 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: thecuriousclarinet
Date: 2015-08-17 22:17
I have a new student whose clarinet was acting up. I put my mouthpiece on her clarinet to play it and confirmed that it definitely needed to be taken in to the repair shop. Then her mother later tells me that the clarinet had mites.
Should I be worried that my clarinet and case may now have mites?
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Author: knotty
Date: 2015-08-17 22:36
With a bit of careful looking with a magnifying glass and good lighting you should be able to see mites.
Is the mother sure it was mites? where did she get that diagnosis?
A curious predicament indeed.
~ Musical Progress: None ~
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-08-17 22:52
I have certainly heard of case mites decimating the insides of a case and damaging pads, too. But it's always on instruments that have been unused for long periods of time - just retrieved from a closet or attic after years of disuse. I doubt that they'd be living in a mouthpiece or barrel where there's nothing for them to eat and where it regularly gets wet or that they'd have migrated to your mouthpiece during the short time it was on her clarinet.
But I agree with Knotty that, if a repairman could see the mites at the shop, you should be able to see any that are on your clarinet.
Karl
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-08-17 23:49
The insects found in old clarinets/cases are a form of moth larvae that feast on the felt that pads are made of.
They are rearely alive when found and move very slowly. They also have no interest in your mouthpiece or barrel so chances of picking one up as suggested are approx 0.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2015-08-17 23:51
I wouldn't worry about your clarinet.
Make sure your student replaces their case with a new one.
E.G., don't let the shop repad the instrument then put it back in the old case, pad mites in the case will just tear up the pads again in a few months.
Some folks (search- we've had prior threads on the subject) suggest treating the old case, but since a new case can be had for less than $75, I feel its best to just get a new case in such situations.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-08-24 18:02
I've bought several roached-out old clarinets ans saxophones at flea markets -- instruments that appeared to have sat around unplayed for decades and definitely had those mites (aka "pad-bugs") at one time or another, though I've found more dead fauna than live infestations. If it looks as if mites have made a buffet of the pads, even if I see no signs of live critters, I rip out the old pads and get rid of them before I ever bring the clarinet indoors, just in case. Then I do a thorough cleanup before I let an old clarinet or sax anywhere near the instruments I play. If the case is vintage and original, I wash it thoroughly if it's salvagable and dry it in sunlight, or gut the ruined old padding, wash the case thoroughly, dry it in sunlight, then re-line it. I've never had a pad-bug infestation from any of my old squeakers.
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: Wes
Date: 2015-08-24 22:57
Yes, I've seen live larvae in the pads of a clarinet and often have seen the skin and wool of flute and clarinet pads seriously eaten away. It seems to be from a small moth, perhaps the "confused flour moth", of which I also had a significant infestation in my kitchen about five years ago.
"Bow bugs" can infest violin bows and I've also seen that. They are small, black, and shiny bugs about 1/16 to 1/8 inch diameter that eat on the horse hair of bows.
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