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Deterioration of Grenadilla* Instruments Featured Products
Written by Larry R. Naylor
Organic Based Cork Grease
Table of Contents
Deterioration of Grenadilla* Instruments
Part 1: Does Your Instrument Have a Problem?
Part 2: Can We Communicate Clearly About the Problem?
Part 3: Analyzing the Problem $3.29
Part 4: Immersion Processing of Deteriorated Grenadilla Instruments Add to Cart
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Naylor’s Organic Bore Oil
Prologue
Formula (1 Oz. Bottle)
“Grenadilla Wood, Environmental Effects, and Organic Bore Oil” has been on my website
since 2001. However, in response to comments from some readers who found that
article a bit complex and involved, I offer the following revision. I hope you will find this
revision more palatable. To access my 2001 article, please click here.
$8.49
In this revision, I have divided my previous, single article, “Grenadilla Wood … ” into two
sections: Parts 1 — 3, a discussion on wood deterioration, and Part 4, immersion rebuild Add to Cart
using organic oils. I offer this revision to you as a dialogue I would otherwise have with
you were you to visit me in my Denver shop!
As both a fellow woodwind musician and a woodwind repairman, I believe it is important
to understand why our favorite instruments behave or do not behave well. With Resources
knowledge and understanding, we then are better able to maintain — if not enhance —
its and our respective performance. Some Useful External
Links
For the sake of discussion, I shall refer to woodwind instruments with “wooden bores” as
“grenadilla instruments” regardless of whether the wood is in fact grenadilla, or cocobola,
or rosewood, or some other exotic hardwood. As shown in Part 2, I shall be very
deliberate regarding the term, “central heartwood.”
If you find this revision more readable and if it helps you better understand the subject
matter, I would appreciate your feedback. If you find the article unsatisfying, I would
welcome that feedback too. With my best regards for your continued joy in playing and
enjoying instrumental music, I am …
Larry R. Naylor
NAPBIRT Master Clinician
Copyright, Larry R. Naylor, September 2009
Part 1: Does Your Instrument Have a Problem?
Eventually, many players confront a scary reality: their favorite grenadilla instruments
physically deteriorate. What can we do to avoid or even reverse deterioration? In this
two-article series, I would like to reply. I draw upon three decades of empirical data and
repair experience.
In this article, I hope to clarify the deterioration phenomenon. Do realize that a
deteriorated instrument is usually reversible as long as no one has re-bored it. Moreover,
with careful, regular maintenance, one can even avoid the possible pitfalls of
deteriorating wood altogether!
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“Played-Out; Blown-Out”: The Instrument Has Lost Its Voice

Many players refer to deteriorated, wooden instruments as being “played out” or “blown-
out”; the instrument has “lost its voice”. This condition is particularly common in
instruments that have been played extensively, but have received little preventive
maintenance, or have not been played regularly and now suffer the effects of non-use.
This type of deterioration does not occur in plastic or metal instruments. Let us try to
describe what “blown or “played” out” means, first subjectively, then more objectively.

Discussing sound using words is problematic; I call this the “chocolate problem.” It is
impossible to tell people what chocolate tastes like until they taste it for themselves! A
blown-out condition may include many symptoms such as poor tuning pitch and uneven
scale. By the latter, I mean that some notes pop out, while others are subdued. The
instrument’s scale and registers may become out-of-tune. On clarinets, for example, the
chalumeau may become sharp relative to the other registers.

Another symptom is lack of resonance. Do realize that sizable leaks, poor reeds, poor
mouthpieces and poor embouchures can also lessen resonance. Presuming an instrument
is in very good mechanical condition, one has a good reed, etc., but it is lifeless and lacks
richness, then it lacks resonance. The instrument has a “dead sound”; timbre is
consistently thin and lifeless. Moreover, the sound is not rich and ringing.

Poor response usually links to a lack of resonance. When an instrument hesitates in

playing interval leaps, we can refer to it as being unresponsive [i.e., dimensional changes
affecting its basic acoustics have occurred]. Frequently, I meet with first-time clients who
have accommodated to an unresponsive instrument; the musician must over-power its
shortcomings. Eventually, the player will reach accommodation limits when performance
problems just become overwhelming.

