 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-04-21 07:56
Hello,
I find the commercially available thumb rest cushions not very comfortable.
My teacher gave me a piece of silicone tubing that feels OK, however that tubing badly discolored the silver- plated thumb rest.
I wonder if I should use the "old-school" piece of cork on the thumb rest, but, at the same time, I don't want to be scraping the cork off if it does not work...the contact cement is a PITA to remove.
Thank you for your input.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-04-21 08:52
I've tried it many times, a lot of clarinets I see have cork there, and I don't like it at all. Since you don't like the commercial ones my opinion about the cork is probably meaningless to you, since those rubbery cushions are by the most comfortable to me. I've tried a lot of other materials for this and still prefer those.
Contact glue is usually easy to remove with alcohol or lighter fluid.
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Author: Gerwin
Date: 2023-04-21 09:53
My old clarinet never had anything on the thumbrest. My new one came with cork on it, and I never noticed any difference. I think that the layer of cork is too thin and too hard to spread the pressure.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2023-04-21 10:05
Been using surgical tubing for decades. Lasts for a long, long time. Is comfortable to me. Has never discolored anything of mine.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: kdk
Date: 2023-04-21 11:14
m1964 wrote:
> My teacher gave me a piece of silicone tubing that feels OK,
> however that tubing badly discolored the silver- plated thumb
> rest.
I've always preferred the surgical tubing Fuzzy mentions. I'm not sure why the discoloration makes a difference - the rubber covers it anyway.
Karl
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2023-04-21 16:50
My thumb test is not adjustable. I use a thin layer of cork with the edges tapered to almost nothing.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2023-04-21 22:40
I cork the thumbrests on clarinets and oboes as standard with a thin layer of cross grain cork (around 0.5mm or less on clarinets and most oboes and 2mm thick on some oboes), although most players tend to use a thumbrest cushion and the cork adds more grip to the inside of them.
Should anyone prefer a much thicker cork than usual (over 2mm thick), then I round or contour the leading edge of it so it won't dig into the thumb.
If the rubber cushion keeps on wanting to fall off, then I wire them on with brass reed wire.
Whatever the composition of most thumbrest cushions is (I assume it's usually silicone rubber), it tends to react with the copper content of brass and nickel silver to leave a deep green greasy sludge on the thumbrests.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2023-04-21 22:45
Chris, interesting reaction to silicone. I had used medical tubing in the past and had not run into this with either the medical tubing or the ProTec.
……………Paul Aviles
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Author: loremipsum
Date: 2023-04-22 08:54
When my tech overhauled my clarinet he put a piece of 2mm cork on the thumb rest. The cork is a mix of natural cork shreds and soft rubber, which makes it very comfortable. I prefer it to a thumb rest cushion.
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Author: Hugues Fardao
Date: 2023-04-22 14:59
Cork on both Bflat and Alto. Love it : sturdy and non slippery and I feel comfortable. I never been found of silicone or rubber protections for thumb rest.
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Author: crazyclari
Date: 2023-04-25 13:57
Maybe the problem is the weight of the horn. Have you tried a sling etc?
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Author: Hugues Fardao
Date: 2023-04-25 14:12
On the alto clarinet I play with a shoulder strap BG S02M that I use as a neck strap, more comfortable than other neck straps I tried.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-05-05 23:10
Thanks to everyone who replied to me!
I have tried the Protec cushion and did not like it. Protec cushion felt very oversized (I bought the "standard size" one) and too soft. It dispersed the pressure just fine but just was not comfortable.
BG rubber one felt better, but was a little too large and was slightly lose on the TR.
I installed a 1/16" cork and beveled the edges (as per Mojo's advice) and that seems to work -for me.
Left a silicone tubing on the A and will see what works better in the long run.
Again, thanks to every one for trying to help.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-05-06 20:12
Just adding a few nitpicky details to my previous post.
I also didn't like the Protec cushion that much. I like the BG and another one that I forget (maybe Yamaha or Vandoren... really not sure what it was).
I'm also not crazy about how the large BG one is sometimes a bit loose even on the larger thumb rests it's made for, but still feels fine to me. You could glue something to the thumb rest and then it probably wouldn't be loose.
I use a small one that is tight on my non-adjustable thumb rest (slightly larger than Buffet so a bit tighter).
This might help someone or disappear into the web void... so FWIW...
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-05-07 02:30
Thanks- now that I have the cork there, the BG cushion would not be lose if I choose to use it.
For now, I am trying to determine if the silicone tubing is better than the cork.
It's really not so big of a deal, anyway, my playing does not get better (or worse) using different cushions.
I wish it could get better just from using a better cushion
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