Clarinet Bell Cracks

pete

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
Administrator
So, I got an SML Clarinet for my wife from one of our forum members and I'm going to test it out when I get some reeds, but it has two problems: two cracks in the bell.

Picturage.

The cracks go all the way through. They don't let in light when the bell is attached to the lower joint, so they're not "bad" cracks.

Now, I haven't played the horn, yet, and my wife isn't in town ATM, so I don't know if this affects the intonation on the "bell" notes. However:

a) No, I don't want to repair it, myself. I'm good at fixing computers, not instruments.
b) Anyone have an idea of how much this might cost to fix?
c) Anyone have any idea of how much this might affect intonation?

I might also try the bell from my wife's Signet 100 and see if it fits if there is an intonation problem. However, she left the horn at school and wion't be back for awhile ....
 
Prices differ nation-wide with the mid-west having some of the lowest prices I've seen. You don't even wanna spend west coast dollars unless you just have to have a certain repair tech.

I'd see if Steve Sklar would pin it for you. He does excellent work and doesn't charge an arm and a leg.
 
Considering that the bell isnt' a structurally crucial part (it doesn't have to support anything but its own weight) the repair is pretty simple (I wouldn't even go and pin it), fill with glue/grenadilla powder mix, sand and polish.

Except for the low E and the mid-staff Bnat, the bell's role re tuning isn't all that extremely important.
 
get a new bell? I'm going to my repair tech tomorrow and I know he has a bajillion of them in his shop. I can see if any are from an SML and ship it out to you if that's an option, may actually be cheaper
 
I say pin and glue it - there's more than a little stress placed on the bell joint when it is assembled, and you want to guard against a reoccurrence.

I'd not have too much hope of finding a match, even in a large bell collection.
 
Don't bother. The cost of the repair is probably more than the value of the clarinet. Ship it back to me.
I didn't do a good enough job describing the cracks, and I don't want the reputation of being a "bad seller".
I apologize for any inconvenience I have caused.
 
There is more and more evidence that pinning is unecessary for most cracks, and good super glue without pins is very strong to hold a crack. This is especially for a bell. It is critical that the glue is inside the entire crack, all the way to the bottom, and that the crack is not oily so the glue can actually glue to it. There are several repairers who said they had no failures for this repair for over a decade. I haven't tried it for that long, but in several years I had none fail too.

It is ok to add wood dust but only after the super glue filled the entire crack to the top (or almsot to the top). If wood dust is put before, the glue will soak into it and might not make a solid connection with the sides of the crack, and probably won't get to the bottom of the crack, making it much weaker. If the crack is very thin, wood dust won't even get inside it. It is possible to slightly enlarge just the top of the crack to add wood dust, this is mainly for cosmetics since glue alone looks different from the body, while glue with wood dust can be made to look almost completely invisible (or sometimes actually invisible, though there is an arguement for not making a crack invisible so the owner and/or future owners know about it and where it is).

Pinning can be a good method, but it is an old method that was possible long before glues were as good as they are now, and it's not that long that such good glues exist. Some people are simply used to pinning so they don't realize that this has changed. An example is Yamaha, in their repair manual, they used to recommend pinning and gluing. In their newer repair manul they don't recommend pinning anymore.

Two main advantages for gluing without pinning are a lot less risky repair, and a lot less expensive. As far the crack re-opening, I have seen a crack re-open after an excellent pinning job. So when there are pins and glue, it is entirely possible that it is actually the glue that is doing most of the work.

Cost is hard to say over the internet without seeing it. I imagine this won't take more than an hour, probably less. It could take as little as 30 minutes I think, maybe even less. It also depends on how good you want the repair to blend with the wood, etc. (i.e. to blend with wood dust would probably take more time).

After repair, intonation will probably not be affected at all, or only so little that is insignificant. Before the repair, if the cracks go all the way through the wood, the low E and middle B can be affected a little. Low F and staff C maybe also but so little probably close to impossible to tell, and that is if they are affected at all. But this is something you should check by playing, not by theory.

Nitai
 
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Most bells are cracks from the clarinet being dropped and not environmental issues such as with the barrels and upper joints.

I've also seen them splintered when someone has sat on the clarinet .. the the bell being the higher piont and thus putting lateral pressure on the lower tenon area - and also mid joint splintering.

Today's superglues just aren't the ones you see in Wal-Mart. There are a variety of superglues some of which will burn you by touching them (and since they are a glue ... they don't come off easily). I used to use a high strength liquid superglue to put crushed stone onto turned wood bowl inlays. This stuff smoked when you squeezed it on.
 
The bell cracks are TIGHT. There is no play in the tenon or bell rings. I played the clarinet for over an hour before packing it up, and it played very well with no audible problems.

Like I said earlier, If they are an issue just send it back. No money has changed hands, and the only expence to either party will be only shipping.
 
I wouldn't worry about a crack in the bell. As stated above, it can easily (and reasonably cheap) be fixed; probably without a trace.
 
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