Typically, a deteriorating instrument degrades gradually. Over time, one begins to note
small faults. Then, slowly, the faults enlarge and new faults appear. By this stage,
intonation problems are now quite exaggerated. Clarinetists, Oboists, and English
Hornists may note that their instruments have developed a progressive and apparently
“terminal flatness”. Moreover, the instrument has become increasingly stuffy — not just
on the traditionally bad notes — but eventually on whole ranges and across whole
registers. For Clarinetists, the throat tones have become annoyingly and chronically
stuffy. Worst of all, for the traveling musician, going from a humid to a dry climate, or
vice versa, results in the instrument just not playing well at all.

Again, the condition has become chronic. All grenadilla instruments undergo a
predictable change during warm-up; the wood moves ever so slightly. The tone holes
change their shape ever so slightly. The pads expand ever so slightly. The keys tighten
up ever so slightly. That is perfectly normal. This bears repeating: the slight changes are
normal.

Deterioration: Start of the Diagnosis

Modern instrument manufacturers must account for warm-up. Moreover, manufacturers

also design instruments to play in a “standardized, good” environment, that is, sea level,
72 degrees Fahrenheit, 40% humidity. We should address the issue of possible
deterioration only after warm-up.

Presuming a deliberate and appropriate warm-up, the player should try reasonable
performer tests:

◦ Do these undesirable conditions persist when a colleague or teacher plays your

instrument?
◦ Do these undesirable conditions persist despite changing reeds, mouthpiece, and/or
ligature?
◦ Do these undesirable conditions persist even after your repairman properly adjusts
the instrument?
◦ Presuming there has been no damage to the instrument or changes to embouchure,
there are two major factors left to evaluate: pads and the wood. While instinct might
lead one to think “pads”, replacing pads alone may have little effect on a
deteriorating instrument with diminished resonance or “dead” sound. Objective
inspection is now in order.

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Objective Symptoms of Deteriorated Wood

Deterioration is a measurable, negative, acoustic condition. Deterioration has very

definite visual and mechanical symptoms. Those visual and mechanical symptoms, in
turn, manifest themselves in acoustic degradation. Let us examine and inspect a “played
out” instrument both visually and mechanically, and work towards objectively confirming
the diagnosis: deteriorated wood.

Visual symptom questions to ask, include:

◦ Do sockets and tenons, especially on upper joints, appear bleached?

◦ Are socket and tenon end grains a significantly different color from the color of the
body?
◦ Do the end grains appear significantly dryer than the body of the joint in question?
◦ Presuming the external surfaces have NOT been painted black, is the instrument
discolored? That is, are one or more patches a significantly different tint than the
rest of the instrument?
◦ Are there cracks through post or tone holes?
◦ Looking down the bore, is there evidence of raised grain in the bore?
◦ Is one joint warped? That is, sighting down the long axis of the joint, is it bowed?
[This condition is most noticeable in upper joints of Oboes and English Horns.]

Mechanical symptom questions to ask, include:

◦ Are socket and bell rings loose?

◦ Is there a loose center joint? [Shrunken or undersized tenon shoulders and oversized
sockets allow lateral movement at the center joint]
◦ Do keys bind?
◦ Do keys become too loose and noisy?
◦ For Oboes and English Horns: do the fine adjustments change very frequently?

Diagnosis Confirmed

Your instrument is not undergoing short-term dimensional changes associated with

“warming up.” The instrument has a chronic problem, deterioration. Through visual and
mechanical inspection, we have identified definite and defined symptoms. The wood has
indeed deteriorated.

We now face a seemingly difficult problem. In the wild, trees adapt to their environment,
be it savannah or rain forest. But, how can we adapt chopped down, cut into billets,
lathed, milled and machined wooden instruments to our playing environments? Put more
simply: how can we insure a relative constancy of “response” of our instrument to our
playing environment?

Part 2: Can We Communicate Clearly About the

Problem?
Now that we have objectively validated the problem, and that problem involves wood
deterioration, we need common vocabulary or jargon to discuss it further. Towards that
end, let us review some rudiments from botany.

Wood: Botany Review

Plants, like all livings things, consist of cells. While there are different kinds of plant cells,
the physiology of cells is essentially the same. Cell walls surround and border each cell.
In wood, cell walls consist primarily of long fibers called cellulose. In a matter of
speaking, cellulose is the “skin” of a plant cell. Cells join, wall to wall — and there are
different kinds of joined cells — each with a specific botanical function. Fluids can pass
among cells just under the bark by a process called osmosis.

