 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-11-01 01:29
Remove the keys, clean the pad AND the tonehole with alcohol and beef up the spring on the pad cup so it's less likely to stick.
Far too many people set the articulated C#/G# pad cup spring way too light, but it can have more tension in it that will ensure it opens the key instead of just tickles it into moving and flapping about like a bit of wet lettuce.
Same with saxes. Put some life into articulated mechanisms as they always have to work.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-11-01 14:27
Another thing you can do which will help is to carefully coat the tonehole crown with graphite from a very soft pencil - either directly but gently or coating a piece of paper with a good scribbling's worth of graphite and transfer that to the tonehole by pressing it down and shifting it around. Or get some graphite powder and apply it with a cotton bud/Q-tip. Being graphite, it will make your C#/G# pad dirty though.
You can also use Yamaha powder paper which has some sort of fine powder embedded in it, but not an excessive amount that can get everywhere like talcum powder or that zinc powder Selmer (USA) used to supply in bottles with a blue lid. Place a strip of powder paper between the pad and tonehole, close the pad and s-l-o-w-l-y draw the paper out so it will leave some powder on both the pad and tonehole.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-11-01 18:54
Chris,
Is there a specific reason not to use talcum powder?
I sprinkle tiny amount of talcum powder on a piece of soft cloth which I then place under the offending pad and cycle/tap the pad close/open a few times, then lift the pad and remove the cloth. Works well without creating a mess.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-11-01 20:55
I specifically tell people not to use it as chances are, they'll dust the entire instrument with it with a ton of the stuff and when that gets into the mechanism, it turns into paste when it mixes with oil (often poured on in copious amounts everywhere as well) and binds everything up solid.
In the right hands, in moderation and when used correctly it can be beneficial, but the human element is the reason why I never advocate anyone oils the bore or the keywork themselves as there's always going to be a disaster. Sometimes a little too much knowledge is a dangerous thing and I would prefer to prevent a disaster than promote one (and it's then left up to the repairer to sort out the mess at the owner's expense).
Always best to leave some things to the grown-ups to do if in any doubt - I've seen tons of DIY disasters and would prefer to prevent them in all cases. Know your limits and stick to your own lane - not all players or teachers are repairers (and not all repairers are good at their job either).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Erez Katz
Date: 2025-11-07 06:14
I took that key off - and all its siblings along that long rod today.
It was not the easiest thing to put together. the rod got a little stuck, so I gave it a good clean and a small drop of key oil on it and inside the posts, and then it went through better. At first I over-tightened it a bit so the C# pad did not snap up fully, but a little loosening and it is now really great.
I also took the opportunity to better clean the tone hole (q-tip dipped in alcohol - a lot of gunk came out).
I have a bassoonist friend that once in a while takes off the entire keywork and cleans up the whole thing. At the time it seemed odd for me, but since I live in Maine now, being self reliant is in a way part of the state ethos.
Another thing that made my life much easier is getting proper screw drivers. The stuff at Home depot is too coarse. Luckily a local store had some high quality WIHA precision screw drivers which fit the slot properly.
Any tips and advice on tools, oil and whatever comes to mind would be most obliged.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-11-07 06:33
Erez Katz wrote:
...
> Any tips and advice on tools, oil and whatever comes to mind
> would be most obliged.
I always put a drop of oil on the rod screws before inserting them; on pivot screws I use synthetic cork grease.
You could also get bent nose pliers - helpful when getting the rod screws out.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-11-07 11:25
>> At first I over-tightened it a bit so the C# pad did not snap up fully, but a little loosening and it is now really great. <<
It looks like it's a hinge tube on a rod screw, so you didn't over tighten it. Generally rod screw would break from too much force before causing any friction or binding, or at least they should.
There are various reasons why a rod screw would cause binding when tightened all the way, and this is a problem that should be repaired, though leaving the rod slightly loose and/or using a thread locker is a band aid that can work sometimes (e.g. no tools, saving cost, DIY, etc.).
