 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-06 04:12
Anyone else ever take their clarinet in for service and get it back in worse condition than when you dropped it off? The invoice claims he unbent two keys and changed two key corks (this took 3 months) and when I got it back, a wire spring was off, I had a mm slop in the throat A before it picked up the Ab key, and am in the middle of changing two key corks on the lower keys because there's more than a mm slop in the left hand stuff. I'm NEVER taking an instrument in for service again unless it's cracked in half, I'll do it myself from now on. I may even do that crack myself. What a waste of 3 months and what a rip-off.
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Author: Susan
Date: 1999-02-06 04:20
Three months!!! Sounds awful.
What is a good book about clarinet repair for those of us who would like to learn to repair (repad, recork, regulate) a clarinet?
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-06 04:31
I have the Erick Brand repair manual. I ordered it from Feree's tools. I forgot how much it was so it couldn't have been too painful. I'm finding, however, that I haven't referred to it for any of the work I'm doing. Just start pulling the easier keys off and you'll figure out how it works. It's actually a fairly simple machine. Regulating it is the part that takes patience. That's removing all the slop and the too-tight parts. That's what I'm doing to my Evette now. I have to sdjust a pad on my LeBlanc because I caused a major leak after putting it back on when it fell off (with help). That's going to take even more patience. I did refer to the manual for pads.
The repair guy I bought my LeBlanc from (a different guy than the 2-monther) was feeding me a bunch of crap about how hard it is to fix these things properly. Most of the problems I see have obvious solutions: tighten a screw, replace key corks. You can get these self sticking synthetic corks from Woodwind and Brasswind (and probably Ferrees too) that save a lot of time. Although I have 2/3 square foot of cork from the hardware store, I haven't used it yet. Haven't had them long enough to evaluate them but I think it was Ray Swing who gave a testimonial erlier 9which is why I decided to try them).
Good luck.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-06 04:48
Well Rick2, all I can say is that I have always been fortunate enough to find good, reliable technicians where ever I have lived since I resumed playing clarinet.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 1999-02-06 19:03
Rick could you email me the name of the repair person? I know or two repair guys in Santa Clara Valley (we're practically neighbors everyone) with good wood wind reputations, I want to make sure it's neither of them.
Ginny
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Author: Ray Swing
Date: 1999-02-06 19:47
Yes, I've had good luck with the self sticking, synthetic cork on the joints. The ony thing to watch out for is a correct tight build up to prevent leakage. But this is true even if you work with pure cork. With the synthetic, they supply build up strips that you can put under the final cork. This gets it to a nice tight fit which you will sand lightly to a very tight fit, then apply a lot og cork grease to finish it off.
Good luck'
R.S.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-02-07 23:22
Well, your not the only one to experience the shoddy repair man. I needed to have to pads replaced because they weren't sealing properly and when I got it back it was no better. The pads were obviously new but were thinner than the old ones and he didn't build up the cork on a key so the new pads would seal correctly. It only cost me $20.00 but I still expected the job to have been completed property even though I can fix the problem myself with a bit of cork. A sister of a girl I sit next to in my local brass band sent her clarinet away to same fellow and when she got it back she had to get me to fix all of the problems with it. This included screws which had not been screwed back in and corks which were still missing. I'm still not game to replace pads or fix badly bent keys but most routine maintainance I prefer to do myself.
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Author: Mickey
Date: 1999-02-08 03:18
Ther is not excuse for bad repair work in this day and age. Three months????/!!!!!!!! How rediculous! That puts all the good and great repair tech's to shame.
I have a great book by Robert Schmidt "A Clarinetist's Notebook" Vol.1: Care and Repair
This book has some great information and illustrations to guide you through the care and repair of your instrument. I highly recomend it. As the dedication reads: "...I had the privilage to be a part-time apprentice in the shop of W. Hans Moennig, to witness first hand the painstaking care, the inexhaustible supply of energy and imagination lavished upon the clarinets, flutes, oboes and bassoons of many of America's foremost orchestral musisians."
This book should gove you "the serenity to accept the things that should not be changed, the courage to change those that should, and the wisdom to konw the difference." To paraphrase a saying from Moennig himself.
Search it out!
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Author: Daniel
Date: 1999-02-08 19:40
Clarinets in a brass band? When did the clarinet become a brass instrument?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-02-08 20:21
Daniel wrote:
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Clarinets in a brass band? When did the clarinet become a brass instrument?
Daniel - this looks like a non-sequitur :^) Need to quote & edit the post you're writing about.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-02-09 00:36
I didn't say I played my clarinet in the brass band. We have no community band that includes woodwind instruments just a British style brass band. I teach clarinet in my spare time after work but to be involved with other musicians in the community I blow on a tenor horn (I think you refer to it as an alto horn in the USA, it's in Eb and is smaller than a euphonium but bigger than a flugelhorn - anyway it's a beautiful instrument I love it too).
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Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-02-09 17:44
Rick2 wrote:
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I have the Erick Brand repair manual. I ordered it from Feree's tools....[snip]
Two other good repair manuals: Burton Stanley, _Instrument Repair for the Music Teacher_ (Alfred, 1978, currently in print for $16.95) and R. F. "Peg" Meyer, _The Band Director's Guide to Instrument Repair_ (Alfred, 1973; I bought it used for $4, which was approx. half the original price of $7.95, but Alfred may have kept it in print). These, like the Brand manual, cover wind instruments in general, not just clarinet. I've been using all three and have found that each one covers gaps in the others.
Someone else just told me about another repair book that I haven't seen, by Ronald Saska, _A Guide to Repairing Woodwinds_, available for $34.95 plus $3.75 for shipping, from Classic Sax Online (this is #Saska-01 in their catalog online at www.classicsax.com), 1220 P Kennestone Circle, Marietta, GA 30066.
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Author: Robin
Date: 1999-02-09 18:49
Lelia wrote:
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Someone else just told me about another repair book that I haven't seen, by Ronald Saska, _A Guide to Repairing Woodwinds_, available for $34.95 plus $3.75 for shipping, from Classic Sax Online (this is #Saska-01 in their catalog online at www.classicsax.com), 1220 P Kennestone Circle, Marietta, GA 30066.
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The Saska book is also available from Amazon.com, which you can access directly through Sneezy (and I think the "Sneezy Fund" gets a commission if you buy it this way).
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-02-09 20:24
Robin wrote:
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The Saska book is also available from Amazon.com, which you can access directly through Sneezy (and I think the "Sneezy Fund" gets a commission if you buy it this way).
--
Thanks for mentioning it. Yes, I do get a small commission (5%). Every little bit helps!
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Author: Alec Thigpen
Date: 1999-02-12 00:58
We have the best repairman anyone could want. Rarely do I go in that he doesn't stop right then and make the repair or adjustment, and usually refuses payment because "That was nothing", or "We'll get you when you have some real work done". He has been doing perfectionist work for over 25 years. He also is proficient on every instrument that he works on. But, he's superb on trumpet.
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