Alto TearDown...

[LoveSickLouie]

Hi All...I am new to the sax and to forums in general but I have recently accomplished a goal I've had for 25 years and bought me a sax. It's a Selmer Bundy and for my mind great to start of with, I'm loving playing it, it's everything I've been looking forward to, but what I'd like, what I need is a bit of guidance about after practice, how far I need to go with cleaning and maintenance before putting her away 'til next time...any tips from those in the know would be appreciated...Enjoy!!

 

[kevgermany]

Get a pull through set and use them to dry the inside of the sax. Let the sax dry completely with the case open.

For the mouthpiece, do the same.

Occasionally put a little corkgrease on the cork.

A checkover/lube once a year is also a good thing to do.

 

[LoveSickLouie]

Thanks mate, good to know I've been on the right track, but will add in the case open time...any rule of thumb on reed care at the end of a blow?...

 

[trimmy]

There are rules for care of reeds but i don't adhere to them (shameful i know), no doubt you will get a lot of advice on reed care iv'e listened to it all, tried it and do my own thing now..... which is soak the reed when new(water or mouth), put it on my mouthpiece, play my sax leave it on the mouthpiece til my next blow. Suits me 😀

ps. welcome to the cafe

pps. if you do a search on the site there are tons of threads to get you confused

 

[LoveSickLouie]

I like it, having the reed saddled up seems like a good way to keep you coming back to the sax and blowing regularly...thanks for the tip, thanks for the welcome...

 

[trimmy]

I like it, having the reed saddled up seems like a good way to keep you coming back to the sax and blowing regularly...

My reasoning exactly

 

[kevgermany]

Reed - I take it off, wipe/dry it and stick it in a reed case. And use a different one each time (out of 4 I keep on the go.

 

[jbtsax]

I agree with Kev. I like to use the LaVoz reedguards to store reeds in between playing sessions. The reason is that the reedguard allows the reed to dry without letting the tip to go curvy. When you are ready to play again, you just take the reed out, moisten it in your mouth a few seconds and put it back into the reedguard. By the time the sax is assembled and the music put out, the reed has absorbed the correct amount of moisture, is perfectly flat on the end, and is ready to put on the mouthpiece and play.

For cleaning the sax, I prefer the H.N. White Padsaver (shove it). It does a thorough job of removing the moisture from the walls of the sax. The moisture is then wicked to the center of the padsaver so that it does not remain in contact with the pads. The end of the padsaver substitutes for the end plug of the sax, so you never "forget" to clean your saxophone. This brand of padsaver does not lose fibers that get in the key work. Unfortunately there other brands that have given this style of padsaver a bad name.

I also like to wipe out the neck (crook) with a clarinet "hanky" swab after each time I play . It is amazing how much "crud" builds up inside the neck over time. Everyone finds what they are comfortable with in taking care of their instrument. My habits are the culmination of years of teaching, playing, and repairing instruments and so I probably take it more seriously than some other folks do. That's not to say that their habits are not right for them.

 

[LoveSickLouie]

I am using a cloth pull through currently, and it's doing a good job, but the amount of stuff (spit) it cleans makes me think I should be trying to do a better job...JBTSax, going off your photos H.N Whites the way to go, I had read that padsavers can do more harm than good in terms of fluff interaction with the keys...Clarinet hanky for the neck also a great idea to adopt...

 

[Colin the Bear]

I like it, having the reed saddled up seems like a good way to keep you coming back to the sax and blowing regularly...thanks for the tip, thanks for the welcome...

I leave mine on the mouthpiece but it dries and sticks. You'll still need to take it off and wet it.

 

[kevgermany]

A decent pad saver is good, I use one on my alto.

Just remembered - use a brush on the crook - you can get a flexible wire with a brush on one end and what looks like a pad saver on the other. Brush out the crud, then dry with the furry end...