Drew
(371 points)
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I have pasted below an extract from an interview with Jim Laslie, bassoon repairman extraordinaire, in which he tells how they do string joints.
RL: What about on the string joints? Do you
take some off if the joint is too tight and then
put some paraffin over it?
JL: Well, that is about all you can do. First of
all, never use cork grease on the string unless
you start out with it in the beginning. The way
we do strings and the way the Fox Company
does, we wrap it on using a slow-turning lathe.
Of course it needs to be glued down—you don’t
just put it on there or the whole ball of string
will just slide around, so we coat the tenon with
a thin coat of wet shellac and then wind the
string on. When we get to where we think it is
about right, we impregnate it with paraffin, and
keep trying it and fitting it until it conforms to
the socket. When it cools, you have a nice
fitting joint but, if you put cork grease on it, it
will unwind, get gummy, and it will be one hell
of a mess. As far as if it is too tight because of
atmospheric conditions, remember this, it is no
tragedy if a tenon doesn’t go all of the way
together. If a slight crack is left, that will not
hurt it. In fact, sometimes, it increases the
resonance of the bassoon, so don’t get excited
if the bass joint doesn’t go in the boot joint and
leaves an eighth of an inch crack. We generally
put cork on the tenor joint because a lot of
water comes down there and, other than that, I
don’t know what to say
I note he didn't say how they finished off the wrapping, but if you leave the last loop really large and slip the end through it a couple or three times, then pull tight, you have a "knotted finish" and you can then cut the string off. Now, I've never done a string wrapping but it sounds not too technical.
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