We can conceptualize wood as a bundle of soda straws, where each straw represents
end-to-end cells of cellulose. When young, these cells, called xylem, are actively involved
with the respiration and growth of the tree; they carry water and minerals from the roots
to the rest of the tree, and their structural function is only secondary. As xylem ages, it
begins to lose its transport role. Cell walls become thick and fill with lignin and
hemicelluloses. This process is akin to gluing straws together, thus producing a structure

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of greater strength. We call the product of this lignin deposition, “wood.” Moreover, at
this stage, the only function “wood” serves is providing structural strength to the tree.

There are also specialized cells called “phloem,” and still others, “cambium,” which
produce new xylem and bark during a growing season. The more rapid production of
xylem during the spring generates new cells that are less dense than cells produced near
the end of the growing season. This accounts for, as seen in a cross section of a log,
what we label as annual growth rings. Tropical hardwoods contain much more lignin
within cell walls than woods from temperate climates.

Cutting Patterns and Billets

Over time, we have learned that wood from certain trees is better suited for woodwinds.
Although museums are filled with woodwinds made from all manner of wood, nowadays
woodwind bodies are cut predominantly from three tropical [equatorial] trees: cocobolo,
rosewood, and grenadilla (the latter, mpingo, a.k.a. African blackwood, or from the
French, ebony).

After crosscutting a log, it is ripped into billets of various dimensions and lengths. For
soprano instruments, “body” billets measure roughly 2 X 2 inches, by the needed length.
After quality-oriented sorting, the billets are aged or seasoned. The two-fold purpose of
seasoning is to dehydrate the billets, and to allow internal stresses to balance. At some
point in the seasoning process, manufacturers may bore a rough, undersized hole
through the center of the billets, then let them age further. Aging time varies per
manufacturer. It is quite common to season billets ten or more years. Contrarily, if one
were to insufficiently season the wood, the billets would be unstable in many climates.
Such less than ideally seasoned billets are very prone to cracking.

Figure 2.1 below represents a cross section of an irregular log ripped into nine billets; the
heavy vertical and horizontal lines represent basic saw cuts in the log; the figures are not
drawn to scale. In this example, getting good, usable wood for soprano billets means this
log would have to be greater than six inches in diameter. This cutting pattern produces
two different grain patterns of wood; one billet of central heartwood and up to eight
billets of regular heartwood, regardless of the log’s diameter.

Figure 2.2 depicts a cross-sectioned, quartered log. This log would have to be greater
than four inches in diameter to produce soprano billets. Moreover, this pattern would not
yield a central heartwood billet.

Figures 2.3 and 2.4 represent cross sections of the two types of cutting patterns. Note
that the annular grain in the central heartwood example form concentric rings while the
grain in the other billets runs “corner” to diagonal “corner.” Typically, manufacturers use
central, heartwood billets when making Oboes, and English Horns, while Figure 2.4 type
wood typically becomes Clarinets.

Most grenadilla billets are not central heartwood. Yet, wood used to manufacture world-
class instruments represents the best available wood in the marketplace. The two types
of billets, as in Figures 2.3 and 2.4, are simply different. They have different physical
characteristics and they react differently to the environment, saliva, and age.

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Now that we have a more common vocabulary, let us apply our renewed knowledge of
wood to the problem of deteriorated grenadilla instruments.

Part 3: Analyzing the Problem

The manufacturer of premium grenadilla instruments must make many design decisions
to produce quality instruments. Fundamental decisions include the cutting patterns and
duration of aging of billets. Each manufacturer has developed his own method of drying
and seasoning wood, but they all have the same end in mind: to produce stable billets
that are as stable as possible. Let us remember that ideal, standardized environment: 72
degrees Fahrenheit etc. However, most of us play in far different environments.

In much of the country, temperature and relative humidity swing wildly from summer to
winter and even from day to day. Some areas present less than ideal conditions most of
the year. For example, the Rocky Mountain region is usually very dry, while the
Southeast is usually very humid. These differing environments often affect grenadilla
instruments in negative ways, including, as a worst case, the deterioration of the wood.

There is a definite cause and effect relationship underlying blown out instruments. The
major causal factors include: manufacturing processes [especially seasoning], drying
caused by local playing environment, player care & maintenance [specifically, the lack
thereof], and chemistry of a player’s saliva. In turn, these effects, in order of most to
least dramatic as well as most to least frequent include: cracking, binding [keys],
chipping and bleached wood.

