YTS 61 in for a service

Hi All - I was having a few 'sqeak' issues (especially on the C# or C to D Jump...and mainly when the sax was cold) and I suspected a leak. So I took it to a techie for some advice and when he saw the state of the pads, which were quite dark and discoloured, he recommended a full overhaul. Anyway, despite the quoted price (AUS$600), I gave him the go-ahead. I am now sax-less (having not succumbed to the dreaded GAS that seems to afflict so many on this forum 🙂) for the next week or so until I get it back. I'll let you all know how it goes. Cheers, David
 
I had my newer 61 overhauled 2 months ago. I bought it 3 months ago. The body was bent and it needed a lot of new pads. The price was neary $700 CAN (same as US $ pretty much). Part of that expense was adding a strap hook to the southeast of the stock hook. He cut away the new hook pad a bit so that it is about a 1/2' (12.5 mm) to the right of the existing hook. I have 2 61s and I had moved the strap hook myself on the other one but did bit of a messy job. No more DIY jobs for me. I'll save the soldering for the house plumbing and guitar pickups. Right now, the hooks are in the same position as on my YTS-23 and YTS-875. Before I moved those hooks, my right thumb was in constant pain.

I haven't had any work done on my other 61. I bought it back in March and the 82 year old guy I bought it from had it serviced before he sold it to me. He still plays at old folks' homes and in church and decided to buy a new Selmer.

It's nice to have a back-up sax. I've kept my YTS-23 and had it serviced at the same time. A few pads were replaced and some adjustments were all that it needed. $200. Plus, he adjusted the M1 Custom neck (from a YTS-875) in order for the octave key to open the octave pad on the neck.
 
600 Aussie dollars for a full overhaul of tenor sax sounds pretty good to me. My favourite horn repair guy charges $850 Kiwi dollars for a tenor sax and if you went to the 'Big Smoke' of Auckland you wouldn't get much change from $1,500.00 Kiwi dollars...:w00t:

hence all Kiwi sax players are poor and the Auckland horn repair people drive around in 2015 Bentleys and live in multi-million dollar mansions...:rofl:

Greg S.
 
Speaking to Paul Carrington (tech) a while ago, he said that Yamaha keeps techs in business as they still use non-waterproof pads which suffer from moisture ingress and so need replacing far sooner than waterproof types. If using original pads, he now waterproofs them as he's found a product (can't recall which, although he did show me) that does a good job, having tried many others.

I guess Yamaha like to sell lots of sets of spare pads!?
 
Well, I have my Sax back and it is playing beautifully in the low register. Still a 'more than occasional' chirp/squeal in the high register especiallt when going from C to D (I need to work on getting the fingers in sync ) so lots more practice to do. 🙂

One thing that is troubling me (perhaps I should start a new thread here but I'll carry on regardless) is that I had been using some old reeds (about 20 years old) that were in the case (Rico #3) and they played beautifully. I recently went to buy some new reeds and bought Rico Royal 2.5. The problem is that I find them almost impossible to play for longer than 5 minutes before aching mouth muscles force me to take a break. It's very frustrating. Do reeds get easier to play as they get older...and what am I going to do when the box of 20 year old Rico #3s runs out...?? 🙂
 
The rico royale is quite different to your older reeds, which I guess are in an orange box. These are still available. Maybe the reeds were softer in those days. But buy a softer reed...
 
The terms "overhaul" and "repad" can mean many different things when used by different techs. When comparing prices, it becomes important to discover what the service involves. This is my check list of a complete "mechanical overhaul" that includes a cosmetic refinish.

❏ Clean and refinish/polish keys

❏ Clean and refinish/polish body

❏ Straighten bent keys

❏ Remove dents from body

❏ Clean and straighten rods

❏ Align posts

❏ Clean and polish springs or

❏ Make new springs

❏ Level toneholes

❏ Level keycups

❏ Fit keys

❏ Dry fit pads

❏ Install and seat pads with shellac

❏ Replace key corks, felts, etc.

❏ Adjust and regulate

❏ Fit neck tenon

❏ Re-cork neck

❏ Play test

❏ Check work
 
Interesting check list jbt - just a suggestion: might be worth the mods putting it somewhere on the Forum as a reference guide.
Do reeds get easier to play as they get older...
Reeds do get "softer" as they get older. A quick blick under a magnifying glass and you'll see that the cell walls (between the fibres) in a new reed are intact, as the reed gets older the cell walls become perforated and are unable to hold the fibres together. On older reeds you'll see how the cells have gotten literally blown away completely at the tip end of the reed. With time and use the fibres will also warp to the curvature of the mouthpiece. I suppose you could call it a rotting process caused by the constant soaking and drying and being subjected to the daily "vibration therapy".
 
I think you need to distinguish between reeds that are old and unplayed and old ones that have been used.

Unplayed old reeds seem to play just like new ones to me.
 
Good point Nick - quite rightly so - I was assuming that the quote was referring to reeds ageing through use and not through storage. Providing unused reeds are stored in an air-sealed box they shouldn't be subject to any degradation with age caused by changing humidity levels.
 
Hi Everyone,
I have a question for you all. Since my YTS 61 was serviced, I am having trouble blowing a 'clean' G, F and F#. It's hard to describe, but the notes seem 'unstable' and difficult to control...especially at low volume. They keep wanting to jump an octave or just plain sqeak. I hadn't noticed it prior to the service. What do you think...is it 'operator error' or should I take my Sax back to the techie who serviced it? Comments appreciated. Cheers, David.
 
Blow the mouthpiece and neck off the saxophone and see what note it makes. If it is higher than E concert, your embouchure is too tight. Also when you play those notes keep the back of the tongue down as if singing "AHH", feel as if you are blowing your airstream toward your LH thumb, and use warm air. If those techniques don't improve those notes, it is a leak somewhere.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

Members' Blogs

Trending content

Forum statistics

Topics
29,580
Messages
512,835
Members
8,735
Latest member
Idelone
Back
Top Bottom