The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-11-16 17:19
An adult student of mine who is an equipment junkie (like many of us) recently gave me a "gift" of The Demand™ Silk Swab made by the Original Swab Company.
http://www.originalswab.com/demand.html
The swab is made of Chinese Silk and is different than most swabs because it is an enclosed envelope design. Inside the enclosure is a cotton lining "to better absorb moisture away from the exterior of the swab."
In theory, I think that this particular idea might have merit, but with the additional lining, the swab for the clarinet is too thick. I was initially very concerned with the overall amount of material which would try and pass through the bore.
My suspicions were correct. On the first try, the swab got stuck on the register vent tube. (BTW - In my entire life as a clarinetist I had never, ever had a swab get stuck in the clarinet). In trying to remove the swab from the upper joint, the lining of the "envelope" tore on the register key vent, making removal even more difficult.
I did ultimately, very carefully remove the entire swab. However, this design is definitely an accident waiting to happen.
Needless to say, it is not a product I would recommend - either for the experienced player or (worse yet) for a beginner.
If you favor using a silk swab, as I do, there many excellent ones to choose from, including the one offered by The Doctor.
It seems that this particular company sells a number of different woodwind and brass products.
http://www.originalswab.com/products.html
I have not tried any of their other items ...GBK
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-11-16 17:43
I feel a verse for Suboptimal blob coming on
Restraint is in order
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-11-16 17:58
I don't feel the need to restrain
my urges to rhyme or quatrain....
CPW's job is to take the stuck swab
and make from it a poem (I don't deign!)
There --- I've baited the trap for the Limerickers --- have at it!
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Author: oxfeely
Date: 2004-11-16 18:07
The rules of this BBS clearly forbid advertising.
However, the official sponsors of the site may launch a full assault against any clarinet product company they want at their . . . discretion (said company may or may not have chosen to sponsor this site when propositioned).
GBK, what do you think of BRS music? (I've never heard of them, but they are prominently advertised at the top of the page as a sponsor) Avoid, or purchase?
Post Edited (2004-11-16 18:13)
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-16 18:14
Why not to use some of the internal cotton material for another purpose?
What purpose?
Oxfeely, BB GBK had that thing in his instrument and it did not want to come out! That is a very dangerous thing. I am extremely happy that I was warned.
Note: BB is not BBoard. I cannot tell you here, because it is forbidden to speak about that. If you are interrested, write to my e-mail. I hope it is not forbidden to speak about the fact it is forbidden?
Post Edited (2004-11-17 06:13)
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Author: oxfeely
Date: 2004-11-16 18:19
Yes, you are happy, I am happy, BRS music is happy and Original Swab Company is unhappy. I wonder if any of the sponsors are in such danger of dissapointment.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2004-11-16 18:22
oxfeely wrote:
> I wonder if any of the sponsors are
> in such danger of dissapointment.
Ask them. You'd find that they get as many if not more deletions and messages from GBK and myself as anyone else. $50/year is way too little to sell my soul.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-11-16 18:27
One of the prime benefits of this bulletin board is the exchange of first-hand opinions on products.
If there is a perceived design flaw in a product, it is certainly something which should be noted.
Hopefully the company will respond publicly or (better yet) retool their product...GBK
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-16 18:30
No retooling!
There must be some use for that excessive cotton!!!
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-11-16 18:39
A stuck swab can be such a pain,
Even worse than bad reeds with poor cane.
But the anger must stop,
Or you're likely to pop,
Your external jugular vein.
...GBK
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-16 18:47
BB GBK, what form is that cotton in it?
Are that fibres or stripes of cloth or what?
BTW, WHO is that poem addressed to?
Post Edited (2004-11-16 18:48)
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-11-16 18:49
Beware The Demand from online auction
Take not into thy sweet horn such a mop
And Avast ye matties to Swab with caution
or else it will make a really big flop
Silk or cotton, take your pick
But be certain in the bore it will not stick
The Demand it is said by GBK so astute
Will mess up the horn so it will not toot
Omar's swab says Kanter
(and not Kyamm)
is better to doctor the chanter
Convinced now I am.
