Help: how to clean my bari?
es
I just got a new bari and I have no idea how to clean it afeter having
played... :(
I have a swab with a not so long string and even if it would be long, I
have no clue how to make it go through the swirl starting from the horn...
Is there a trick or should I proceed like for a Tenor and be patient?
Thanx!
m...@rco.rosano
nylon string, and one of those soft yellow cloths from an auto parts
store.
With a little extra maneuvering it goes in the bell, through the body,
around the bend and out the neck receiver.
(Just make sure the cloth is small enough to fit through the end so it
doesn't get stuck.)
Good luck,
Marco
Lance Hoopes
of getting a swab caught in the crook would outweigh any benefit from
swabbing. I've been a repairman for 60 years and never saw a swab
stuck in a bari. That HAS to mean nobody tried swabbing one. a cloth
small enough to make it around all the bends at the top would 0 good
at the bottom.
My advice - and how I do mine - clean the mouthpipe and mouthpiece
well. clean in the top of the crook where you can reach with a cloth
on your finger. Keep a towel with you and empty the water key often
while playing. Occasinally reach your arm in the bell and use a rag
to clean where you can reach.
Lance in Az
MusicMedic
I agree many people don't bother swabbing baris. I know I don't swab
mine. Having taken many bari crooks apart, I'm always surprised that
they are not really nasty inside.
Curt Altarac
www.MusicMedic.com
Robert
at Discount Reed Company, that is made for the purpose. It is a long
flexible silk tube that is inserted from the neck end and will go in
about 2 feet, around the bend.
The advantage of swabbing is that the palm keys are most affected by
moisture so swabbing lengthens their life.
Grumps
> Hi!
>
> I just got a new bari and I have no idea how to clean it afeter having
> played...
I've got an old Conn bari that doesn't even have a spit valve in the
top loop, so I've got to tilt the horn and drain it when I'm putting
it away. I'll also use one of those "neck saver" swabs (that folks
keep in the neck) and poke it in and out of the top loop to pick up
excess moisture.
henry d
I own and use the Hodge swab these days. I seems to work quite well
at getting around the curly-que with little difficulty. It impresses
me as something that will wear out pretty fast though.
Prior to the Hodge swab I used a wire cored clarinet swab. I bent it
so that it was curved and slid some tubing over the wire handle
between the five or so inches of swab and the end of the handle. It
was quite easy to work up into the sax to about the high F tonehole
and seemed to do a good job. The Hodge swab was easier to insert but
has less of a cleaning effect from rubbing in the sides of the
interior. The clarinet swab has lasted me for about twenty five years
and when and if the Hodge swab takes a dive I'll go back to using it
for another twenty five. It's also pretty darned cheap.
You've got to take the observations of Curt the Music Medic into
account though. He's seen many many crooks on the inside over the
years and if he figures that there isn't an issue here, beyond dumping
the neck after playing, this may well be a solution in search of an
issue.
jbtsax
The old joke comes to mind. "What is the difference between a bari
sax and a garbage truck"? One is a large crud encrusted metal object,
and the other is a sanitation vehicle. :)
Yes it is important to keep the "crook", "pig's tail", "paper clip"
clean inside.
John
es
You are refelecting what I read on the Net concerning this quetion: some
do other don't!
Those who do have all different "tricks".
My conclusion: maybe it wouldn't damage my bari if I NEVER cleaned it (I
don't play 6 hours a day every day) but it's like the moisture in my
bathroom: they won't destroy my tube but I hate this "feeling dirty"
atmosphere.
So I will clean it!
I'll look at your advice and do try and error.
bye!
Robert
> I always swab my bari. There is a swab made by Nancy Hodge, available
> at Discount Reed Company, that is made for the purpose. It is a long
> flexible silk tube that is inserted from the neck end and will go in
> about 2 feet, around the bend.
>
> The advantage of swabbing is that the palm keys are most affected by
> moisture so swabbing lengthens their life.
P.S. The name is Ann Hodge, see picture of product at
http://www.annhodge.com/store2/ , search for swab.
Discount Reed Company has best prices. http://www.discountreed.com/
Agreed, no swabbing of bari sax is necessary below palm keys. But I
find that after draining water thru spit valve quite a lot remains. The
swab is drenched on first insertion; inserting the other end afterwards
picks up a goodly amount of water also. I think that the water
remaining, if not swabbed, will eventually reach the palm key pads when
the sax is placed inside the case and then carried around.
henry d
> Robert wrote:
> > I always swab my bari. There is a swab made by Nancy Hodge, available
> > at Discount Reed Company, that is made for the purpose. It is a long
> > flexible silk tube that is inserted from the neck end and will go in
> > about 2 feet, around the bend.
>
> > The advantage of swabbing is that the palm keys are most affected by
> > moisture so swabbing lengthens their life.
>
>
> Discount Reed Company has best prices. http://www.discountreed.com/
>
> Agreed, no swabbing of bari sax is necessary below palm keys. But I
> find that after draining water thru spit valve quite a lot remains. The
> swab is drenched on first insertion; inserting the other end afterwards
> picks up a goodly amount of water also. I think that the water
> remaining, if not swabbed, will eventually reach the palm key pads when
> the sax is placed inside the case and then carried around.
While the amount of water left after dumping probably won't be enough
to slosh (if it could slosh it would have poured out) I'd think that
the bigger issue would be that the interior of the loop gets virtually
no ventilation (palm keys are all sprung shut and the opening for neck
insertion is usually blocked off inside most cases to boot) and will
remain nice and moist for days or weeks. That's bound to encourage
growth of various sorts even without the witches brew of potato chip
particulates drenched with pop that spews through the neck into the
loop with less enlightened players. As the growth, fast or slow
depending on the player, increases so does it's capacity for doing an
even better job retaining moisture- further enhancing the cycle of
crud build up.
Swab the darned thing.
Robert
>
> I own and use the Hodge swab these days. I seems to work quite well
> at getting around the curly-que with little difficulty. It impresses
> me as something that will wear out pretty fast though.
You are correct, the Hodge swab does not last as long as swabs for
smaller saxes (and Hodge's silk swabs for smaller saxes last much longer
than her bari swab). This bari swab lasts for me about 1.5 years, and I
play about 4 -- 6 times a week counting rehearsals.
Its failure is caused by the flexible coiled wire inside the tube
punching thru the end of the swab. After a time the force of pushing the
swab around the bend in the bari sax neck coil causes the coil to
puncture the end of the swab so that the coil is exposed. This coil
could thereafter cause scratches inside the sax. Some mending is
possible by stretching the silk over the coil and gluing or stitching
the silk to cover the coil.
A manufacturing improvement for her swab would be that the two ends of
the coil be covered by a flexible circular plastic shield to distribute
the force over a wider area of silk at each end of the tubular swab.
>
> You've got to take the observations of Curt the Music Medic into
> account though. He's seen many many crooks on the inside over the
> years and if he figures that there isn't an issue here, beyond dumping
> the neck after playing, this may well be a solution in search of an
> issue.
Curt didn't address the effect of moisture on the palm key pads which
are normally closed. The same amount of moisture is not seen on the
lower pads that are normally open, or those closed pads far away from
the neck. Most moisture on a bari is concentrated in the crooked part
and does not run down to the bell bow (past a lot of pads) as on other
saxes. My experience is that the palm key pads fail more frequently
than other pads on a bari sax.