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Addressing 2 mechanical issues with my Bass Clarinet

Author: ErezK
Date: 2014-09-17 15:00

Greetings. For most part I am very pleased with my Yamaha YCL-220 II Bass Clarinet. Good tone, intonation, etc.

I encountered 2 mechanical issues that I'd like to fix, and hopefully by myself.

1) Register tone hole pads get stuck. The pads just cling to the tone holes, so the spring tension is not enough to pop the out. If I clean them with cigarette paper, it helps but for a while. I wonder what would be the best way to clean them or the tone holes (alcohol or other solvent?). It happens with both pads associated with the register.

2) At cold temperatures, the pad under the RH D key does not pop up when the middle D key is released..
Let me try to explain it better. When I press the Left hand D key, it brings down a pad that is also connected to the lever that connects across the bridge (for the alternate fingering of Eb or Bb using the right hand). When the instrument is cold, that lever just gets stuck and and tension from the spring is not enough to push it back to the "open" position when I release the middle left finger.
As the instrument warms up or during summer that is not an issue. I tried to take it to a tech a few times, but every time the ambient temperature was such that the problem could not be replicated and the tech just shrugged it off... so if it is something to oiling (maybe some grease inside the rod is old and gooey) that could be fixed at home, that would be preferable.

Thanks for reading,

Erez

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