Saxophones Pork Tales: Saxophone Repair DIY Adventures.

Life around the barn.

Tales from a pig that likes to stick his nose into everything.

Paint that S. How difficult could it be ?

1) Search the net.
2) Find the color.
3) Order color.
4) Study task on University of YouTube, aka; For destruction by DYI presented by pro tech.

Do the cleaning & prep.

Paint and cleanup / detail the edges with hard cotton swabs. Sounds easy……

Yeah tha guy Matt makes it look easy.
Anyone remember your first experience cooking bacon crispy while still in the frying pan !

 

[PigSquealer]

To avoid being a stuck pig. Don’t put your fingers in places they don’t belong. Use a tool !

 

[Ghr9204]

To avoid being a stuck pig. Don’t put your fingers in places they don’t belong. Use a tool !

Probably related to how some saxists wake up in the morning. Some are feelers, not springers; they remain a "pig in a blanket". 😉

 

[PigSquealer]

The fun begins after all the prep work is done. Prep work is after cleaning and before dry fitting pads.
Dent work. Tone holes leveled. Key fitting etc. Dry fitting pads is the last chance for metal corrections.

I like to measure and chart.
I don’t have a massive inventory. The record card is used for checking inventory first. If you’re ordering a set. Count the quantity listed !! NO & BO (neck & body octave) are easy to forget. Depending on build the count can be 22-26.

 

[PigSquealer]

Not long and pads will be done.

 

[Ghr9204]

Not long and pads will be done.

I noticed that these are without resonators, not that there is anything wrong. Some like a slightly darker tone. Others on a budget want to continue to play and have a horn that seals well. Options, options, but interesting. (I've played resonatored and resonatorless'd saxes, certainly not an ex'spurt' - former drip under pressure, some would make a big hullabaloo about it to the point there wasn't any more room to dance on the tip of a pencil, but I digress. )

Looks good.

Regarding resonator-less, I guess that pat answer to give to someone (not the owner) asking is, "I only work here." 😉

 

[PigSquealer]

I noticed that these are without resonators,

Think of the original pads design. A big soft pillow, no back with single stitch in middle. Just enough adhesive to hold in place.
Now think of the modern equivalent.
A perfectly smooth leather backed by a much harder smooth felt. Then backed with a stiff cardboard.
I fill the pad backs with shellac. This makes them even stiffer and more dense.
Now picture a drum. One with a soft loose head. The other with a stiff tight head. What would you guess the sound difference between them would be ?
A flat metal booster is just another way of making a hard stiff surface. Fill the backs and this makes change too. Sometimes an unpredictable change that causes intonation problems.

 

[Ghr9204]

My early 1950's Beaugnier Vito Low Bb Bari has non-resonator pads. It plays fine.

 

[Woodpad]

Using pads that have a hard surface on almost the whole tone hole, I sometimes use soft materials as a dereflector on the pads.

 

[PigSquealer]

My early 1950's Beaugnier Vito Low Bb Bari has non-resonator pads. It plays fine.

They (SACTB) will all play fine without boosters/ resonators if that’s how they were originally made. Other than Buescher C Melodies post 1922 with Snap- On pads. I don’t know that any were made with factory boosters/resonators. Most all were made with “pillow pads” of some sort.
The minor enhancements mentioned above improve the sound quality. That being from the stuffy dead sound to a real sax sound quality. It’s not necessarily brighter, just a clear clean sax sound. I have C Mel’s of same year with original pads & restored with my install style modern pads. Day & night difference in playing each.

 

[Ghr9204]

They (SACTB) will all play fine without boosters/ resonators if that’s how they were originally made. Other than Buescher C Melodies post 1922 with Snap- On pads. I don’t know that any were made with factory boosters/resonators. Most all were made with “pillow pads” of some sort.
The minor enhancements mentioned above improve the sound quality. That being from the stuffy dead sound to a real sax sound quality. It’s not necessarily brighter, just a clear clean sax sound. I have C Mel’s of same year with original pads & restored with my install style modern pads. Day & night difference in playing each.

Interesting that there is justifiable history of plain pads, and, there is a place for this simpler earlier technology. I wonder how many younger techs are truly familiar with this?

I sense when you finally make your retirement to a more affordable location, that the new location will benefit and the old location will suffer.

Now that Lubbock has a decent woodwind tech, I'm sending him the rest of my horns that need attention. This type of goodness is hard to find in this area.

Also, a technical college in Amarillo, Texas prior to Covid offered woodwind repair classes. They were asking for instruments needing repair for their classroom. The repair costs were cheaper if want wanted to go that route. Lately I looked, maybe I am wrong, but it appears those classes have vanished from the curriculum, nowhere to be found.

I was thinking of sending my Beaugnier Vito Bari to them to work on.

 

[PigSquealer]

Interesting that there is justifiable history of plain pads, and, there is a place for this simpler earlier technology. I wonder how many younger techs are truly familiar with this?

Younger techs in a shop environment ( usually starting in modern rental repair/ service) are often limited to the pad inventory stock. The brand, thickness , resonator style and color on hand. Need a new 40mm Eb pad on your Comm II ? No problem ! The tech will gladly make a plastic reso , 4.5mm thick pad fit. Doesn’t care that the originals were 3.8mm with a rivet. It seals with some bending and out the door it goes. Sound or player feel ? Pffff, “ old man, go buy something new. This pile is ancient.”

 

[thomsax]

Before I let a tech work on my Martin saxes I make sure that he/she have the correct pad for the model. Thickness and diameter.

 

[Ghr9204]

It seals with some bending and out the door it goes. Sound or player feel ? Pffff, “old man, go buy something new. This pile is ancient.”

He hasn't seen my other ancient pile.

 

[PigSquealer]

He hasn't seen my other ancient pile.

I look forward to seeing your pile. They’ll probably send it to me

 

[Ghr9204]

I look forward to seeing your pile. They’ll probably send it to me

It's a natural, a part of my pigsty! 😉

 

[Vlad]

I look forward to seeing your pile. They’ll probably send it to me

Piles ? you do a bit of surgery too ?

 

[Ghr9204]

Piles ? you do a bit of surgery too ?

After @PigSquealer is done with old zipper neck, once one opens the package exclaims, "It's alive, it's alive!" 😉

 

[PigSquealer]

Surgery in progress. Procedure is an “Add A Ring To Me”.

 

[PigSquealer]

I wasn’t happy with the seam on first attempt.

A little too much solder. The seam stayed closed with heat.

 

[Vlad]

Nice job ... hope you're not going to use that on Mr ghostler's piles tho..