Beginner Beginner to learn a alto saxophone

[sumit_sagaonkar]

Hello I am a beginner to learn the alto saxophone. I found a good deal when i was in france through a onboard musician who helped me buy a selmer super sax (cigar cutter) it's a silver horn with no dents or dings.
The horn was not played for a long times as i asked the seller (many years for sure) and has black spots on the entire body (top to bottom). I would like to know how do i clean the horn in order to make it look shinny and get new looks as it was many years before. I would like to overhaul it(change all the pads & springs) can anybody suggest me what type of pads with resonators are to be used and which springs too. Finally can i use some chemicals (silver cleaning) to get rid of the black spots.
Regards.
SS

 

[Mamos]

If is has not been played for a long time I would take it to a woodwind technician and get it checked out. It will be money well spent on such a nice sax

Welcome to the forum

mamos

 

[kevgermany]

Silver.... May come back, may not. Use a silver cloth very gently with a lot of moisture and patience. If you're lucky the plating will stay on the sax. Those black spots can be stubborn, but use as little effort as you can and take your time. Watch your fingers on the springs, and be careful not to knock the corks off.

For pads/work, get a copy of the Haynes saxophone manual. And the author is a member here, so lots of help/support.

There's also a lot of inofrmation online - musicmedic.com cybersax.com are two good starting points.

But be aware - an old Selmer can be worth a lot of money, so be careful and don't damage it. Mamos' comment makes a lot of sense. Learning to repad on a cheapo is OK, but you could do a lot of expensive damage to the Selmer. Whereabouts are you, if you're in the UK, there are plenty of skilled people who could help, a couple are members here.

 

[sumit_sagaonkar]

Thank you mamos & kev i will show the sax to a good repairman & get the problems fixed it's nice to be on this forum surely will get a lot of help to achieve something which would mean a lot to me.

 

[Justin Chune]

Hello SS, and a warm welcome. Taking your sax to a technician is the best idea and it may not need a lot of work. Good luck with it.

Jim.

 

[sumit_sagaonkar]

Thank you justine...I spoke to a repairman...