[Alan Brinton]

There is no gasket where the pad meets when closed, just a slight inset that you can see at the bottom of the last photo. But the pad does not sit in the inset; it covers the entire opening. The pad material is relatively hard, not soft and felt-like as with some other melodicas. It’s more like gasket material, maybe a silicone (or rubber) composite. It has the same color as the air chamber gasket material and it similar in texture, though a little bit softer and more rubbery. The pad is very snugly attached to its base. Despite the appearance in the 4th photo, there are not strands of fiber on or coming off these pads.