Has everyone elses sets here in SoCal gone completely wonky?

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 8:31 pm

Freaking Santa Ana conditions!

Usually makes the sets a bit squirrely, but this is ridiculous, my chanter reed is making noises usually only heard by felines under foot...

elbogo · Post by **elbogo** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:41 pm

Really, I thought you guys out there had the perfecting piping weather!?

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:07 am

Michael-its 66F/34% humidity upstairs in wondeful diamond bar, CA- serves you right to put your new regs on. Its slightly windy out here and there is a wind warning presently. Just put my set down for the nite after getting directions for the Seattle to do.

send pictures of the new toys

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 10:18 am

Are you using a humidifier in your music room Michael?

PD.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 10:32 am

Hi Patrick,

Yes, in the music room at home, but they wouldn't let me bring it to the pub...

Interestingly, the dry conditions wonked my best chanter reed to the point where it developed an edge leak. Last night I reset the bridle and rubbed a little beeswax along the edge of the reed at the top of the wrap and things are pretty much back to normal. I was getting pretty concerned with how things were going with the tionol coming up...

Now I'm trying to decide whether to take the 3/4 set and the C chanter or just a practice set and both chanters... Hate dealing with the airlines, you know all about this...

M

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 10:40 am

When the the S.A. winds are blowing you are better off keeping a good hygrometer around. Don't jeopardise your reed if it's too dry at the pub or wherever, just play the whistle.

Making fixes like this while the conditions are dry doesn't help. You could end up messing up the reed for good. Just humidify whre you'll be playing. If it's at the pub you'll be wasting your time though, it's too big of a space, unless the mist is blowing directly on your bellows arm. If they won't let you use it, don't play. If it was up to me I'd not play.

Patrick.

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 11:24 am

I saw Ivan Goff wrap a wet cloth in a plastic bag (to protect the bellows) and then fix this under his arm on the bellows so that only a wet edge was exposed near the air inlet. This seemed to help, as his was one of the few sets that survived the dryness at the Chris Langan weekend. Can't hurt to try it to see if it works for you.

djm

glands · Post by **glands** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 11:34 am

I'll verify that Gaby's reeds have not gone wonky. Of course, that's 'cause we're in Eire. You fellas in So Cal are in for a really fine treat when Gaby returns with his spectacular new Wooff Cn southpaw chanter.

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:11 pm

Mine are going grand. Mind you, I haven't taken them out of the house for weeks and I'm putting about 4 gallons of water a day through my humidifier to keep my 900 sq. ft. house above 40% relative humidity.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 7:10 pm

Yep, my best chanter reed reed is wonked. Edge crack. Completely lost its mind at the tionol.

Played great for 4 years. Cr*p.

Going to try a super-glue wipe, otherwise, send it back to Kirk for staple reuse.

Royce · Post by **Royce** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:08 pm

eskin wrote:Yep, my best chanter reed reed is wonked. Edge crack. Completely lost its mind at the tionol.

Played great for 4 years. Cr*p.

Going to try a super-glue wipe, otherwise, send it back to Kirk for staple reuse.

You'd be smart to disassemble it--hoping that's your plan. One small slip or errant capillary action and you've destroyed it. Put a drop of the thin stuff at the base of the crack and let it pull up the span. Then hold it shut if you need to so that it lines up perfectly edge-to edge, and wipe the outside with a finger. The second you wipe off the bulk of the glue it should set when the edges contact a few seconds, so you won't get much of a second chance.

You can also hold the crack closed and just bead it along the outside, but the problem there is this glue really conducts itself along a narrow span and in that case make a stronger-than-cane bond. It doesn't however soak into the cane much at all, if at all, so if you're hoping to take a closed crack and let the glue draw in from a lengthwise surface bead, you're probably not going to be as successful. Just open it even slightly and the glue will draw inside, then you can close it and wipe one or both sides and have a bond that is essentially as good an uncracked reed.

Royce

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:14 pm

"Although I actually recommended in my book the use of Sobo glue for this purpose, I'm afraid I have to agree with Lorenzo. If you have a first or later edition of the Piper's Despair (no matter how much you paid for it) you should make a note in the margins to the effect that the author has since seen the error of his ways, and has sworn to glue no more forever."

"Get it right with the mechanical fit of the blades, staple and binding, and you won't need such fixes as glue and teflon tape." -DMQuinn

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... lue#196397

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 6:16 pm

This puts me into a strange position, as far as figuring out who's quoting whom is concerned. Anyway...

Lorenzo wrote:"Although I actually recommended in my book the use of Sobo glue for this purpose, I'm afraid I have to agree with Lorenzo. If you have a first or later edition of the Piper's Despair (no matter how much you paid for it) you should make a note in the margins to the effect that the author has since seen the error of his ways, and has sworn to glue no more forever."

"Get it right with the mechanical fit of the blades, staple and binding, and you won't need such fixes as glue and teflon tape." -DMQuinn

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... lue#196397

This was in the context of using Sobo glue or something like it to staunch the edges of an otherwise normal reed, not one of repairing a split blade. If the cane is split and your only option is to repair it, then what I said before about glue, mechanical fixes and so on doesn't apply. A completely different kettle of fish.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 7:18 pm

Whoops, I thought maybe Royce was referring to the "edge crack" that Eskin was talking about...couldn't tell for sure. I knew he'd be interested in what you'd said anyway. I agree there are times that surface cracks can be repaired with glue, and with no effect to the action of the reed, and w/o much effect to the tone, although, depending on the glue and how it is applied, it may affect the tone some.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Tue Feb 24, 2004 11:34 am

Good news, disassembling the reed, applying some superglue and edge pressure at the fissure point, then retying the blades on the staple appear to have fixed the problem!

Now to see if the fix holds for the long term. At least it gives me a working spare.

Cheers and thanks for all the suggestions!

Michael

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Has everyone elses sets here in SoCal gone completely wonky?

Has everyone elses sets here in SoCal gone completely wonky?

Santa anas