Valentino Pads Today
Today, known for their uniformity, durability and precision, Valentino pads are installed by manufacturers such as Buffet, Leblanc, Selmer, and Yamaha, both domestically and abroad. Valentino Repair Kits have become a fixture of band rooms from grade schools to colleges and universities worldwide.

Where We've Been
A fifteen-year-old boy sat in the back room of a small-town music store. The room was dim. A fan droned in the corner, circulating the stuffy air. Several men were concentrating on the instruments before them. One tested a trombone slide he had just straightened, while another worked on the bridge of a student's violin. The boy was engrossed in his own work - installing new pads on a clarinet.

He heated molten shellac in the flame of a Bunsen burner until it was liquid. Then he positioned the key cup over the flame to heat while, taking the pad in his left hand, he carefully began spreading the melted shellac evenly over its back. He was nearly ready to put the pad into the cup as he glanced down to make sure the cup was heating properly.

Just then, one of the other men jumped and looked up from his work as the boy let out a yelp."Ayee!" The man ran over to see what had happened. They all laughed when they realized what it was: the boy had burned his index finger and thumb when he accidentally touched the liquid shellac. It was nothing unusual. It happened all the time. The boy didn't laugh, however. At first it hurt too much. Later, though, when he had forgotten about the pain, another idea occurred to him, one of the simplest and most often overlooked ideas in the world - "There's got to be a better way."

The year was 1943, and the boy was Pete Valentino.