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Care of instruments
Your Renaissance windcap instrument should give you many years of service. It is quite robust, but there are some basic precautions to take to make sure that it stays in good condition.
  • Avoid leaving your instrument in direct sunlight.
  • Avoid extremes of heat or an excessively damp atmosphere.
  • Allow the instrument to dry out after playing it.
  • From time to time smear a little cork grease into the cork of the windcap and resonator joints. In the same way, lubricate the cork around the base of the reed staple (the brass tube).

The reed is the most delicate part of the instrument, although the plastic reeds from the Renaissance Workshop are very stable and need little maintenance. Apart from greasing the cork around the staple, there are only two regular jobs.
  • After playing for some time, the reed can become clogged with moisture. The reed should be removed carefully and reverse blown to clear it.
  • It the reed blades become dirty they can be carefully cleaned with methylated spirit.

Note:
When removing, replacing or working on the reed, handle it only by the staple and never by the reed blades. Care is needed particularly when extracting the reed since it can be very easy to apply pressure accidentally to the blades. If this happens, the reed may be forced out of adjustment and will need to be retuned.
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