The author points out that these causes and effects are very inter-related. Thus, the
subdivision below is somewhat artificial and done just for the sake of dialogue.

Stress: The Manufacturing Process & Cracking

The most obvious, also the most visible and most dramatic, example of stress relief is
cracking. Cracking indicates brittle, stressed wood often caused, regretfully, by a lack of
good maintenance. Let us try to understand how and why a wooden bore cracks.

All instruments are under generalized stress: the greater the stress, the less elastic is the
wood. Wood is most stable when it is still alive in a tree. After harvesting, the log is cut
into billets, and drying begins. After wood looses free moisture (i.e., that contained
within the tubes or cellulose), the moisture content is said to be at its fiber saturation
point. This moisture interacts with the wood fibers’ cellulose walls, but it does not fill the
voids within the fibers. Typically, wood at its fiber saturation point has approximately 25-
-30% moisture. A further loss of moisture will cause the wood fibers to change shape as
the wood shrinks. This shrinkage increases internal stress within the wood. The more
moisture the wood loses, the greater the internal stress — if you will, the more the wood
“moves.”

The relief of internal stress in wood — during and after manufacture — is a major factor
accounting for how and why wood “moves.” For example, one can join and plane a hard
maple board so that it is very straight and even in all directions. As a single piece, the
board is under stress from shrinking during seasoning, and it is only straight because the
stresses are currently in equilibrium. If one then rips, for example, one-quarter inch thick
slats from this board, each slat — as well as the original board — will usually warp and
twist from the relief of internal stresses that are now out of equilibrium.

As billets dry, their fibers collapse or shrink into themselves. During drying, central
heartwood billets will shrink regularly towards centers, while Figure 2.4 heartwood will
shrink mostly in one specific direction. This drying process is only the beginning of long-
term dimensional changes in the billet.

Careful seasoning maximizes billet stability. However, each billet will “remember” its own
internal stress from the aging process. Aging is an attempt to reduce internal stresses;
but those stresses in fact reach equilibrium rather than disappear altogether. Like that
maple board cut into slats, when machining a billet into an instrument, internal stresses
may re-orient within the wood, causing it to change its shape until the piece reaches a
new equilibrium. For example, binding keys on a new instrument indicates that the wood
is continuing to stress-relieve itself as it adapts to its current, local environment. The
wood is changing dimensionally even if no one is playing the instrument.

The presence of burls and uneven grain contributes to localized stress, as will a too tight
key post or register insert. A burl near a tone hole may even cause that tone hole to

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change shape more than other tone holes in the same piece of wood. Uneven grain,
burls, overly tight posts and register inserts represent possible origins for future cracks.

Cracks occur when stresses within the wood overwhelm the wood’s elasticity at any
given point. We may liken this to cracks in the foundation of a house as it settles.
Moreover, any rapid change in moisture content and temperature will further stress the
wood and increase its chances of cracking. Let us now specifically analyze the
phenomenon of cracking.

Cause and Effect: Stress & Cracking

Based on my repair experience, there are four types of cracks, listed in descending order
of occurrence: [1] playing a cold instrument; [2] rapid cooling of the outer surface of an
otherwise warm instrument; [3] local stresses compounded by rapid temperature and
moisture changes; and [4] extreme saliva damage.

The most common kind of cracking occurs when one plays a cold instrument. The
sudden rush of hot, moisture-saturated air causes the wood at the bore to expand more
rapidly than the wood on the outside of the instrument. If this expansion generates
pressure great enough to overcome the elasticity of the wood, the wood will crack. In
central heartwood, cracks will follow a path of least resistance through postholes, tone
holes, register inserts, and areas of highly localized stress. In Figure 2.4 type heartwood,
cracks will occur at the edge of the grain, also following a path of least resistance.

The second most frequent cracking occurs when a warm instrument quickly cools on its
outside surfaces. The wood on the outside of the instrument simply contracts faster than
the inside. For example, this can occur when one opens an outside door or window near
a performance area. Cracking may also occur when one puts a very warm instrument in
a non-insulated case and goes outdoors on a cold day.

The third most frequent cracking involves a series of parallel cracks in one or more areas
of the body. They are usually smaller than cracks caused by rapid temperature and
moisture changes, and result from highly localized stress. Examples of this class of
cracking occur in instruments that have been in continual use for many years — but have
had little or inadequate maintenance.

