Steve Stockham
Senior Member
- Messages
- 34
I have this Frank Holton silver plated alto saxophone (ser# 22243) that has been in the family since at least 1931 (which was the date of the picture my grandfather was playing it in the municipal band). He once told me he had purchased it new. It was passed down to my mother who learned on and played it in the late 40's and early 50's. In 1971 it was my turn to start learning an instrument. I was given the option of violin or saxophone (I guess you can figure out which one I decided on!) The thing is, by the time I had gotten to it, it was looking pretty rough. The pads were pretty shot and the whole saxophone looked like it was made of grimy lead. Our local music store had a tech that replaced the pads that were totally ruined but left the ones that were merely old. Grandpa got some silver polish out and got about 50% of the grime off. That was what I learned on. I changed to bari-sax in 8th grade and the alto went back into it's case.
Fastfoward 37 years later: I was rumaging through the storage area and found that old alto
of mine! As sometimes happens, I got a "wild hair" and decided to clean it up! The pads were all old and brittle and the cork was disintegrating but I tried a mouthpiece on it and it still played! I decided then and there that I was going to fix it up and get it into playing condition, not because it was a valuable horn (it isn't) or rare (it's not) but because it was our saxophone! My mother is now in her mid 70's and I just turned 50. My son missed out on getting to learn on the Holton partly due to my playing sax beyond high school and wanting him to play on a modern sax. Also, the expense of fixing up the Holton was going to be more than I wanted to spend at that time.
Now? I guess I'm having a bit of a nostalgic "thing." I kinda want to see that little alto shined up with new pads and set up properly! It'll never be worth the money I'm sinking into it but I think that it'll be worth it to me! To that end, I had my tech take it all apart and give me the sax (after dipping) to clean and polish. I was surprised! She cleaned up rather nicely! She's now in my tech's hands and I should have her back in a week or so. I'll take a pic or two when I get her back. They say you never forget your first love. Well, you never forget your first sax either! ;}
Fastfoward 37 years later: I was rumaging through the storage area and found that old alto
of mine! As sometimes happens, I got a "wild hair" and decided to clean it up! The pads were all old and brittle and the cork was disintegrating but I tried a mouthpiece on it and it still played! I decided then and there that I was going to fix it up and get it into playing condition, not because it was a valuable horn (it isn't) or rare (it's not) but because it was our saxophone! My mother is now in her mid 70's and I just turned 50. My son missed out on getting to learn on the Holton partly due to my playing sax beyond high school and wanting him to play on a modern sax. Also, the expense of fixing up the Holton was going to be more than I wanted to spend at that time.
Now? I guess I'm having a bit of a nostalgic "thing." I kinda want to see that little alto shined up with new pads and set up properly! It'll never be worth the money I'm sinking into it but I think that it'll be worth it to me! To that end, I had my tech take it all apart and give me the sax (after dipping) to clean and polish. I was surprised! She cleaned up rather nicely! She's now in my tech's hands and I should have her back in a week or so. I'll take a pic or two when I get her back. They say you never forget your first love. Well, you never forget your first sax either! ;}
