The correct way is to mesure the inner diameter of the tonehole. I bought brown (slighty domed) plastic resonators from a company in USA. The are/were available in 7,9 mm, 11,3 mm, 14,5 mm, 17,8 mm, 20,8 mm, 24,1 mm, 27,3 mm, 30,5 mm, and 33,7 mm.
The correct way is to mesure the inner diameter of the tonehole. I bought brown (slighty domed) plastic resonators from a company in USA. The are/were available in 7,9 mm, 11,3 mm, 14,5 mm, 17,8 mm, 20,8 mm, 24,1 mm, 27,3 mm, 30,5 mm, and 33,7 mm.
- Messages
- 7,880
- Location
- Near Lutterworth, Leics.
...and once you know the tone hole diameter (THD)?
What's the next step? There must be a formula which deducts a figure from the THD to arrive at the correct plastic resonator diameter (PRD)?
JayeNM
Formerly JayePDX
- Messages
- 2,625
- Location
- New Mexico, US
Personally I'd say if you don't get a reply in a few days, cancel the order and try to get your $ back. You have no doubt seen the other threads on the 2 sax forums....dunno what is going on there but I would not waste my time giving them benefit of doubt for the moment....
I fully agree with you. I'm just a bit baffled as I have a naked soprano on one side and clean empty keys ready to receive their pads on the other, but no pads in view...
It's not the best soprano you can dream of, so I don't want to spend a fortune on a re-pad before moving it out.
It's the first time I have to deal with a "zombie" company...
It takes time to process the concept!
noelweston
Senior Member
- Messages
- 68
- Location
- Hessle, East Yorks
For what it's worth - I placed an order with them for some tools at the beginning of August - around £200 worth of various things. My paypal account was debited immediately, but I heard nothing from the site/order at all - no confirmation, nothing.
I emailed them on every email address I could find and messaged them (privately, not publicly) on facebook, but had no response. I opened a paypal dispute, then escalated it to a claim for a refund when there was no response.
I finally got a delivery on September 23rd, which had been shipped on the 21st - the day I issued the refund claim. Unfortunately, there were some items missing, around £60 worth. I further escalated this to paypal and finally got a partial refund this morning. In all this time I've still had no contact or response whatsoever from Zhenghao.
It was worth a gamble to see what turned up and when, but personally I won't be ordering from them again... too risky. Especially when musicmedic or ferrees can have things here in 3 or 4 days anyway.
Thanks. That's very interesting as it's quite recent history with them.
I'm curious to know if your order page shows a status of shipped. If you go to their site, there is an order search option. You'll find your order number on your Paypal payment confirmation. It starts with the date you placed the order as in 2018MMDD followed by a 6 digits reference. You can the see the last status of your order. My first order reached Shipped status and they provided details of the shipping track number.
Express Delivery: [Singapo Post Air Mail]LM251436784CN
But the current one is stuck at Production status.
It is really odd to see a company operating like this. I don't know if they can't be bothered, if they're struggling with language or if they're completely overloaded and can't find the time to deal with a massive volume of emails from unhappy customers... But if word of mouth reveals a serious problem with them on both the European an US fronts, they could face a rapid decline of customers.
My last order was very modest, with about 25€ worth of pads (for a couple of sopranos) but I considered other purchases with them that I'm going to forget about. Too good to be true!
noelweston
Senior Member
- Messages
- 68
- Location
- Hessle, East Yorks
Apparently it does show as shipped. I hadn't realised that was an order number, and any non-valid entry in that search box just throws a site error.
I didn't check the tracking number; the order is shown as correct, even though that's not what they finally sent.
Do you mean how big a plastic resononator should be? As big as possible minus 5mm. If the THD is 40 mm the resonator should be 35 mm. The best way is to install custom made resonators. I have custom made resononators on my Martin Comm saxes. Custom made brass resonanators on my "The Martin Baritone".
Some signs of activity on the part of Zheng Hao Music today. My order has been set to shipped! Roughly 4 weeks after placing the order. It's possible they didn't have all the items in stock to supply the order, but they don't say anything...
So perhaps they are still alive and serving their orders after all. I'll have to be patient and see if it turns up in the next few weeks...
I'll keep you posted.
So perhaps they are still alive and serving their orders after all. I'll have to be patient and see if it turns up in the next few weeks...
I'll keep you posted.
I finally received my pads order and it's complete. I just counted them so far but I'm going to check them further. On first look there are a few with off center rivets or resonator, but nothing too bad.
I have never received any answer for my earlier emails...
I have never received any answer for my earlier emails...
- Messages
- 8,390
- Location
- Peeblesshire
China's a tough place to run a business I would imagine
It's time for me to post an update on my experience with ZhengHao pads. I've now done 3 repads with them. 2 sopranos and 1 tenor. In between, to make things more interesting and have perspective, I did a couple of repads using Music Medic sourced pads. Both altos. One with Chocolate Roo pads, the other with Standard Tan. So here are my notes and feelings.
The first soprano went well, but left the premises so quickly that I can't really say how they are holding on. Having said that, I did spend a couple of weeks play testing until I was happy with the outcome and they appeared to do their job.
Next was a Chocolate Roo Pads set I ordered for a YAS-23. As far as I remember, it went very well. Most pads fit perfectly, I even had to use some sweet pinky ribbons to make sure I could extract them from their key cups after dry fitting! Bottom line is I'm delighted with the outcome. I'd say these are great pads. But the horn wasn't in bad shape either. Pads were a bit old and dry.
Next, I did a tenor, using a Pad Set ordered from ZhengHao, for a YTS-23. The fit wasn't as good as with the MM Chocolate Roos, but were good enough to perform the job without trouble. I have been playing this horn for two months as my main tenor and it's fine.
