Tech/maintenance What else can I adjust to fix the low notes on my tenor?

[Honkin Ron Howe]

Have you sorted this now Mix O Lydian? There's some good advice above, such as the value of a leak light, other less obvious pad leaks right up to the crook (which can get slightly bent), Low Eb and so on.

The problem is, that levelling and re-floating pads is a dark art as is regulation. You can float a pad to fix a leak and once the shellac has fully hardened, it can shrink a bit, and so on.

I recently had the same problem with my old 1991 Yamaha YTS-32, and a great tech had been through the horn to fix other leaks. But my low notes started fluffing and I'm big on blowing sub-tone.

The secret is, 'less is more'. I went through the horn with a leak light (really gently closing various keys with no pressure). I eventually found minor leaks on the G# and the F# which weren't going away with regulation on the beam between the low right stack and the G#. The G# spring tension was a bit weak and might have been blowing open to form an unseen leak.

The next step was to re-float the low G# and F# without removing anything (great care is needed). This involved gently heating each of those keys to float the pads and then gently lowering and then pressing them down to re-seat the pads. It took three or four goes but I got there and the D down to Bb are now singing. I left the G# spring tension alone for now.

Any tech will tell you that it's a dark art and can be hit and miss. Sometimes you can re-set pads in one go and, sometimes it can take hours or even days. And this can be the same for new pads. So, back to the the less is more ... bending cups, over regulating, hard pressing, fully removing pads and re-setting etc is not always the answer.

So, Go back to your regular tech and let them slowly get things improved ... it's not always their fault. Wind instruments can be that fickle.

I'm a big Yamaha user but those TJ Horns are actually really good. Oh, and I've just had a horn away with a tech being repaired (from a drop) for months, because I always say, "No rush" ... as I have spare horns.

 

[Mix O Lydian]

Have you sorted this now Mix O Lydian? There's some good advice above, such as the value of a leak light, other less obvious pad leaks right up to the crook (which can get slightly bent), Low Eb and so on.

The problem is, that levelling and re-floating pads is a dark art as is regulation. You can float a pad to fix a leak and once the shellac has fully hardened, it can shrink a bit, and so on.

I recently had the same problem with my old 1991 Yamaha YTS-32, and a great tech had been through the horn to fix other leaks. But my low notes started fluffing and I'm big on blowing sub-tone.

The secret is, 'less is more'. I went through the horn with a leak light (really gently closing various keys with no pressure). I eventually found minor leaks on the G# and the F# which weren't going away with regulation on the beam between the low right stack and the G#. The G# spring tension was a bit weak and might have been blowing open to form an unseen leak.

The next step was to re-float the low G# and F# without removing anything (great care is needed). This involved gently heating each of those keys to float the pads and then gently lowering and then pressing them down to re-seat the pads. It took three or four goes but I got there and the D down to Bb are now singing. I left the G# spring tension alone for now.

Any tech will tell you that it's a dark art and can be hit and miss. Sometimes you can re-set pads in one go and, sometimes it can take hours or even days. And this can be the same for new pads. So, back to the the less is more ... bending cups, over regulating, hard pressing, fully removing pads and re-setting etc is not always the answer.

So, Go back to your regular tech and let them slowly get things improved ... it's not always their fault. Wind instruments can be that fickle.

I'm a big Yamaha user but those TJ Horns are actually really good. Oh, and I've just had a horn away with a tech being repaired (from a drop) for months, because I always say, "No rush" ... as I have spare horns.

Thank you. I sold that saxophone, once I'd taken it to a tech. I just didn't like it. A friend sold me their Yamaha 275 for a "too good to miss" price. So I bought that and got rId of the TJ.