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Saxophones Changing key pearls - what best to do?

I polished the chess set I made with shoe polish. The Black with dark brown and the White with light tan. I'm assuming a:confused2: little olive oil on the lighter pearls will darken them.
 
I polished the chess set I made with shoe polish. The Black with dark brown and the White with light tan. I'm assuming a:confused2: little olive oil on the lighter pearls will darken them.

That may be true with unaltered natural MOP, but here you have an acrylic layer over the real thing and even if you removed it the porous nature of the raw material may have been compromised by acrylic residue...

Yes, yes... I realise I should be sax fiddling not furniture making, but I have SWMBO. :rolleyes:

I'm considering replacing SWMBO by a simpler version like SWOHM. A modern version of the Bounty is the logical consequence of repeated abuse of our saxophonists rights!
For the time being SWMBO is far away in Japan, so I'm free to blow as hard as I like, whenever I want. :sax:
 
That may be true with unaltered natural MOP, but here you have an acrylic layer over the real thing and even if you removed it the porous nature of the raw material may have been compromised by acrylic residue...



I'm considering replacing SWMBO by a simpler version like SWOHM. A modern version of the Bounty is the logical consequence of repeated abuse of our saxophonists rights!
For the time being SWMBO is far away in Japan, so I'm free to blow as hard as I like, whenever I want. :sax:

I'm struggling to work out if these have a natural finish or are acrylic covered?

I guess they'd coat them to stop the pearl discolouring? Kind of removes the point of having natural pearl though! Pure pearl gives more grip and is how most pearls key touches are left.
 
Natural pearls colors should be quite stable. The Tahitian pearls used in jewelry are worn on bare skin in hot temperatures, often in the sun and do not discolor from what I witnessed in French Polynesia when I was there. Many people around me wore them as they were in the pearl farming business in the Tuamotu islands. These are polished using wood chips but for the pearls from china I guess they have been spread with some kind of glossy lacquer. That's quick and easy. But I could be wrong.
 
They do look very glossy and feel smooth. I'll have to get my Nitromors paint stripper out. :oops:
 
A little nail polish remover should dissolve the lacquer and maybe the pearls too. A liquid paste drizzled into the button cups may be the solution ;)
 
Replacement set of pearls have arrived. These have rounded edges, not sharp as per the bay listing or the first set...







:(
 
Very nice. Rounded is good. At the last saxophone repair workshop I attended given by Curt Altarac (Music Medic) he talked about modifying the amount of protrusion and degree of tilt of key pearls to custom fit a player's fingers and hand position. I always thought I was A.R. about saxophone repair, but he has me beat by a mile. ;)
 
I'm still not sure that the lacquer is a good thing? What's the point of having real pearls if you're going to cover them in plastic?

OK, you get the natural look, but it's the grippier feel I was really after.

I wonder if there are any on ebay, or elsewhere, which have a natural finish?

I'll be asking for those hole cutters for Christmas I think... make my own. :confused:
 
I like rounded. :D Smooth! :cool: Enjoyable... :rolleyes:

It balances the frustration I have when I play so badly... o_O 'Cause I really do and that's a fact.

I had a frustrating day. Both repair-wise and play-wise.

Busy trying to fix a soprano sax that's a challenge to me. But I guess I'm still making some progress.

And I can't get myself to play even decently... But tomorrow is another day and it'll be better! On all accounts. It's just decided!
 
Guess I'll give them a go. Don't think I'll superglue them for now. Maybe some contact adhesive so I can remove.

Or should I just blu-tac them in for a trial run?
 
I never tried blue tack for keys. But there's not harm trying! :rolleyes:
 
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