Next I did another Soprano. An old Hawkes & son XX Century. The issues I had were not related to the pads, although they were probably a touch on the thick side, but it went well in the end and I'm playing it from time to time.
Finally, I did a Martin Indiana alto, using Standard Tan from MM. Sadly, I discovered that there had been a mistake in the shipment, it was a Pad Set and one of the large pads was missing. MM reacted beautifully and sent it right away. So, there again, I must say the MM service is excellent. Now, to be honest, it's difficult to compare the feel of pads with horns as different as a YAS-23 and a Martin Indiana. I clearly prefer the YAS-23 with it's Chocolate Roo pads, but I'm not sure the pads are the reason.
Conclusion:
ZhengHao's pads are OK. They do the job, but are not as well made as MM's pads. They can be irregular with off centered resonators/rivets. Something I have not seen with MM pads.
What makes me consider ZhengHao's pads is obviously their very attractive price, although you need to be patient to receive them... It'll take a few weeks.
I just checked their website as I have another project I'd like to get started and I found they now offer Kangaroo pads. They are 3 times more expensive than the regular ones, but that's still way cheaper than MM. How good are they. I can't tell. But I might give them a try. At 33$ a set for alto, it's tempting.
Price aside, my preference goes to the Chocolate Roo pads, then the Standard Tan from MM.
Keep in mind that I'm not a professional repairer, so it's only worth my 2 cents!
The first soprano went well, but left the premises so quickly that I can't really say how they are holding on. Having said that, I did spend a couple of weeks play testing until I was happy with the outcome and they appeared to do their job.
Next was a Chocolate Roo Pads set I ordered for a YAS-23. As far as I remember, it went very well. Most pads fit perfectly, I even had to use some sweet pinky ribbons to make sure I could extract them from their key cups after dry fitting! Bottom line is I'm delighted with the outcome. I'd say these are great pads. But the horn wasn't in bad shape either. Pads were a bit old and dry.
Next, I did a tenor, using a Pad Set ordered from ZhengHao, for a YTS-23. The fit wasn't as good as with the MM Chocolate Roos, but were good enough to perform the job without trouble. I have been playing this horn for two months as my main tenor and it's fine.
Next I did another Soprano. An old Hawkes & son XX Century. The issues I had were not related to the pads, although they were probably a touch on the thick side, but it went well in the end and I'm playing it from time to time.
Finally, I did a Martin Indiana alto, using Standard Tan from MM. Sadly, I discovered that there had been a mistake in the shipment, it was a Pad Set and one of the large pads was missing. MM reacted beautifully and sent it right away. So, there again, I must say the MM service is excellent. Now, to be honest, it's difficult to compare the feel of pads with horns as different as a YAS-23 and a Martin Indiana. I clearly prefer the YAS-23 with it's Chocolate Roo pads, but I'm not sure the pads are the reason.
Conclusion:
ZhengHao's pads are OK. They do the job, but are not as well made as MM's pads. They can be irregular with off centered resonators/rivets. Something I have not seen with MM pads.
What makes me consider ZhengHao's pads is obviously their very attractive price, although you need to be patient to receive them... It'll take a few weeks.
I just checked their website as I have another project I'd like to get started and I found they now offer Kangaroo pads. They are 3 times more expensive than the regular ones, but that's still way cheaper than MM. How good are they. I can't tell. But I might give them a try. At 33$ a set for alto, it's tempting.
Price aside, my preference goes to the Chocolate Roo pads, then the Standard Tan from MM.
Keep in mind that I'm not a professional repairer, so it's only worth my 2 cents!
I was about to risk another order to ZMelody alias Zheng Hao that included shellac, but I was shocked by the shipping costs and suspected it could be the weight of the shellac (800g) that caused it to go through the roof. I can't get why shipping 800g of shellac is as expensive as the shellac itself!
Anyways, I checked what was available from Azone and found this:
Anyone tried it for pads? Just curious.
I'll probably try it anyways.
Anyways, I checked what was available from Azone and found this:
Anyone tried it for pads? Just curious.
I'll probably try it anyways.
- Messages
- 8,390
- Location
- Peeblesshire
There's too little arsenic for my likingI was about to risk another order to ZMelody alias Zheng Hao that included shellac, but I was shocked by the shipping costs and suspected it could be the weight of the shellac (800g) that caused it to go through the roof. I can't get why shipping 800g of shellac is as expensive as the shellac itself!
Anyways, I checked what was available from Azone and found this:
Anyone tried it for pads? Just curious.
I'll probably try it anyways.
- Messages
- 8,161
- Location
- Bristol, UK
You're supposed to use it to stick pads on, not to feed it to your unwanted relatives.
I didn't realize it contained arsenic!
But as my grand-father used to say: "What doesn't kill you, makes you fat".
Oh, but that related to stuff you ingest.
And I have no intention to eat my horns' keys, including the pads and anything that glue them together. So I should be safe. I also tend to blow outward, not breath in ... so the infinitely small parts of arsenic contained in the shellac would probably equate to the amounts prescribed in some homeopathic treatments and it might cure some of my health issues! 
Hmm! Flakes... Who eats flakes in the morning?
I would have never thought of this on me own!
I can't thank you enough for this amazing idea!
BUT most importantly, it melts around 70-75°C
- Messages
- 8,390
- Location
- Peeblesshire
You could, if you haf a heated tongue! Perhaps sucking hot chilly would do the trick...
Pad work is definitely reserved to an elite.
kevgermany
ex Landrover Nut
- Messages
- 21,367
- Location
- Just north of Munich
I've used flake shellac successfully. Just put a few flakes in the cup, heat until melted. Add pad...
If you want a liquid, it's a pig to dissolve. Needs the right alcohol.
If you want a liquid, it's a pig to dissolve. Needs the right alcohol.
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