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RE: Help!

Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-08-02 17:33

Drew wrote:
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Recently I was practicing clarinet for about an hour and after I swabbed out and went to disassemble it, the mouthpiece wouldn't come out of the barrel. I've tried to pull it out a few times and it simply won't budge. I assume this is on account of the humidity (I live in Virginia). I would appreciate any help. By the way, it is a hard rubber mouthpiece and a wooden barrel. Thank you in advance.

Drew Emery,
Disgruntled Musician

Drew -

Your problem is 99% certain to be swelling at the bottom of the socket in the barrel, so that the wood binds against the area of the mouthpiece below the cork. The hard rubber of the mouthpiece doesn't change with humidity, and if it were only the cork you would be able to get the mouthpiece out without too much effort. The solution is to have a repair shop get the mouthpiece off and then ream out the top socket.

Do not ever take any rubber off the bottom of the mouthpiece. It's risky, and you will then have a barrel that doesn't fit any other mouthpiece.

Barrels do this a lot, particularly during the first year or two. The top socket isn't so critical, but if it "bites" when you take it off the upper joint, even a little bit, you should bet the bottom socket reamed RIGHT AWAY, as there is a severe risk of cracking the upper joint. The same goes for the middle joint, where there is a very thin area between the bottom of the lower joint socket and the top of the hole covered by the pad attached to the ring keys. Ditto for the bell, since the tenon on the bottom joint is quite thin.

Good luck.

Ken Shaw

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