Bottom B Problem

[Chris J]

Floating the pad, for the faint hearted, can be done with a craft heat gun like this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Papermania-...8&qid=1447424487&sr=8-13&keywords=Hot+air+gun

Doesn't have to be pink...

You only need to get the back of the cup to 100 to 130 degrees, and a little push of the back of the pad (the bit that hits first) with the flat of a blunt knife may be all that is needed to align the pad to the cup.

Always having the option to take it to a tech if it goes wrong!!

 

[gladsaxisme]

I might just give it a go I bought a pro heat gun a while back and so far haven't used it,I've always been worried about damaging the lacquer on my pride and joy 62.
Another thing that has shown up on close inspection is how far off centre the pads and cups actually are in relation to the tone holes, I was a bit surprised at that I thought the yams were better made than that, both the B and Bb are only just on the pads at the back, I doubt there's an easy fix for that .....John

 

[kevgermany]

If you try to move the cups, it's new pads as well. Make sure you don't overheat the cups and have the pads fall out or turn. Also watch where the hot air goes. You don't want to disturb anything or have your corks, felts, pearls getting damaged/falling out.

 

[Colin the Bear]

If it was mine and it plays fine , I'd leave it a while to settle down. You can get a bit carried away trying to get thing perfect when good enough will play fine.

 

[Chris J]

.....I bought a pro heat gun a while back ..... I've always been worried about damaging the lacquer ..... on close inspection is how far off centre the pads and cups actually are in relation to the tone holes ..... both the B and Bb are only just on the pads at the back, I doubt there's an easy fix for that .....John

What do you mean by a pro heat gun? If it is one with a variable output and can see the heat it reaches on a digital read out, then it should be perfect. If it is a pro decorators, high output, heat gun that can get over 500 deg C with no control, then great care is needed!

I think shellac softens around 110 deg, and cork, felt and pearls should be fine with that, but still protect or deflect heat from them. Lacquer would certainly be ok at those temperatures.

A possibility is that the bell has been bent in relation to the body, and the repair was to bend keys to fit the new position of the bell rather than derotate the bell.

Or it was just made that way. If the pads have enough room to seal, it shouldn't matter, really.

As Kev said, you need to rock the pad and not rotate it, otherwise the impression will not sit on the tone hole.

Chris

 

[jbtsax]

Sorry but I didn't see Colin's advice about looking for missing corks or felt as a question, I always tend to do this as it's an easy fix if that is the problem, but in this case there were no obvious missing bits of this nature around other than the tab that operates the B when you press the Bb doesn't appear to have any cushioning material on it, but I doubt that a slight bit of felt will make the difference to close the B fully but I might be wrong

The customary material used on the extension from the B touch is in fact felt. It is a simple matter to glue a small piece cut from a sheet of felt to that part using contact cement, and then trim it with a single edge razor blade. (more easily done with the key off). The regulation then is very easy by bending the "tab" slightly up or down with a pair of flat nose smooth jaw pliers. Fiddling with different thickness of cork works, but it takes a lot of time.

 

[gladsaxisme]

What do you mean by a pro heat gun? If it is one with a variable output and can see the heat it reaches on a digital read out, then it should be perfect. If it is a pro decorators, high output, heat gun that can get over 500 deg C with no control, then great care is needed!

I think shellac softens around 110 deg, and cork, felt and pearls should be fine with that, but still protect or deflect heat from them. Lacquer would certainly be ok at those temperatures.

A possibility is that the bell has been bent in relation to the body, and the repair was to bend keys to fit the new position of the bell rather than derotate the bell.

Or it was just made that way. If the pads have enough room to seal, it shouldn't matter, really.

As Kev said, you need to rock the pad and not rotate it, otherwise the impression will not sit on the tone hole.

Chris

Yes it's pro heat gun for sax pad fitting as sold by one of the sax part supply companies, but I bought it on eBay for a fraction of the cost, there was a thread about it some where.

Due to the slowly grinding brain cogs, I'm now coming to the conclusion that there may well have been some bell misalignment in the past due to the pads being so far off centre,or maybe that's the way they are made but the impression on the pad line up with the tone holes and seem to seal pretty well, I'm a bit surprised the tech I took it to for a service never mentioned it and he replaced about eight pads.

I wonder if other 62 owners have noticed this misalignment

 

[gladsaxisme]

If it was mine and it plays fine , I'd leave it a while to settle down. You can get a bit carried away trying to get thing perfect when good enough will play fine.

And your probably right,it is playing fine now and the more you scrutinise things the more problems you find and the more it worries you

 

[gladsaxisme]

The customary material used on the extension from the B touch is in fact felt. It is a simple matter to glue a small piece cut from a sheet of felt to that part using contact cement, and then trim it with a single edge razor blade. (more easily done with the key off). The regulation then is very easy by bending the "tab" slightly up or down with a pair of flat nose smooth jaw pliers. Fiddling with different thickness of cork works, but it takes a lot of time.

I figured it was as you said before about the felt buffer as there are two other similar felts elsewhere on the pinky table, I didn't have any felt of the same red colour so went for the cork option and picked a 1.6 sheet cork for the job which seems to work fine.
Other than perhaps closing the B key slightly at all times what else could it throw out of regulation if the cork is too thick .....John

 

[kevgermany]

Other than perhaps closing the B key slightly at all times what else could it throw out of regulation if the cork is too thick .....John

Stops Bb closing. They must close exactly together.