Comfort keys: A bad idea?

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ganchan
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Comfort keys: A bad idea?

Post by ganchan »

I was thinking about getting a Yamaha tenor and adding a pair of Susato comfort keys, since i know I'll have trouble with the finger stretch on that instrument. Then I read this statement on the the Antieuq Sound Workshop site:

"Well-intentioned but simplistic efforts by dealers or repairmen to improve the playability of a tenor recorder by installing additional keys, typically for the ring finger of the left hand and/or the index finger of the right hand, are never wholly successful. Such open-standing keys shade the tone holes they are intended to close and invariably have an adverse effect on tone quality, response, and intonation. An instrument must be substantially redesigned if it is to work properly with supplementary keywork."

Always true? Sometimes? Never? Any owners of similarly modified instruments have personal experiences to share?
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