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Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-26 14:59

Hello:

I have a 6 week old clarinet with silver plated keys and rings. I just realized last night that the bell ring is tarnishing badly. I first noticed discoloration a few weeks ago but discounted it because I'm colorblind and figured it was just the light in my room. Now it's really looking bad. I swab the entire clarinet thoroughly after every use, and use a polishing cloth to wipe off all the keywork, rings, and body.

What's going on? Is this a defect? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks,
Matt

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: ron b
Date: 2001-06-26 17:40

Hi, Matt -
It's a defect. You're doing nothing wrong.
Click 'search' just above your post. Type the words 'bell ring tarnish'. Click Search. You'll find lots of info about it. Hope you have a warranty.
- ron b -

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Joseph O'Kelly
Date: 2001-06-26 17:45

My $0.02

I've noticed that the bell ring always tarnishes alot quicker than the keys. I can't explain why but whenever I get a new clairinet or completly shine up the metal on an old one, the bell ring will start to tarnish fast.

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-26 18:24

Ron

Yes I do have a warranty. I purchased the clarinet locally at Ellis Music in Vermont. I've been extremely happy dealing with them thus far. I will call up my salesperson/technician there and talk with her about this.

Joe, I would consider 6 weeks to be excessively fast tarnishing! Would you agree?

Thanks,
Matt

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Joseph O'Kelly
Date: 2001-06-26 18:41

Is it tarnish or is the plating coming off? 6 weeks is a short time but with the quality of clarinets now a days I wouldn't say it's a rare phenominon. I am currently trying out a new R-13. After one week I noticed that the plating is starting to wear off. I always wipe off the keys after playing to prevent this. The same thing happened with my A.
I am outraged when hearing about incindents like this. I wish these companies would practice some quality controil.
What brand instrument do you have? If it's a Buffet they do not cover cosmetic defects in their warrenty, (atleast not to my knowledge.)

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-26 18:50

Joe:

I have a Yamaha SE-V. I do expect high quality also. I have presumed it's tarnish but have not yet tried to polish it.

Matt

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RE: Corrosion on bell ring

Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-29 13:27

Hello all:

I spent some time last night polishing the bell ring on my Yamaha. It cleaned up really nicely as expected.

My suspictions are that the environment that this ring lives in makes it more likely to tarnish. The fact is that all the moisture that goes into the clarinet while you are playing comes out through the bell. If you play for 1-2 hours per day, that's 1-2 hours that it's in this environment. No matter how well you swab after playing, that's a lot of time to be in a high humidity environment. My thoughts only.

I'm going to talk to my salesperson to see if she has any recommendations. Does anyone here have any suggestions of their own?

Matt

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