 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: james
Date: 2003-01-03 18:35
I have an appt in two weeks to get my clarinet tuned up by brannens but in the meantime my register key is sticking. Is there anything I can do on my own to fix this until the brannens look at it? Right now it's really hindering my ability to play.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2003-01-03 19:35
Very slightly loosen the screw that goes through it. It's probably gotten a bit tight over time.
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Author: Mitch K.
Date: 2003-01-03 19:44
First, you need to determine what is actually sticking: is it the pad on the key, or the is it friction between the rod and posts, or is it the spring? The easiest way to eliminate possibilites it to take a piece of cigarette paper and put it between the pad and the register tube. If the key no longer sticks, then the problem is with the pad.
What I do in that case is keep the cigarette paper between the pad and tube and slide the paper out from between the two while the key is closed. One or two swipes usually does the trick for me. Now, there may be concern about wearing down the cork pad (or if it's a newer Buffet, the synthetic, cork-like pad), but I've not noticed any. I certainly wouldn't do with with sandpaper or even a dollar bill for that matter.
Hope this helps,
Mitch King
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2003-01-03 21:28
If the pad is sticking, the standard fix is to open the key, slide a newish dollar bill under it, press the key cup down with your thumb and pull the dollar out. The currency paper is fairly abrasive, so it will clean off any crud, but don't press really hard.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Peter
Date: 2003-01-04 00:25
All of the above sound good, but whenever I have a sticking key...
If it's the pad, I try papering first, either pad paper or the dollar bill trick. If it is recurrent and the pad is cork, I apply an almost nonexistent tad of cork grease to it and, usually, it never sticks again (until the cork grease wears off.) If made of other materials, I've used either almond oil or (virgin= no salt, no additives) peanut oil on it.
The best remedy is to clean your pads every time you use your instrument, before the pads get so scungy that they stick just purely out of principle.
If it's in the pivot mechanismn try taking the screws out and check them for dirt, rust or other corrosion. Clean it, put the tiniest drop of oil on the mouth of the screw hole, and replace the screw, just tight enough for the key to work freely.
One very important thing about oil. It can free up a mechanism, or incredibly, jam it.
If you use too much oil it will have a tendency to pick up dust and dirt from the atmosphere and/or everything it touches which will eventually work its way into the mechanism and cause it to work sluggishly or jam.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2003-01-04 16:10
All the above. The register key is the easiest key on the horn to remove, so remove it and oil the screw and the spring contact point on the horn. I have found that a bit of silicone oil on a cigarette paper pulled past the pad ususally takes care of pad sticking.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-01-05 04:01
"Sticking" means many different things to different people - pad release noises, pad sticking to tone hole, key resists being pressed, key won't move after being released......
Valid assistance could be better offered after a better description of the symptom.
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