We offer several levels of service for your clarinet, including everything from playing condition repairs to complete overhauls.
Have an alto, bass, or contra clarinet? We have years of experience repairing “big” clarinets, too!
Adjustment
Every clarinet service includes a full adjustment of the mechanism. A finely-adjusted clarinet ensures that key combinations work as they should.
All of the alternate, bridge, and trill fingerings are checked and adjusted as needed, by someone who actually plays the clarinet.
During this part of the service, pads are adjusted to seal the tone holes, key rings are aligned to the player’s preference, and key heights are set to an even, appropriate clearance.
Cleaning
Cleaning the clarinet is cosmetically attractive but is also important to prevent the buildup of dirt, tarnish, and gunk. We use an environmentally safe but effective solution to clean your clarinet.
During this procedure, tarnish is removed and all accessible parts are lightly polished.
Pads
When we replace pads, we use pads of the correct size and thickness to ensure proper function. On playing condition jobs, new pads (if needed) are selected to complement the existing setup.
When repadding or overhauling your clarinet, we prefer to install a mix of cork and leather pads but do offer other options. Before replacing pads, we make sure that the tone holes are level for accurate pad seating.
Body Work
Tenons themselves sometimes wear, crack, or chip. Our shop can perform all kinds of tenon, tone hole, and crack repairs. Clarinets that are broken in half can usually be repaired.
For larger clarinets, we have specialized dent equipment to remove dents from any part of your neck or bell.
We also have a full range of soldering equipment, so we can repair any keys that need silver soldering, or install a custom extension onto an existing key.
Key Fitting
As part of an overhaul, all loose play is removed. Without this, adjustments are not as accurate, and common symptoms of poor key fitting include sluggish action, noisy (metallic) action, and buzzing or other vibration during playing.
Each key is swedged tightly around its rod. Adjacent keys are lengthened and squared off to remove side-to-side play. Posts are aligned and worn post holes are shrunk as needed. Key barrels and rods are straightened and polished to ensure smooth, free action.
With our attention to detail and precise workmanship, your clarinet will play effortlessly throughout the full range and have the quietest, most responsive action possible.
Contact us today to get started!