Unfortunately most of the reasons are from less than great manufacturing... I recently saw that problem on a Selmer Privilege bass clarinet so it's not only cheaper instruments that suffer from it...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-11-09 16:49
Rod screws (and headed point screws with full length threads) should be done up so they can't back themselves out and if they have to be left loose in order for the key to move freely, then either the rod screw is bent, the key barrel is bent (and both bends coincide where things free up), the thread could be bent or the threaded pillar misaligned causing the rod screw to bow once tightened.
If you're having to leave any screws loose that should be done up, the risk of them backing out is greater and that can cause things to pack up if the thread backs out of the pillar completely, or in the case of point screws, they can drop out never to be found again at the least opportune moment. The underlying problem needs to be addressed.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-11-09 18:41
And another thing which will help immensely is the use of hard wearing and low friction silencing materials where there's any sliding action instead of natural cork which is far too compressible, creates too much friction and wears through easily.
If using thin tech cork (rubco, etc. with a maximum thickness of 0.4mm), then coat it with graphite from a soft pencil to make it more slippery, or use thin tech cork with a thin layer of teflon sheet glued to it, or sheet teflon glued directly to the overlever, but using a better contact adhesive instead of the peel'n'stick adhesive already on it as that tends to migrate.
If it's the peel'n'stick type, then you can remove the adhesive layer with solvent (acetone does the trick) and use your own choice of contact adhesive on the chemically etched side for better adhesion to the linkage. If you want to up the slipperiness factor, then glue thin teflon sheet to both parts of the linkage.
Thin teflon coated tech cork provides the least noisy and longest lasting option, but sometimes if there's limited room and you can't bend anything (eg, on some oboe trill key linkages), you'd have to settle with thin teflon only.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Erez Katz
Date: 2025-11-09 23:37
Attachment: IMG-20250905-WA0007.jpg (96k)
Attachment: IMG-20250905-WA0008.jpg (155k)
To be clear, by loosening I meant a quarter turn at the most.
I had a similar issue with my other bass, yamaha ycl 221ii, that depending on temperature some rods would seize and later loosen, the way I figured it was very tight coming our of the factory. Very slight unscrewing resolved that issue.
Chris, you mentioned padding for linkages and alternative to cork.
There are 2 linkages in a selmer, and the cork was missing - probably my fault during assembly. Since then I learned my lesson and I press the linkages up in the upper tenon during assembly. I didn't have cork so I looked around the house and settled on Gorilla Duct tape.
It's thickness was exactly what was needed for getting thr linkage just right.
It's a hack, I know, but it has been holding fine so far.
It is one if those things I never checked but now I am super careful about during assembly.
The one on the upper tenon looks loose, I cut off the excess with a razor, then I realized it would be much easier just to work on the lower tenon linkage.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-11-10 09:45
>> To be clear, by loosening I meant a quarter turn at the most. <<
That's still loosening. It's a matter of degree and obviously 1/200 of a turn more or less won't really be noticeable. 1/4 of a turn is quite a lot and would make a rod screw to be loose and the possible issues mentioned in the posts above.
>> I had a similar issue with my other bass, yamaha ycl 221ii, that depending on temperature some rods would seize and later loosen, the way I figured it was very tight coming our of the factory. Very slight unscrewing resolved that issue. <<
The question is whether these were pivot screws or rod screws.
On all clarinets but even more so on larger and plastic clarinets like the Yamaha 221 keys can bind between the posts when it's cold. If loosening the screws helped then it was binding between the screws and not between the posts.
If it's a key on a rod screw that binds sometimes because of weather, but loosens by loosening the screw, then it sounds like tightening distorts it in such a way that is just enough for it to happen in a certain temperature.
Anyway on rod screws it just shouldn't happen. When it does then something is distorted in some way... the threads, post face, screw end face, rod itself, etc.
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