), is to do it once a year. I just oiled mine after 13 months, and found the wood to be very thirsty, probably due to our dry conditions here, which includes heating with wood 7 or 8 months a year. So I plan to give it a very light oiling in a few weeks or so, then shorten my regular oiling interval to 7 or 8 months and see how that works. But I would be very hesitant to oil regularly as often as every month. Paul, I respectfully grant that maybe you have a special circumstance that requires such frequent oilings. But it is probably not best for most clarinets.
Laurie
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2014-02-10 16:44)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-02-10 16:10
You're best consulting a repairer so they can show you how to replace and seat pads properly and also how to regulate the mechanism afterwards.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2014-02-10 21:28
I think getting a clarinet checked once a year is a terrible idea. I recommend getting it checked every 11 months and 23 days.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-02-11 03:06
Here is my explanation:
You put a very light coat down the bore and see what it looks like the next day. If there is still some oil left in the bore, then yes you are fine for oil in the wood. Just swab the excess and be done with it.
Now, if you have left wood untreated (where it will still gladly soak up oil, but you did not continue with more bore oil), what do you suppose will be soaked up into the wood in lieu of oil? Perhaps condensation from playing? If this sounds reasonable, would it not sound reasonable that the wood will be MORE reactive to water than oil? This to me, leaves the wood more susceptible to cracking from the stress of GREATER expansion and contraction.
Now we have gone over the anecdotal nature of the various stories of either abused clarinets that hold up like tanks or pampered clarinets that crack in the first few days of playing, but I'd like to stay on the safe side of that risk analysis if it is all the same to you guys.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-02-11 06:01
I'm a repair tech. There is usually something to do after a year. It may take me 2 minutes and I'll send the customer off with it, no charge. Otherwise the player may compensate for problems and develop the same bad habits I still have.
Customers often come in and say. The problem might be me, but I want to get my clarinet checked out just in case. It's always been the clarinet that was the problem.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2014-02-11 01:37
What kind of problems usually prop up after a year that only take 2 minutes to correct?
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-02-11 01:49
I may have been a little non-descriptive in my post about "not needing service." I think the above post drives home the point that "tolerances" fall out of adjustment. The corks UNDER keys compress and may make some keys open more, or less than they should. I classic case is the one-and-one Bb linkage.
Then you have springs that become more pliable and perhaps the action becomes undesirable, or a pad no longer seals well enough to give you a solid sound.
Some long key can actually bend out of adjustment slightly just through normal use (not even taking into account a careless moment or two).
Any number of these small things can get "fuzzy" in a year or so even if your pads are still perfect, BUT they SHOULD be the sort of adjustment any clarinetist with some experience should learn to do for him/herself.
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-02-11 16:01
Adjustments like 1&1, C & B. Loose rings, etc. Plus I can locate other problems or potential problems. I know that there are some handy people on this board, and I have nothing against it. That's how I got into the trade. And I'm think its fine that people here do there own maintenance, but an experienced technician that does it day in and day out (hopefully) has a vast reservoir of skills, techniques, and experience to draw on. At the least they can be a source of information.
One of my customers started this way and now works for me.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2014-02-11 18:26
I know the one and one fingering gets thrown off by the bridge key, but I found that when the system gets messed up, it's usually due to the loss of the bridge cork and not the bending of the keys. (My Yamaha has a special sweep to the bridge linkage so that even if you forget to raise the bridge when assembling it the ramping could do that for you and with my Buffet I'm just very careful). On a couple of occassions the cork either cracked or a piece fell off, so I re-adjusted the bridge using super thin pieces of veneer under a thin piece of sheet vinyl in place of cork. Not only does this stuff not compress like cork, it also cushions just the right amount. It doesn't tend to fall off, and because I can glue one or two super thin veneer or sheet plastic strips like what you see in spinich boxes under the vinyl, I can experiment and get the perfect syncing of top and bottom sections of the clarinet. It gives a totally progressive adjustment.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-02-11 18:46
I glue a stopper on the linkage piece connected to the LH2 ring to keep it raised off the deck which makes assembly easy and little risk of tearing the key cork off the linkage for those who don't hold the LH rings closed during assembly.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2014-02-12 16:20
Once per year? Maybe. Maybe not.
If customers ask me how often their clarinet should be serviced I save a lot of time by giving them a sheet with a checklist of 22 items headed "Clarinets - Clues That Servicing Is Due".
That is followed by a section describing a simple air pressure leak test, and notes on lubrication (referring to another handout for those who want to do it themselves) and use of cork grease, (also referring to another in-depth document I have written on the topic.)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-02-12 18:25
I recommend anyone should have their clarinet (or other woodwind instrument) serviced every one to two yearly intervals depending on how much they play them.
Having said that, most of my regular customers usually have a yearly service or thereabouts and to be honest, they do need it as there's often a lot to be cleaned up, especially the smaller top joint toneholes which accumulate debris that causes stuffiness.
While many of them do an excellent job of basic maintenance in they wipe the keys down and dry the sockets after playing, things like occluded toneholes are often beyond the average player's ability as most aren't confident enough to remove keys themselves and may end up doing damage to the toneholes or bore in cleaning out the accumulated dried fluff in them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2014-02-12 15:37
By occluded tone holes in the upper section, are we referring to the A, Ab, register, thumb, E, D and C keys? I feel very comfortable removing these keys, but other than touching up the holes with an eyebrow brush , I can't think of how these tone holes can be cleaned out. Moist Q tip?
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-02-12 16:07
That's what I use (moist cotton buds), either that or a small nylon brush. There's no other way to clear them unless you use these and take the keys off.
While some may be comfortable in removing keys, many others aren't, so it's best not leave anything to chance should they do more harm than good.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jerry
Date: 2014-02-13 00:42
Gordon in NZ:
Could you either send me, or post those checklists?
Thanks,
Jerry
Jerry
The Villages, FL
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