cork pads

I was talking to my band teacher if I could borrow a school clarinet over the summer (since i plan to major in music) and since I already play sax, I figured that it would be fun to learn a new instrument. However, two days later a cork on the part that connects the cone shaped object and the...

I was looking around doing some research on certain instruments and came across a page that said if a clarinet hasn't got a lot of tone, the worst thing you can do is put cork pads on the top joint. I haven't heard that one before. Any views on this?