In fact, she even demonstrated this with a piccolo at her bench - which did not have a cork because a new cork was going to be put on the tenon. She said the cork is actually a fail safe so that if, over time, the metal-to-metal connection does not seal properly, the cork is a backup. In fact, when she is working on piccolos, she makes sure there is a proper metal-to-metal fit and then checks the cork fit. She told us that when it comes to the seal of a piccolo headjoint, the metal fit is the most important. However, as we got more into the conversation with Rachel, she mentioned a couple of other points about the seal on a piccolo headjoint.

The problem in that situation turned out to be a headjoint that wasn't sealing properly ( click here to read that post).

Definitely made sense to us as we recalled another previous post where the application of cork grease helped to solve a mysterious problem with a piccolo. The grease will help moisten up the cork and create a better seal. The answer is actually quite simple - cork grease! Rachel told us that you should put cork grease on the body tenon cork. But, if you don't hear a pop and feel that there might be a leak, what can you do in a quick fix? We checked with Powell's Repair Technician, Rachel Baker, to find out! In a previous post, we learned that you can check if your piccolo headjoint is sealing by doing the 'pop test' ( follow this link to the read the previous post).

Powell piccolo headjoint