 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Wookie001
Date: 2024-01-26 22:35
Is there any alternative material which can be used? I'm not sure if I remember it correctly, but some years ago I saw one of the buffet clarinets with a different material than cork. So it's not necessary to use grease on it anymore because the material already has a built-in slide effect that comes close to greased cork
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2024-01-26 23:48
Just to list them out here:
String:
Advantages: Cheap, easy to install, can last a long time and it can help prevent cracks as it acts like a sort of band for the tenon.
Disadvantages: Tends to come undone unless installed perfectly, not as much tolerance as cork and on some instruments it can actually deform the bore due to the pressure it puts on tenons. That last one is often a big problem with historical instruments.
O-rings:
Advantages: Very easy to install and replace.
Disadvantages: Only works well if the socket is perfectly smooth, which is often not the case with wood. Tend to stretch and tear over time and like all rubber products they will degrade eventually. Very little tolerance, need to use a different size O-ring if the socket is too big or small. Lastly if they are a proprietary size like they are on the Yamaha 221 then you better hope you can find them in stock. This has been a problem in the past with the Yamaha.
Buffet's synthetic cork:
Advantages: Theoretically will last longer than cork, haven't really seen enough of these to back that up.
Disadvantages: Needs a specific lubricant otherwise it feels terrible assembling the instrument. I've seen them rip and tear before from normal use. If you want to replace them you have to buy the exact Buffet part, for many that means expensive international shipping.
Personally I am a fan of cork, it's not perfect but it's relatively cheap, easy to install and allows you to use different barrels, bells and mouthpieces without too much trouble. It also lasts a while if you use a good cork grease.
-JDbassplayer
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2024-01-27 00:44
>> Buffet's synthetic cork <<
What Buffet models have synthetic corks on the tenons? From photos I could find it seems maybe only the Divine? The only models I haven't seen are the Divine, Legende and BC21 and the latter two seem to have cork (from photos). Do you know if this black synthetic cork is anything like the Kraus synthetic cork (which also happens to be black)?
Other than the different colour I hope it's not anything like the tan synthetic cork Buffet uses for key corks...
There are others options for synthetic cork, not just Buffet. Kraus and J.L. Smith are couple that I've tried, and I think there are others.
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2024-01-27 01:53
The Tosca bass clarinet has it on the neck. A customer actually had me remove it from a Tosca bass clarinet and replace it with natural cork. I saved a piece, it feels sort of like neoprene.
You're right, I completely forgot about the other synthetic options. The only other one I've seen in person is Valentino cork. I definitely prefer Valentino cork to what Buffet uses. Disadvantages for Valentino cork are that it cannot be sanded which means that corks with have an ugly square edge. Other than that it works pretty well for a quick fix, I've had some on a mouthpiece for a few years. I still prefer natural cork though.
-JDbassplayer
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2024-01-27 11:02
I think the Tosca bass clarinets I've seen had a regular cork... but not ruling out I remember wrong, and they weren't very recent ones.
With the Smith synthetic cork you can cut the edges with a very sharp knife so they are not square. I don't like it for other reasons. Its main point is that it's more forgiving for diameter and good e.g. for people using different shank diameter sax mouthpieces and things like that (though I don't use it for this purpose and still prefer regular cork).
I also gave up on the Kraus synthetic cork although it has a few nice advantages such as being extremely resistant to bounce (e.g. some sax lower stack keys). Main issue is it's less resistant to glue failing, for example some degreasers can cause the material itself to lose the ability to glue well (or fall off once glued), compared with regular cork which would be fine (I had this on my own clarinet for a while and installed it for others too).
I've tried other synthetic corks too but I don't think they are meant to be used for tenons, only for key corks, and they work relatively well in some cases.
I've also seen quite a few tenons with rubber cork (i.e. gumi cork, tech cork, etc.). It's not really synthetic cork by definition but it's essentially another type of "synthetic" cork and it works pretty poorly for this purpose, I wouldn't use it, though it can work ok (but it's great for bumpers and linkages in some cases).
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