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Saxophones tape instead of cork on neck

mallyjames

Senior Member
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46
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northern uk
Hi to all,After the cork on the neck split and could,nt be repaired i used some black electrical tape to secure the mouthpiece onto the neck.and it has worked perferctly.Getting the thickness right is key.Goodby to cork grease etc..It looks very neat and the sax plays perfectly in tune.Anybody else use tape instead of cork?
 
Blue painter's tape is often recommended as a temporary fix when a cork comes off or fails. I'm interested in how your "tape" holds up in the long term. Keep us posted. ;)
 
I'd be mindful of any potential chemical reaction with the glue from the tape if you use a rubber mouthpiece.

My teacher back in the day got me to use PTFE plumbing tape which seemed to work very well. Seeing as no adhesive it was easy to remove and replace which I had to do every do every so often.
 
As the tape is keeping the mp firmly in place,I can swab the neck with the mp attached to keep it clean inside and also clean it outside.So no reason to take mp off the neck I will persevere with this set up and can’t honestly see any future problem,sax plays in tune,tape looks very neat,mp not sliding about.Will keep you posted though.Anyone want to buy any secondhand cork grease.lol
 
I've used PTFE tape many times. This works really well. As well as not having any adhesive, it's very thin, allowing you to get the exact thickness. I'd never use anything with adhesive due to the mess it makes when the adhesive starts to leak out (which it will, eventually).
 
In the long run a good neckcork and a good cork job is the only way to go. The problem is when you're using mouthpices with differnet I.D. of the mouthpiece bore. Some cork grease can help but not if it's too much. The neck cork is often overlooked. I've seen saxes coming direct from the tech with a bad neck cork. It should be easy to adjust the pitch without using different types of tapes.
 
As the tape is keeping the mp firmly in place,I can swab the neck with the mp attached to keep it clean inside and also clean it outside.So no reason to take mp off the neck I will persevere with this set up and can’t honestly see any future problem,sax plays in tune,tape looks very neat,mp not sliding about.Will keep you posted though.Anyone want to buy any secondhand cork grease.lol
When I'm playing I often have to adjust pitch. So hard for me to adjust the pitch when I used tape. My bari needs adjustment all time. A big sax is changing pitch during a "gig". The neck cork on my bari was not right. Just a a few mm's to adjust ..... so irritating. When I had to pull out the mouthpiece it became unstable (wobbling). I replaced the thin cork that followed the outside of the neck with a straight (outside) neck cork (tube) that also was tapered. I had to do some sanding on the whole neck cork. And I used shellack. Less brutal. It just the first part of the video that shows the wrong neck cork The other part is that a Forestone reed didn't fit my ligature. Too thick and lig had to placed back on the mouthpiece.
View: https://youtu.be/zlyBHdo3-vs
 
Nice tight fit,plays in tune,looks very neat,don’t need to remove mp from neck,use swab pull through to clean inside of mp,can easily clean outside of mp.what’s not to like!The tape IUse is a very light adhesive type so no sticky residue.This might be the future!!!
 
My old soprano never had cork just cotton wound on and held in place with lard! Seemed to work OK and easy to replace but lard is less common than it was.
 
Self amalgamating is a better solution than sticky tape for an emergency or short term fix. No glue at all. Easily removed.
Elastic bands can work as springs/ helpers. Sticky back plastic to repair worn pads. I can hear spinning. I think it may be Adolphe.
 
My old soprano never had cork just cotton wound on and held in place with lard! Seemed to work OK and easy to replace but lard is less common than it was.
Back in the day my first wooden recorder had waxed thread around the tenon.
 
When I was a pro drummer I used to put tape on drum heads to take the ring off and get a more session studio sound.more of a splat than a boom sound.Tape has many uses!
 
As long as the tape allows you to move the mouthpiece to tune up, why not. I have several mouthpieces, so I need the flexibility of cork and grease.
 
As long as the tape allows you to move the mouthpiece to tune up, why not. I have several mouthpieces, so I need the flexibility of cork and grease.
Because the sticky adhesive eventually works its way out and makes a terrible mess. Not a good long term solution. There's a reason all saxes still have cork on the neck and not electrical tape.

I think all of us who have been playing long enough have had to use tape or paper or whatever at some point, but never as a permanent fix.
 
I have used temporarily teflon. It held great until my visit to the tech.
 
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