Loose pad

TMcG1959

I bought a second hand Buffet Bb B12 clarinet from a lady for £125. My clarinet teacher, who is also a trained repair technician it has had little use. She said it was stored away for years as her daughter didn't stick with it.

Yesterday I noticed that one of the larger pads dropped out if its enclosure. I guess the glue has dried out. What is the best adhesive, if any that I can use to secure this again.
 
It might be better to have a tech go over the instrument and help you determine what should be done to make the clarinet a reliable instrument again. Any time a hobbyist talks about repairing their own instruments I shudder. But hey, maybe that's just me.
 
I'm not a tech, but I do know that pads are not "glued" in. Most techs use shellac and "float" the pad into place. Any type of semi-permanent glue creates a mess the next time the pad needs to be replaced.

Having said that, you may be able to effect a temporary repair. Place the pad in the key cup and try to line it up so that the tone hole impressions are aligned with the tone hole. Hold or clamp the key closed and apply heat very carefully for a few seconds to the key cup. A standard butane cigarette lighter can be used. That may cause the shellac to melt a bit and hold the pad in place for a while. I would only do this in an emergency (on a gig), and then get the horn to my tech ASAP.
 
That's good. There is more to this sort of repair than simply finding an appropriate adhesive. It takes a certain set of skills and other tools to get it to seal properly.
 
Heating the keycup with a cigarette lighter to reattach a clarinet pad that has come loose has been the "standard" emergency repair for band directors and music teachers for years. Doing so does not guarantee a pad is well seated. Checking with a feeler gauge and "floating" a pad is required to do a good job. A novice can probably get away with this technique on one of the four large keycups on the bottom joint. Holding the keycup at a slight angle above the flame is the technique I use. It is especially difficult to do this on the smaller keycups on the upper joint without burning the pad. This why a lot of techs use an electric "pad cup heater" which sends electric current between two prongs pressed against the key for the smaller pads. Some techs also use a hot air gun that directs a small stream of hot air to heat the key.
 
I've used the standard "pad cement" (comes in a small white & red tube) that you buy at music stores. Have used it for years with no problems. It "dries" right away, so you can resume playing. Of course you can put a match to the key any re-melt the existing glue on there, bit that's a bit messy and a bit more "work".
Years ago I was playing the Artie Shaw Clar.Concerto when a pad fell out. I used the match thing. Fortunately, it was a college jazz band reunion and much of the crowd was well lubricated, so it was quite funny.
 
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