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Time for a stripper?

Taz

Busking Oracle
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Rugby UK
I was doing a little repair to my tenor this morning, after dropping her whilst getting her out of the car last night. I thought I had a good grip on the case but no, she slipped from my grasp and landed firmly on the floor! Luckily the only damage (that I can see) is a bent key guard, so I removed it, straightened it and had it back on the sax in no time.

It was whilst doing this repair, that I took a close look at the old girl, and realised just how tired she's beginning to look! Now a new sax would be nice, but alas the budget (nor HWMBO) won't allow it. So I was thinking maybe it's time for the good old stripper to come out? I think if I do strip it, I'll leave the action alone. I quite like the idea of the contrasting silver against the bare brass. I thought I'd post some pictures and lets have a few opinions as to what I should do (I'll do my own thing at the end of the day anyway but hey, I know how much you lot like to express yourselves >:):w00t:)

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Hi Taz,
Um.... Where does the silver come from???????????

John :):);}
:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
 
Ok, cheep silver in colour type monkey metal key work..... no that I'm being at all pedantic John!! :)))
 
sand it down, couple of coats of varnish and it'll be good as new
 
Hey Taz i'm the man with the top tips.I've done about 6 horns now so i know what works.1st of buy a tin of NITROMORS ,the green tin.Strip down your sax and make sure you keep all the parts in a system with there screw.Leave the springs on the body.Find a safe place to do the nitromors,its strong and stinks.Use a 1 inch paint brush and start inside the bell and work all over the bell,body with a very thick coat of stripper.Once done place in a bin bag and leave for half hour.Take out and slowly rub more stripper all over,repeat bag then use the brush to remove most of the gunk and lacquer.Put the sax in the bath and use a shower and inch brush to clean away the gunk.You will see most has gone if any little bits left strip again there.I've done the whole thing,strip down,de-lac and put back together in half a day.Just dont bend the springs when your stripping.I've found 1 or 2 tweaks and the horns played better set up and looked cooler.Get the nitromors at B&Q,about £9.00 for a big tin.If you want a saturn brass just use 0000 wirewool.This is a tryed and tested method and it works great.I done a alto for Birdman also once.Have fun.
 
Another option that works on vintage saxes with the old style nitrocellulose lacquers is to boil the instrument. The photos below show the process on a Mark VI bari. The equipment is a propane deep fat fryer for turkeys. I add about 1/2 cup of baking soda to the water and then season to taste. :)

In most cases the lacquer just peels off as in the second photo. It is better to remove the springs before doing this so that they don't rust. If you have any questions, just let me know.

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Your old Amati looks great. Leave it as it is. The "silver vs bare brass" looks nice. Here is a picture of my Martin HC (Comm I) tenor -38. Almost all laquer is gone. Without "stripper"! A sax that I use almost every day.
hcklaffskydd.jpg
 
This is just a test post to see if I can get deleted for posting

"Having a go/Rude and aggressive"

If it is, then Kev has to delete his "Deleted post" posts. Now how does that Savoy Opera aria? go

A paradox, a paradox, a most unusual paradox............
 
This is just a test post to see if I can get deleted for posting

"Having a go/Rude and aggressive"

If it is, then Kev has to delete his "Deleted post" posts. Now how does that Savoy Opera aria? go

A paradox, a paradox, a most unusual paradox............

:))):))):)))
 
Gutted, deleted posts on my thread.......and I missed them :))):))):))):crying:
 
This is just a test post to see if I can get deleted for posting

"Having a go/Rude and aggressive"
Hey, if he can have a go, I want one too!
(What were we talking about, exactly?)
 
How's the old Rampone you stripped ages ago looking now, did you ever get it rebuilt?I'm very disappointed with the way mine has aged after polishing,you've done this before so you don't need a lot of advise about how to go about it,if you try to strip the keys without taking the pads out you know it's a whole different ball game I wouldn't fancy using nitromorse with them in, what are you thinking of doing,is it a whole repad and everything or just a tidy up of the appearance .....good luck whatever you do .....and what are you going to use while its down .....John
 
Gutted, deleted posts on my thread.......and I missed them :))):))):))):crying:

Surely they've been emailed to you ......John.


Only just come across this thread so you haven't got a complex after all and it is your fault:))):))):)))
 
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The equipment is a propane deep fat fryer for turkeys.

Sometimes I realize that there are so many things I haven't seen yet in this funny world....
 
John , it was a Dearman, but your right, it was built by Rampone, and sadly it still sits upstairs in my music room, waiting patiently for my attention. I never did finish stripping all the key work but the body does look great. I doubt it would look as "clean" had I been playing it for the last few years. One day I will get around to finishing the job.

As for this one, I just wanted a few opinions as to whether people thought it looked ok in it's battle scared condition. I'm still leaning towards stripping it and as you say, I do have nitromorse experience, only this time I'll leave the key work and pads alone, I'll just remove them all before I start the job.
 
John , it was a Dearman, but your right, it was built by Rampone, and sadly it still sits upstairs in my music room, waiting patiently for my attention. I never did finish stripping all the key work but the body does look great. I doubt it would look as "clean" had I been playing it for the last few years. One day I will get around to finishing the job.

As for this one, I just wanted a few opinions as to whether people thought it looked ok in it's battle scared condition. I'm still leaning towards stripping it and as you say, I do have nitromorse experience, only this time I'll leave the key work and pads alone, I'll just remove them all before I start the job.

Sorry I have no opinion on that I was just giving a little hint perhaps of what might happen SORRY! I think your sax looks great as it is .....John
 

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