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Re: Low notes and F (forked and regular) will not play...r/o please

Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-26 16:43

But be careful when adjusting the F vent screw - if it's over adjusted it will stop RH 2 (middle finger) plate closing, and if it's out of adjustment your low notes won't speak from E downwards.

To check the F vent, close RH 3 to free the F vent, and then close RH 2 to close both the middle fingerplate and the F vent. Get the thinnest cigarette papers and cut one into a long triangle with the narrowest point measuring 1-2mm wide, and use this tip as a feeler gauge to check for drag when the pads are LIGHTLY closed against the tonehole - you should feel an equal amount of drag when pulling the paper out from between the closed pad and the tonehole when testing the entire circumference of the pad/tonehole.

And also use the feeler gauge to test the regulation - while holding down RH 3, place the cigarette paper between the F vent pad and it's tonehole and close RH 2, if you feel drag on the paper when you pull it, this means the F vent IS closing, but then you also need to test the RH 2 pad as well to see if it has the same amount of drag. If it's much lighter than the F vent, you have to back off the screw on the F vent to equalise the pressure. Also test the small pad in between RH 1 and 2 as well as this could also be out of adjustment.

It's much easier for me to demonstrate than to write about! If in doubt, go to an oboe specialist as they will know what they're looking for and how to deal with it. I've seen too many oboes badly adjusted by general repairers as they don't understand the nature of the beast! They may be alrignt with clarinets as there's hardly any adjustments on them that will knock something else out owing to the simplicity of the clarinet mechanism (Boehm system), but on oboes any poorly adjusted screws (both over and under adjusted) can cause nothing but trouble as the keywork is complex in comparison.

This site has a diagram and suggestions on how to check and adjust an oboe (copy and paste it - I can't get the link to work with the <....> things):

www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/1946/

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

Post Edited (2006-10-26 16:51)

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