Now take up this lyric
and spill not the beans
for techs need some money
you know what that means
Festivus is nigh
and so its the season
Hang the Demand by the mantlepiece
Here is the reason:
In horn it will stick
til reindeer doth fly
GBK says NO demand
that is no lie
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-16 18:54
CPW, that is nice,
but why NOBODY cares about that COTTON???
I think that some cotton poem is needed.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-11-16 18:58
Cotton makes lint
Cotton is made by sending it through a cotton Gin.
So next time use a Gin fizz
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-16 18:59
Obviously, nobody wants to speak about cotton with me,
I am going to cotton bed to have cotton dreams about cotton ladies...
Good cotton!
CPW too late I am already in cotton.
Post Edited (2004-11-16 19:00)
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Author: Henry
Date: 2004-11-16 19:23
A swab that gets stuck is a mess,
a nuisance and pain in the a$%s.
But this one is multiabsorbent,
which may be an asset, though dormant,
requiring more tests, I confess.
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Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2004-11-16 19:59
(to be sung to the tune of an old American song)
Way down the bore with a swab of cotton
vent tubes there are not forgotten
pull away
stuck away
throw away
the Demand
So I wish I had a chamois
hooray
hooray
in chamois land I'll take my stand
and live and die with chamois
away
away
way down the bore with chamois
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Author: Henry
Date: 2004-11-16 20:10
My newest swab works like a charm.
It will (guaranteed!) do no harm.
Its secret is C nanotubes, oh so fine,
all self-assembled into something like twine.
Doesn't nanotech make you feel warm?
P.S. I forgot to mention that I have not applied for a patent, so the idea is open to all! One of my modest ways of giving back to society.
Henry
Post Edited (2004-11-16 20:42)
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-11-16 21:27
I'm luvin' it
(for Oz and NoZ...that is a hamburger merchant advertizement jingle)
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2004-11-16 22:01
*DISCLAIMER: I AM A WHOLESALER FOR DEMAND AND ORGINIANAL SWAB COMPANY PRODUCTS*
The Demand silk swab is like any other product out there. Some people will like them and others will go a different direction. Dan Parker is the owner of the the Orginal Swab Company and has extensive background as a repair technician, proprietor of a music business, and maker of custom guitars and trumpets. All I can say is that I use a Demand Swab personally and have never had a problem with it getting stuck on my register vent. I swab from bell to barrel, but don't know if that really matters or not.
jbutler
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Author: 3dogmom
Date: 2004-11-16 22:52
You folks are so talented. May I submit...
there once was a swab made of cotton
once pulled through, the poor thing had gotten
so stuck on the vent the player just went
and told us the dumb thing was rotten.
I know, I know... I'm new at this, give me time. I loved John Scorgie's.
Sue
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2004-11-16 22:53
" I swab from bell to barrel, but don't know if that really matters or not."
It's the only official way to swab the Clarinet
.
;)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2004-11-16 23:30
For the record - During this product test I swabbed (as always) from barrel to bell...GBK
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-11-16 23:49
Sue,
Very fine work! I will be expecting great things from you in future threads. GBK is still the master.
HRL
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2004-11-17 00:46
I swab barrel to bell with one swab, then get the "sloppy seconds" with the bell to barrel approach using another....and I use the Doctorsproducts black legend swab. I airdry them over the music stand....they dry in a jiffy.
I once tried one of the Demand swabs that generated the furor noted in this thread.
I was cautious since it seemed a bit big.....and it was. Fortunately retrieval was ok.
I beamed it over to my scheduling clerk, who uses a wider bore clarinet, and she has had "no tribble at all."
So....R13 or Recital bores best beware. Conns and other wider bore horns....OK.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2004-11-17 12:25
Are yu saying that tribbles make good swabs?
Why not just beam over the moisture?
edited as to smiley
Against the windmills of my mind
The jousting pole splinters
Post Edited (2004-11-17 12:26)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2004-11-17 12:33
The Gigliotti swab has on it's package the "never jam" swab or something like that.
It has a pull string on both ends so that it can be extracted more easily but the swab itself is HUGE.
The size alone would probably get it stuck!
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Author: Stepan
Date: 2004-11-17 13:35
I am impressed by that proffesional moist-catchers you use.
Let me tell you about mine.
It is a hankerchief thing,
has 19 holes in it,
one very long split,
hangs on fishermans string.
It is dark blue,
and smells cool.
Rotting wood...
Oh that´s good...
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