Author: wanabe
Date: 2014-04-19 11:13
If your keys are plated, remember that when you remove the tarnish, you remove part of the plating as well. That black that was talked about in the previous posts isn't just the tarnish. It's also the plating from the keys. Solid german silver keys are much stronger and heavier than plated brass, but they will stay bright nearly forever and there is no plating to wear through. Silver plating wears through pretty quickly compared to nickle, but really looks great. To my eye nickle is too shiney. Silver has a mellower tone to it. It is just more elegant. Despite what you may be told, the cost of replating, at about $15.00 per key and up is about the same for silver as it is for nickle or even gold. It's just that people think that they can get away with charging an arm and a leg for gold plating because of the ''prestige'' of gold plating. I don't recommend Chrome. It can sometimes peel, especially if it is steel plated with nickle. Steel should be brass or copper plated before it is nickle plated to give the nickle something to bond to. Gold is too soft, over priced, over rated and tacky as all get out.
I use glass cooktop cleaner, just about any brand will do and one bottle is a lifetime supply, to clean up the ''vintage'' clarinets that I pick up in pawn shops and elsewhere for restoration and resale. I take the keys off, wash them with dishwashing soap, polish them up with glass cooktop cleaner on a felt wheel and as long as they are already off the clarinet, I repad them, replace the corks and voila! The bodies get either the dishwashing detergent treatment for the plastic or hard rubber horns and then an alcohol bath to remove any water that gets trapped in the nooks, cranies, posts and springs. Wooden bodies get a severe rubdown with sweet almond oil and 0000 steel wool.
That's about all there is to a restoration, for me at least. If they have cracks, breaks, chips or other damage, I just leave them where I found them. There are just too many solid instruments out there that can be brought back to life with a good cleanin' and a dustin' for me to mess with repairs.
Just one note though. If you decide to try this yourself, the first thing that you will need is a large box of band aids and a big bottle of antiseptic. Those needle springs are lethal!
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The Clarinet BBoard
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