On Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:49:54 +0100, dc <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have a couple of lazy tongues, that go back so slowly that the note won't
>repeat. The cause of this laziness is not the bristle. So, what can I do to
>improve the repetition? If I take the jack out and move the tongue back and
>forth for a minute or so, it behaves better, but only for a very short
>time. The tongue can't be removed easily from the jack, since the pin
>doesn't go all the way through.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Dennis

Grab the tongue with two fingers (holding the jack in the other hand), press
it (vertically with regard to the axle) gently but firmly down, as if
'hanging' on the axle, and move it sideways back and forth; you can even
rock it slightly while doing so; now press it up in the same fashion and
move it sideways again. Repeat this a few times.
Now turn the jack plectum-side up, hold it in one hand and tap it gently on
your other hand to let the tongue flip back a few times in order to loosen
up. Check if the bristle is still where it belongs, check if this helped,
put back into the instrument. Helps me in 9 out of 10 cases.
In really obnoxious cases I remove the bristle and turn and twist the tongue
all manner of ways, then I put in a new bristle.
Sometimes a chip of wood, or other debris got caught between jack and tongue
- always worth checking.
The pins usually don't go all the way through, no. They should go out using
very narrow pliers between jack and tongue (depending on how much space
there is, of course) but sometimes they don't.

Tilman

www.skowroneck.de