Author: clarnibass
Date: 2015-11-09 08:53
When a pad is porous then it is because of the leather (or other material), not the felt. The extra layer of bladder the Roo pads have will help against the felt hardening over time (it would still happen, just slower) and maybe help some against porousity, but not really. When a pad is porous, the air comes in through the face of the pad and comes out from the sides, outside the tone hole rim.
IME the Roo pads that I've checked were, in general, somewhat more porous than most other leather pads I've tried. I assume this is why they are less sticky than some other pads, though other pads are not necessarily sticky at all. They are also no less sticky than any other pad when the stickiness comes from anything other than the pad leather itself. Actually, the slightly rougher surface might mean it's easier for dirt to embed in it.
Check the thickness of the pads. Some bass clarinets use clarinet pads (approx. 3mm) and some use pads as thick as saxophone pads (approx. 4mm). In most cases you could use the other type (especially thin pads for an instrument that needs thick pads) but it can make the work more difficult.
I still can't avoid using some leather pads... I use both clarinet and saxophone pads made by Music Center which have a thin plastic layer between the felt and the leather.
Most leather pads, at least those sold by reputable companies, should be good. Music Center, Roo pads, Valentino, etc.
Valentino sax leather pad (which might work for bass clarinet, depends on thickness needed) also seem to soak liquid more easily so I guess they are not treated.
In the end I doubt you'd feel much if any difference between them.
Re Valentino and other synthetic pads, first I have to say I really don't like Valentino Greenback pads.
I really like Omni pads and I think they are now avalable in sizes for bass clarinets but not sure.
I'm just starting to test Valentino Masters pads and so far they seem promising, but they are not available at sizes above 20mm if I remember (many bass clarinets have sizes larger than that on the upper joint).
It is not necessary to devide the type of pad by upper and lower joints. It can be nice to have the same pads on a "group" of keys e.g. all trill keys, all left hand stack keys, etc. to get the asme feel, but sometimes it's actually good to have a different firmness on different pads in a "group" like the stack (e.g. the pad you actually press to close and the pad that is closed by the same key from a linkage).
Overall I think any good quality pad will be ok and it's not that important. It's best to use pads that your repairer feels comfortable that he can do good work with them.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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