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Question: Clarinet for son - Fixing cork!? Music place says bring it in!?
My 5th grader decides that he would like to be in the band and wants to play the clarinet!. I had a good friend online who had a LeBlanc Vito 7214 clarinet that she sold to me for him!.
On the lower section the cork needs to be replaced!. I read about this and it seems to not take any kind of engineering degree to replace it!.!.!.I mean, they even have synthetic pre-cut and self-adhesive cork that I can buy!.
We have two local music stores!. I call the first one and the guys asks what I am looking for to make sure they would have it in stock (Yeah, sure) and I tell him that I need cork and reeds (#2) and he says that they have people that replace things like that!.
Of course I don't think that I am going to fall for that one!. I mean, I am not going to pay "god-only-knows-how-much" for a music place to take the old cork off and put new cork on!. Same thing for the pads!.!.!.although all the pads look good!. (I have to put it together and see if there are any leaks!.)
I am sure there are a bazillion people out there that play the clarinet and fox the pads and corks themselves!.!.!.!.right!?
(PS - Last week hubby and I put a new register vent in a room that didn't have one and put up our own drywall!.!.!.if we can do that I think we can do this!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
HI Mary,
I think you are getting some pretty good advice!. Woodwind repair is specifically for woodwind repair technicians!.!.!. and I might add, a repair tech spends in the neighborhood of $20,000 for his education and tools needed to fix instruments!.
You are right!.!.!.!.!. replacing the joint cork is not rocket science!.!.!. but there are specific grades of premium cork as well as the right glue to do it right!. also the cork has to be shaved and smoothed over!. If you don't do it right, the cork is going to strip away from the joint and you will just have to get the repair tech to do it right anyway!.
As far as the pads!.!.!.!.!.!. you don't EVEN know what you are getting into!. For one thing!.!.!. those little pads (the quality pads) cost more than $1!.00 a piece for the smallest one and increasing in price as the size goes up!. If you are thinking!.!.!. Oh, we can just buy the set, realize the set contains cheapy pads that are not designed to last!. AND should you mess up with one pad!.!.!.!. there you go, having to buy another set for one pad!. Don't think that replacing the pads is as easy as glue and go!.!.!.!.!. as once the pads are set into the key, they have to be leveled and repair techs use a special leak light to see where the pads are tilted and then use a special tool to level them!.
It just takes 1 tiny leak to prevent the whole clarinet from working properly!.!.!. But should you try this yourself!.!.!. don't expect 1 little leak!.!.!.!. expect a whole clarinet full of them!.
For some reason, I think you will not believe what we are telling you!.!.!. but you know the old saying!.!.!.!. We learn by our mistakes!. However, this type of mistake will be quite expensive for you to learn!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Call the music store again and when he states that they repair them, tell him you are not looking for a repair man, you are looking for a part and if he cannot provide the part you will have to take you business and money elsewhere for this and all future transactions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
RJS told you pretty straight the same thing i would say, only i would add that as a band director who does alot of repairs (to save budget for instruments etc!.) you really cant buy parts in increments of one!. I have to buy like 25 pads of one size at a time!. same thing with tenon cork (which is what you are looking for), you can't get just one-you usually have to buy a set of at least 5 even if they are the synthetic type!.
I trained as an apprentice in a shop while i was in college, and if you don't know what you are doing you WILL waste a lot of time and material for a rather simple looking repair!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
The guy at the music store was right!. For a small cost, you would be much wiser to have a professional check out the clarinet to make sure it is playable!. If the cork isn't replaced correctly, or the pads are leaking, you are settling your son up to fail because he is not going to want to continue to play an instrument that doesn't play right!. Then you will have wasted a lot more money! As for the reeds, yes you replace them yourselves!. The music instructor will teach your son how to do this!.
I don't mean to insult you, but doing this is nothing like doing house construction!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I play the saxophone and all woodwinds work pretty much the same!. Unless you have experience fixing instruments, I suggest not doing it yourself!. Any music shop should be able to tell you how much the repair is before doing it!. If you don't wanna get ripped off stay away from the chain stores such as SamAsh!. Find an independent store!. I've also found the ones the look more "down to earth" have the best prices!. If the store looks a disorganized, "uncorporate," and doesn't care that much about appearance thats where you wanna go!. I know that seems like a paradox but i've found it to be true!. Cork and pads need to be completely air tight!. If there's a leak your son will have to blow harder and won't sound as good as he could!. To check for leaks you have to put a light down the inside of instrument and hold all the pads down, if you see light you have a leak (this has to be done in a dark room)!. Simply aiming a flashlight down the instrument won't be enough!. It will show big leaks but not all of them!. Replacing the cork shouldn't be too expensive and although it is not a highly technical job you shouldn't try it yourself if you have little or no experience fixing instruments!.Www@QuestionHome@Com