3 Clarinet Adjustments 

Nicest thing anyone has ever said. Thanks. Let me know what questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.

You are welcome!

Very glad to hear that! I'm glad this was useful to you. Enjoy the new clarinet.

@@repairmasterclass 🙂

Well, check out repairmasterclass.com for information on the courses we offer and I'll show you every step of the process to overhauling your own instrument. That said, your local store may be right... the costs of the needed repairs may exceed the value of the instrument and your money may be better spent on a new instrument rather than fixing what you have... I don't know without seeing it myself but I tell clients all the time to spend money on a new one rather than with me. Just sayin. Now, because your instrument needs some work, it would be a great one to do during class!

Ooo, great question! This needs to be it's own video; I'll let you know when that's out. In the mean time: When tone is not full, or fuzzy, it typically means the key is not opening far enough. In most cases, a little cork can be sanded from the key where the key makes contact with the body of the clarinet. REMEMBER, a little sanding goes a LONG way here so go slow. I cut a thin strip of 220 grit sand paper so I can slide it under the key cork and, while lightly pressing the key into the sand paper (the grit side toward the cork and NOT the body), pull the sand paper strip out to remove a bit of cork. Test the playability of the note and repeat as necessary. The advanced version of this is to bend the key but let's start slow and easy and just remove a bit of cork.

@@repairmasterclass somewhat related question. I recently bought an Eb clarinet off of ebay (didnt expect it to be good) and the low B natural alternate fingering with the thin key is very airy and fuzzy. The thin key you press to play it is also very low, so the key isn't going that high. Do you have any tips for fixing/heightening that key?

@@plzstandby1022 This one is more tricky and seems like you have keys that are very soft (easy to bend) and perhaps that were not made at the correct angles to begin with. You may need to bend keys here and this is VERY sketchy to do because soft keys break easily. It makes me VERY nervous to bend soft keys - to the point of typically advising the client to buy a better instrument. If I could see the issue, I'd be able to offer more and possibly better advise.

You can get anything to play no matter how old! That bracket like thing is a flat spring and is what should create the tension to keep the A key closed. What you need to do is, with the A key off the instrument, use a pair of flat or round nose pliers and increase the bend in that flat spring by turning it away from the key. You're only looking for a few millimeters of repositioning of the end (non-screw side) of the spring so this movement can be small, nothing serious here. Once done, put it back on the instrument and test for tension. If you need a bit more, remove it again and go a bit further; if it's too tight and difficult to work, you can do the opposite movement of the spring and reduce the tension (if you happen to overdo it). Be sure to check the A pad for even tension all the way around the pad - see my video on feeler gauges for more info here. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions.

Sorry for my delay. If you place a block (ruler works, just something flat-ish and wider than the tone hole) under the pad and then press down ever so slightly on the rings you can bend them down. You'll only have to press on the first one and they'll all move up or down. Going back up is much more difficult so move slow and easy!

All true. I spend a LOT of time discussing how to bend keys, how to change, measure for and adjust corks, how to set regulations with cork and even various materials I think work better than natural cork (in most cases) all in my Repair Masterclass courses. See the web site for more information if you'd like. As for this video, yeah, 3 quick tips to get the job done before a concert starts. What tips do you have for clarinet players?

Well I don't have 44 years in the trade, only 27, but I do have confidence in people to not screw things up. Sorry you disagree. If you feel like offering a better explanation on how to fix these issues, I'm wide open to it.

You have to realize who has access to your videos. Professional musicians, teachers, college students, high school students, junior high students and dads with a pair of pliers. All of which should not be doing repairs. I made a lot of money over my career fixing the mistakes of all of the above. Let’s keep our trade a true trade instead of teaching armatures to screw up!@@repairmasterclass

I appreciate your feedback and hope you understand the intent of the video: helping a player get back on stage quickly. If you'd like to dive really deep into instrument repair and learn every aspect of the process, including step-by-step procedures of the overhaul process and how to really use "a shovel", then check out the Clarinet Masterclass course found on our site.