Let us defer discussion of the fourth cause of cracking, saliva damage, until later in this
article.

Cause and Effect: Stress & Binding Keys

Instrument dimensions will change once shipped outside of their manufacturing

environments. The wood will move. This occurs very rapidly in dry environments as we
have in the metro Denver area. Keys will typically bind, and joint and bell rings become
loose. This contraction or expansion results from the interaction between the wood’s
changing moisture content and internal stress.

Let us use premium Oboes to demonstrate how keys bind as a function of wood
movement. Premium Oboes have keys fitted very precisely to hinges, pivot screws and
key posts. Furthermore, hinge screws are usually fitted snugly in their respective
postholes. Excess key movement is negligible; in fact, if keys were much tighter, they
would not move.

Figure 3.1 represents a cross section of a premium Oboe body. Note the central,
heartwood grain.

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When the wood shrinks, its outside diameter gets smaller. Posts located perpendicular to
the long axis will lean or move closer together as in the figure above. The associated key
will no longer fit between the posts, and thus, binds. If shrinkage is great enough, the
screw holes in the posts will no longer align. If the hinge screw is a snug fit in the post
hole, and if the screw threads lock into the inner threaded post, the post misalignment
often causes the screw to curve or flex down slightly, thus causing the key hinge tube to
also bind on the warped hinge screw. Both causes for key binding typically occur on the
D# and C# keys on an Oboe’s lower joint. If a key still binds after fitting the hinge tube
between the posts, one knows that binding caused by post misalignment is occurring
when, if you back the screw out slightly, the key then moves freely. Because springs are
very light, these keys can tolerate little friction.

Cause and Effect: Brittle Wood and Chipping

In the case of brittle wood, the wood is not moving or cannot move easily. Brittle wood
usually leads to chipping of tenons, sockets, tone holes, and cracks.

Wood’s lower moisture content, caused by dry climate for example, usually contributes to
the brittleness of wood and, therefore, lowering its elasticity. The incidence of
dimensional movement of the wood is also most noticeable during dry seasons in
otherwise humid areas [e.g. winter in northern Texas, for example,]. When wood
becomes more brittle, loose socket rings, and chipped tone holes increase.

Humid climates are much more instrument-friendly. However, extreme humidity can
generate additional problems outside of the scope of this article. Dimensional changes
and brittle wood are usually less severe in humid climates; and changes in dimensions
are often so slight that they are not measurable.

Unless one damages the instrument, chipping is a manifestation of deteriorated wood.

Its inelasticity relative to stress on the wood literally causes pieces to break off.

Cause and Effect: Saliva Damage and Stress

The fourth type of cracking occurs rarely, and almost exclusively in regular heartwood.
This condition results from extreme saliva damage or in dry areas where the swing of
moisture content in the wood is extreme. Saliva damage typically is a compounding
problem. That is, saliva damage usually accentuates already existent problems in the
instrument’s bore.

As woodwind players, we routinely deal with saliva. Excluding physical damage, saliva is
the major reason why reeds die. Left to their own in a relatively temperate environment,
reeds will last for years However, subject that reed to acidic saliva or a foreign material
like soda pop, and those substances interact chemically with cane fibers and the reed
deteriorates.

In the case of the bores of grenadilla instruments, very acidic saliva usually causes grain
in the bore to rise. Raised grain is especially common in dry areas, but it can be found in
instruments in any climate. If strong saliva continues to erode the bore, the raised grain
will eventually form deep “V” shaped recesses. Once the wood becomes thin enough
from the bottom of the recess to the outside of the body, any slight stress can cause that
“valley” to crack right through to the surface of the instrument.

Strong saliva will also bleach wood. Such bleaching is most noticeable, for example, on
Clarinets, on the mouthpiece first, then the Barrel and top tenon of the upper joint. The
bleaching may range in color from gray to white, denoting the depletion of natural oils
and mineral deposits in the wood. As with brittle wood, saliva-affected wood is very
inelastic. Not surprisingly, with wood in this condition, even the relatively gentle changes
resulting from warming up may be enough to crack it!

Cause and Effect: Recap

Deteriorated, blown out instruments have lost resonance, compromised scale, and
chronic intonation problems. The chronic degradation of pitch indicates that bore and
tone hole dimensions have changed.

