Beginner Help to clean red/brown streaks and spots inside saxophone

[murgo08]

Hello everyone
I just got a saxophone from my dead dad, I wish to restore it for remembrance.
Inside the pavilion there are red/brown streaks and spots.

Photos

Do you know how to clean them without damaging the saxophone?
It is possible to remove scratches ?

Thank you for your help

 

[DavidUK]

Salut.
If it were me, I'd leave it alone. It may look worse after you've tried to make it better. Also don't try polishing the outside unless you receive further advice.

We'll be happy to give further advice here if you ask.

 

[lydian]

Yep. Chemicals and abrasion (Brasso, Hagerty 100, etc.) is the only way, and that can damage and get under the remaining lacquer, making it worse in the long run.

 

[murgo08]

Thank you for your advice, I leave it like this.

 

[TJ Kneale]

If the spots and streaks are on the INSIDE of the instrument you can try a couple of things.
You can mix up a solution of water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Put an old pull through swab in the solution and squeeze it out so that it's just damp, not soaking wet as you don't want to get the pads soggy, and pull it through from the bell end first. Repeat as needed. Rinse the swab in clear water, squeeze it out, and pull it through again to remove any soap residue.
Another one is using white vinegar and water using the same damp swab technique.
The last is to take it to a tech for a complete teardown, repad, and chem bath.

 

[LostCircuits]

If the spots and streaks are on the INSIDE of the instrument you can try a couple of things.
You can mix up a solution of water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Put an old pull through swab in the solution and squeeze it out so that it's just damp, not soaking wet as you don't want to get the pads soggy, and pull it through from the bell end first. Repeat as needed. Rinse the swab in clear water, squeeze it out, and pull it through again to remove any soap residue.
Another one is using white vinegar and water using the same damp swab technique.
The last is to take it to a tech for a complete teardown, repad, and chem bath.

The photographs show the spots inside the bell, easily accessible.

 

[thomsax]

Do you know how to clean them without damaging the saxophone?
It is possible to remove scratches ?

Just polish the flair. The trick is to have the entire tube (from neck to bell) dry and clean. An ordinary "pull through" swab is helping much. It just transport the moisture the part of the sax that is dry. I think the spots on your sax is the result of using a pull-trough swab?

 

[Stephen Howard]

I think the spots on your sax is the result of using a pull-trough swab?

Probably not. From the scratches around the bell rim it looks like someone was in the habit of putting something down the bell (the crook, or perhaps a stand), and over time it's worn away the lacquer. When that happen there doesn't need to be water lying on the surface of the bare brass - the tarnish/corrosion will form simply as a result of water vapour inside the case during storage.

I wouldn't worry about it at all, it won't be doing any harm as it is.

 

[thomsax]

The spots (corrosion) on my 85 years old Martin HC (1938) is probably caused by a wet and bad pull through swab. If you pull through a swab 2-3 times without empty the bow from water the whole sax included the bell flair will be wet. Use paper to soak up the water. I store my neck in the bell. Old pull trough swabs with a nickel ball caused damages. My Martin HC was laquerd once. The age has delaquered my horn.

 

[skeller047]

A pull through swab will not damage a horn unless made from something scratchy. Not removing moisture will damage the horn.

I have used pull through swabs for over 60 years and never had any damage due to the swab. I make my own swabs from chamois and paracord, they last for years.

 

[thomsax]

A pull through swab will not damage a horn unless made from something scratchy. Not removing moisture will damage the horn.

Yes, that's right. If the swab is a good one and absorping moisture.

Good swabs are good for you sax. I have met players that are using old DDR swabs from the 60's. The absorption capacity is zero because they are so stiff and also made out of bad material. The weight can also be replaced with a steel nut that leave scratches, maybe also damage the octave pipe, on the flair, bell, bow and body. To use a pull through swab with less absorption capacity is not going to make the sax cleaner.

• Buy good swab made out fine material.
• Wash them often in lukewarm wather + soap (to make them soft) and dry them on the line out in the sun (UV..).
• Buy several swabs.

Good swabs. The BG have been washed serveal times. I have 3 of them. There are other wwabs that are good. To wash your swabs is not only to get rid of dirt and other things that are not good for your health and saxophone. It's a social thing as well.


Scratches on a saxophone can be less visible if you polish the scratch(es) with a dry cloth. You take down the edges. Many good polshing cloths in modern material. Micro silkweave is good. I treat scatches with olive oil + a drop of vineager. I have also used lemon oil that is meant for guitars (fretboard). Some guys that knows more about saxes says that we shouldn't use oil or something on that style. So try it on a sax that is old and ugly. To polish mouthpieces small cloths that you use for glasses are fine. Just polish with a dry cloth after cleaning.


I've been playing/cleaning saxes for nearly 55 years and I'm still learning

 

[Colin the Bear]

Chamois leather has been superceded by microfibre these days.

 

[stitch]

Chamois leather has been superceded by microfibre these days.

A good thing, obviously, but the goats look a bit strange these days ...

 

[LostCircuits]

A good thing, obviously, but the goats look a bit strange these days ...

Once a GOAT always a GOAT

 

[Dr G]

Scratches on a saxophone can be less visible if you polish the scratch(es) with a dry cloth. You take down the edges. Many good polshing cloths in modern material. Micro silkweave is good. I treat scatches with olive oil + a drop of vineager. I have also used lemon oil that is meant for guitars (fretboard). Some guys that knows more about saxes says that we shouldn't use oil or something on that style. So try it on a sax that is old and ugly. To polish mouthpieces small cloths that you use for glasses are fine. Just polish with a dry cloth after cleaning.
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I've been playing/cleaning saxes for nearly 55 years and I'm still learning

I’ve been playing/cleaning saxes for 50+ years too, and adopted a different approach. If you polish away the edges of a scratch, that means that you are also removing lacquer from around the scratch. I prefer, instead, to protect the finish with the same treatment that I use on my guitars and cars. That also cuts down on spotting and makes it easier to maintain the lacquer. Another bonus of such treatments is that it seals the finish.

 

[Smicker]

use a swab after every play, never miss = sax still looks pretty well like new after 10/11 years.

 

[Colin the Bear]

A little bottle of clear nail varnish is great for touching up chips and scratches.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Once a GOAT always a GOAT

Greatest of all time?

 

[skeller047]

Chamois leather has been superceded by microfibre these days.

Not by me. I make my own swabs from chamois and parachord. I cut a long triangle of chamois (30 - 45 cm, depending on alto or tenor), the base of the triangle is a little less than the circumference of the bell. Attach the paracord to the skinny end with a sheet bend. Paracord is a little longer, so I can still see the end of the chamois once the weight on the end has gone all the way through the horn. The weight is solder wire, wrapped around the end of the cord about 3-4 cm, then covered with heat shrink tubing to prevent scratches.

I have had microfiber catch on the octave pip, and fray or rip. Chamois is more absorbent and lasts decades. They are better after being washed a few times.

For those concerned about the health of goats, consider that most pads are made with kid leather. Roos are arguably more of a pest, but I’ve never seen ‘roo skin being used for automotive cleaning. Of course, I don’t live in the southern hemisphere…

 

[LostCircuits]

For those concerned about the health of goats, consider that most pads are made with kid leather. Roos are arguably more of a pest, but I’ve never seen ‘roo skin being used for automotive cleaning. Of course, I don’t live in the southern hemisphere…

My friends down under tell me they do. But it's only a single stroke usually until the 'roo hops away again