Hello,

I'm new to the forum but have a problem. My 11-year-old son (who is starting the bassoon) seems to have gotten the long joint and bell stuck together. He didn't realize you should put cork grease on before connecting them.

No amount of tugging or twisting seems to be able to get them apart. We even tried heating the metal band between them with a curling iron in hopes of expanding it and loosening the connection. That didn't work either.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

BassoonFather

I had this problem with a bassoon that was lent to me by the university. The best advice I can give is grab it by the bell and the long joint, and rock the bell back and forth (Just a bit, not enough so it will break the wood, you know common sense). If it moves a little bit, keep doing it, but if it doesn't, don't try to do anything drastic, just take it to a repair shop. If you do get it off, or even if you have to get it repaired, get Vaseline (I know, but its actually better than cork grease), and lubricate the joint every time, so that it absorbs into the cork better. Also, if you take it to a repair shop, they can remove some of the cork on the tenon, so it will be easier to put together and take apart. Hope this helps!

<Added>

Oh, also, don't try to heat up the band. The band won't have much to do with the constriction between the two joints, but the cork that holds them together. Just thought I'd mention that. The rocking may sound a bit odd, but do it in one direction back and forth (don't rock it one direction then another), and it should move a bit. Twisting isn't the greatest on tight corks.

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried flexing the two stuck sections the way I think you were suggestion, but I still wasn't able to loosen them. Any other thoughts? We may need to bring it to a repair shop.

BassoonFather

I'd recommend taking it to a repair shop. Its better than causing damage to the bassoon, and also you could probably get more advice incase it ever happens again from the repair technicians, and get the cork reduced a bit. xD

I'd go along with the advice already given - take it to a competent repairer preferably one who specialises in bassoons. It is all too easy to do major damage to the tenons of bassoons where the thickness of wood is is small compared to the size of the instrument. The cost of renewing a broken tenon is high - here in UK you expect to pay about 150 pounds. If the joint is tight with grease on it (I do not like vaseline myself) it will not ease by using more grease but the cork or thread needs to be reduced.

Good luck

Ian

I find it's also in how you apply cork grease.

Use just a tiny lil bit at the leading edge of the cork that you insert.
The insertion will then spread it over the cork.

I find that over time when I don't use the bassoon the corks seem to get drier and it helps to put a tiny amount of grease on before assembly then, but otherwise I only put some on when it gets hard to remove the joints.