We have examined four major effects of deterioration: cracking, binding, brittleness, and
saliva damage. In all cases, the movement of the wood [i.e. its lack of elasticity] is the
cause. Stated differently, stresses on and in the wood have damaged it, or made it
difficult to maintain within manufacturer-fabricated tolerances.

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Must we relegate the deteriorated instrument to the back of the closet or discard it? For
those interested in restoring deteriorated grenadilla instruments, may I invite you to read
Part 4: Immersion Restoration of Grenadilla and Rosewood Instruments?

Part 4: Immersion Processing of Deteriorated

Grenadilla Instruments

Rewinding the Video

If the manufacturer uses the best wood available, seasons it appropriately, and
manufactures it accurately, the instrument will be in its best condition when it initially
leaves the factory. Perhaps, we cannot keep instruments in this pristine condition, but,
with reasonable care and maintenance, we should expect that instrument to last the
player’s lifetime and more. In this context, reasonable care means:

◦ Upon purchase, we should “set-up” the instrument for your climate and your playing
environment
◦ We should religiously adhere to and perform appropriate, sensible care and
maintenance routines
◦ Our repairman should render appropriate periodic, preventive maintenance
◦ We should develop good playing habits including preventing foreign materials from
entering the bore, mitigating saliva impact, playing only after warm-up, etc.

Still, even with reasonable care the wood of your instrument may eventually deteriorate
due to the myriad factors of constant usage. So, you have a deteriorating or already
deteriorated instrument. It is blown out. We are now left with the question: what should
one do? Can it be restored?

Restoration: Goals & Objectives

While playing an instrument is a craft and art, the acoustics of why your instrument plays
well involves physics and chemistry. Doing nothing to a deteriorated instrument will only
hasten its further deterioration. Repadding the instrument would be illogical, irrelevant
and a waste of money. The problem is the wood. We need to solve the problem with
deteriorated wood!

Restoring Wood: How to Approach the Problem

Restoration would have to bear some connection to how the wood was seasoned in the
first place. When manufacturers season the wood, they set their “ideal” moisture
content. And in so doing, they try to promote equilibrium in internal stress.

Saturating the deteriorated wood in water is not the answer. Applying a petroleum
distillate like mineral oil is not the answer. Painting or staining the wood is not the
answer. One needs to impact the wood at the molecular level to realign and re-hydrate
the fibers to gain greater resiliency. The solution? Carefully staged immersion in organic
oils.

Immersion Rebuild: the Process

Immersion processing can repair damaged wood in about eight weeks. Immersion
processing stress-relieves wood, while generating greater fiber resilience. It begins the
healing of rough, deteriorated bore, and can correct loose tenon to socket fit. After
immersion processing in my shop, there is a three to four week break-in period in your
environment where the instrument becomes stable in dimension and moisture balance.
This stability allows the player to travel to different climate zones without suffering the
typical performance problems that result from dimensional change. Typically, clients
state the scales of their instruments “lock in” during this post-immersion, break-in period.
In addition, most players report a noticeable increase in resonance — as well as a better
scale and evenness, register to register.

Immersion processing involves preparing the wood, first by removing petroleum products
from the instrument body, as well as any key oil and petroleum based cork grease. We
then immerse the instrument in a tank containing a specific blend of organic oils at a
controlled temperature. Depending on the condition of the wood, actual immersion lasts
five to eight days. After immersion, we drip-dry the instrument and monitor the wood for

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three weeks. Once the wood is ready, we then mechanically rebuild the instrument:
cleaning & refitting all keys, and installing new pads and tenon corks. Total time in shop:
about five weeks.

Immersion Rebuild: Evaluation Post Facto

I usually enjoy long-term relationships with my clients, thus allowing me to receive

feedback from them over the years. I also work on their instruments annually and have
the opportunity to monitor instrument durability. I have found that if my clients take
good care of their instruments and correctly perform periodic hand oiling, cracking is rare
to non-existent. Their instruments are typically quite stable, whether in their normal
environment or moving between environments.

Must we relegate that deteriorated instrument to the back of the closet or discard it? I
hope I have shown you that there is a viable alternative: the immersion rebuild.

Interested in restoring that deteriorated grenadilla instrument? To determine if your

instrument is a good candidate for an immersion rebuild, I invite you to contact me.

Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you found your visit useful and informative.

By Larry R. Naylor

Ed. Tait L. Solberg & N.E. Gilbert

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http://www.naylors-woodwind-repair.com/Publications/deterioration-of-grenadilla-instrume... 2/9/2011