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Re: Question About Needle Springs

Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-02-14 08:50

Springs are a complex subject, but in short (sort of)...

At first I was going to suggest the post might be loose and rotated a bit (loose posts often rotate from the spring and the screw/rod being a little loose), but this is the type that is mounted and aligned with the tab and screw. I guess it's still possible that screw is slight loose, making the post a little loose, so rotating... but just a fraction (by as much as the tab in its cutout would allow, which is usually very little if at all).

What makes you say it is "scant" and in what direction? Are the "wings" for the guide of the hinge rod significantly not aligned with the hinge (angle of the photo makes it unclear)? If that's the case, it doesn't necessarily matter, but it might have been brazed crooked to the tab.

If you mean the spring is not aligned with the clarinet body, that could be from the above (if it is aligned with the guide post itself) or it might have been drilled at a wrong angle (happens occasionally).

Both of these things could be considered a "manufacturing defect"... however bending the spring to the correct tension is the regular method to do it so if that is the "problem"... it's not a problem.

Re enlarging the spring, it is possible and in rare cases a good idea. Very generally, the thicker a needle spring is compared with its length (or maybe better to say, the shorter a spring is compared it with thickness), the more the difference in tension is felt through its movement. Meaning installing a larger spring might help in giving more strength but could have a poor feel. This depends on the specifics of the spring thickness, length, key, etc.

It's not that rare to bend springs to their maximum tension possible to work well so if you can add more tension try it first. The spring would resort to its maximum if it passes its elastic limit. Try to attach the spring to the cradle when mounting the key. Using a spring hook (or equivalent) if fine is almost all cases, but since it has to climb over the cradle, it makes it move a bit more back, weakening it slightly (if you want to have its maximum tension possible).

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