Tech/maintenance Looking for clues [alto sax, bizarre response]

[Mark_S]

Never use brass cleaner on a saxophone! The harshest you can possibly use is jewelry cleaner such as Wright's silver polish or tarnish remover but even that only on very rare occasions.

For daily cleaning and maintenance, charcoal lighter fluid as suggested by Steven, and WD-40 in its various branding iterations are good choices. And do not add any oil to the tenon either, the combination of oil and dust is called lapping compound and it is the last thing you want to apply to your tenon unless you go for that airy sound caused by a tenon leak 😎

I read that Charlie Parker used blue tape to seal the neck/tenon. That's about right for my budget, too!

 

[LostCircuits]

Absolutely yes! That is, once you are as good as Charlie Parker! But don't skip the latter part.

 

[Mark_S]

Hi Mark, good to see you got it sorted. Are you going to hang around and have a look at what else we can help you with on the forum? There are a load of resources here. Also, tell us a bit more about your sax (photos obligatory) so we can see what a bargain you got (my penchant).

Yes, I'll stick around; but as an absolute newborn with the instrument, I'll be unqualified to say much. Since I can't find any 'ultimate shop manual', and can't afford a teacher, I'll be reading between the lines here, and asking for help when baffled.

 

[Mark_S]

Hi Mark, good to see you got it sorted. Are you going to hang around and have a look at what else we can help you with on the forum? There are a load of resources here. Also, tell us a bit more about your sax (photos obligatory) so we can see what a bargain you got (my penchant).

Anyone want to see a beat-up student-grade horn?! I'm skeptical.

 

[Mark_S]

I just want say a thank you to everyone who offered advice. I went from being depressed about not being able get the right notes to come out, to feeling happy that I now can. And my understanding of the instrument has taken a step forward, also a good feeling.

 

[DartmoorHedgehog]

Since I can't find any 'ultimate shop manual'

Stephen Howard's "Saxophone Haynes Manual" is pretty good - certainly well worth a read if you want to do your own regulation setup or minor repairs.

 

[Mark_S]

Stephen Howard's "Saxophone Haynes Manual" is pretty good - certainly well worth a read if you want to do your own regulation setup or minor repairs.

That could be what I've been searching for.

 

[Mark_S]

Hi Mark, good to see you got it sorted. Are you going to hang around and have a look at what else we can help you with on the forum? There are a load of resources here. Also, tell us a bit more about your sax (photos obligatory) so we can see what a bargain you got (my penchant).

 

[Mark_S]

As far as I can make it out, the bell end has been banged and dented at least three times. There are scratches, but not much tarnish. Pads seem alright. All mechanics seem to articulate easily and well.

 

[Stephen Howard]

With dents like that in the bell there's a very good chance the bell is out of alignment.
Easy enough to check: Just take yourself to darkened room, shine a light onto the outside of the bell key pads (a torch or a desklamp will do), close the bell keys gently and peer down the bell. What you don't want to see is a crescent of light coming in from the front of the pads. If you do, it means the bell has been knocked offline.
If you don't, no worries - dents like that in the bell aren't really of any significance

 

[BigT]

You know what, I’ll stick with the advice I was given by GDVW, he’s only been in the repair game 35 years. I’ve only had a Sax 8 weeks or so, what do I know. Ask me about Gas Turbines I might have a clue. My Bad!

 

[Colin the Bear]

As far as the neck tenon goes, I stick it in my mouth before assembling to make sure it's clean. If there's any thing there it's best to spit not swallow. 😉

The saxophone consists of a lot of simple systems, connected together. Learn all the fingerings for all the notes and check they're working before you play.
Don't be phased by the shine. It's just a tube with strategically placed holes. As all woodwind is. 🙂

 

[Stephen Howard]

You know what, I’ll stick with the advice I was given by GDVW, he’s only been in the repair game 35 years. I’ve only had a Sax 8 weeks or so, what do I know. Ask me about Gas Turbines I might have a clue. My Bad!

No probs - but other players might have the same problem and come looking for advice, so it always pays to make such threads as informative as possible for later readers.

By-the-by, here are a couple of before and after shots from a recent job where the tenon had galled up and chewed the socket - just so you can see what it looks like.

As for Graham - he's been in the business rather longer than 35 years (though you could never tell from looking at his youthful features). He was a lecturer at the college I studied at...and that was 42 years ago.
Nice bloke - very, very dry sense of humour!