Tech/maintenance Easy Fix

[ErickEck]

Hello.

I bought a curved soprano this week from someone online who couldn't play it. Said he wasn't able to get any low notes. I didn't pay much for it. Anyway, I do get the low notes. The saxophone has bit of a weird construction on the side keys, I'll add photos.

A couple of keys seem a little off. The high F key moved more than it should, and the gliding system rod fell out when I pushed the high F key upward. I tried wrapping a small amount of tape around the small bar to make it more sturdy. Do any of you have a better suggestion for a fix? I'll add a few photos to illustrate.

Thank you,
Erick Eck.

 

[ErickEck]

 

[ErickEck]

Wobbly high F key

 

[JayeNM]

What is the brand ? That's one strange pinky table, it is left-hinged so not a modern mechanism but it's clearly a post 1980 horn.

The gap between the keytouches on the pinky can only be made less by either relocating the post of the C# or B key, which of course requires a soft solder-resolder of post to body...or by adding a small piece of armature to one or other to bring them closer, which is a silver-solder job and therefore one best done by a tech.

Wobby F# TOUCH key, or wobbly long key barrel connecting to the F# keycup ?

Wobbly how ? Side to side, up and down. Meaning is it just play or double action in the F# touchpiece (IOW - when you press down the touch key it doesn't immediately engage the F# long key) ?

Or does it engage immediately but the touchpiece wobbles between its posts ?

 

[turf3]

I'd guess it's a copy of a Yanagisawa - the earlier variety with that left hand table layout.

I bet the space in the LH pinky table is a lot less when C#'s depressed. My Holton C soprano's like that - it has to do with the angles and getting all the gubbinses to fit in there.

It's not clear what the high F or high F# key issue is, but I think the "gliding system rod" that fell off is a piece of plastic tubing, common in this kind of mechanism, and easily re-secured with hot melt glue or contact cement.

 

[ErickEck]

Thanks ever so much for your replies. I'll write back soon, I had to go to work this weekend. I'll make a video of the issue to better show the problem next week. I think video uploads are enabled on here

 

[ErickEck]

Here's their business card, found it inside the case pocket...

 

[JayeNM]

OK, that could be the store and they subcontracted a factory to make a store branded sax.

Still wondering what the F# issue is exactly.