Informative and interesting videos about saxophones from the perspective of Matt Stohrer, a saxophone repairman specializing in the repair and restoration of high-end, vintage, and unusual saxophones.
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Couldn't find your normal polishing routine....bad link...oops found..but it wasn'ta RU-vidlink. It was text instructions! Do i even know how to read step by step instructions anymore!?!. Cheers, thanks for the content. I stopped playing 30yrs ago, but my son has decided to start, so I need to tidy up my old silver mk6 tenor. Btw, how lucky is that kid, learning on a mk6? I was ten years in and a pro before I had it.
Thanks for your information. I have a 6M serial number 356448 "Lady Face" with an E above serial number and an L below. Could you tell me what the E means and I'm having difficulty with dating it. Could you help with that. Thanks, Daniel
Cool video thanks!! Question: What do you do if the reciever is so slightly out of round. It seems like the screws just pulled the reciever a little bit, making it more like an egg shaped? Do you do the same thing?
Great result for sure!! But I wonder what will happen if it's getting used for playing again. Zilver or metal tends to react with human touch...resulting in a black or dull sax. Is it going to get a new clear coat or do you leave it 'as is'? I'm on the verge to overhaul a Conn Shooting Stars 14M, a Mexico produced alto sax from 1970. Would polishing this sax be possible or does it also have a clearcoat ( which I think.. ) so it's better not to polish?
Never seen one like that before. All the C-mels I've seen in photos (as well as the only one I've seen in the flesh which was on the wall of Bill Lewington's brilliant shop at Cambridge Circus pretty much every time I was in there) looked essentially like an alto body with a tenor neck. This one just looks like an oversized alto. Strange.
If it's marker of some kind, when naphtha fails, photo emulsion cleaner like PEC-12 usually wipes it right off. Coloring over it with an EXPO marker may work as well, because it has the same solvent as the emulsion cleaner.
I am curious about soft vs hard pads. I realize there are pros and cons either way. I have a TM Custom 500SL and with the rolled tone holes I often get a percussive cupping sound with the notes played which I'd like to diminish. I can mitigate it by pressing the keys lightly but the spring tension stiffness makes that difficult, to which I think I may need to lighten the action and hopefully do so without the key action getting sloppy.
Stumbling across this a while later, I think some context would be helpful: This all came about because I was trying all the pads I could get my hands on to see if I was indeed using the "best pad" (for me). I performed a lot of casual experiments and investigation into things that were important to me, as a repairer, to guide me in my decision. A particular chunk of my nerdy learnings, I made into this video. I would not consider it the best experiment to define and test porosity in pads for an academic paper- much less a more serious forum argument!- more like this is what I as a repairer found interesting during pad testing.
@@tpark89 I have a Ferree's compact bench motor and also a modified Emco Unimat that I use most of the time. If you email me, I can send you more details and photos.
Reg. chimney height: Chimney volume is the important factor. While manufacturing tolerances are not that exact, neither is the horn to horn playing quality either. If you have a horn that plays really well, leveling metal removal can result in noticeable changes in tone and response. Benade stipulates that microscopic differences in manufacturing tolerances result in the horn to horn variations. I had a great Mk6 alto that I took in for checkup. The tech felt that the D palm key chimney was too short (from years of levelling) so he brazed a new one on without asking me. The horn never played the same... Probably more critical after 1st levelling would be the burrs on the chimney edges, if not removed.
@@mostainless1839 as I believe I say in the video, this is mostly a specious claim only useful for forum argument enjoyers since resonators change the volume a LOT more, not to mention varying pad seating depths. What you mention happening to your horn is orders or magnitude more severe and likely had other contributing factors since one does not simply braze a new tonehole on a VI.
Thanks for the video and the others too! :) Just wondering, where do you find the PTFE to layer the cork with, please? I find 0,13 mm (0.005") and 0,26 mm (0.010") small sheets. Or what is a suitable thickness, CA to attach, please?
me or my sax are sharp up the octave for the open C#, and L palm keys. My 2 finger is B is flat compared to the A and C. Its an old SA80 II tenor. I'd love your thoughts. Ive only seen 1 tech, and he just thought the sax was bad. I can bring these nites to pitch but its a biggish change in embouchure. Im just a hobbyist.
Hi there again I just thought I would reach out as I decided on buying an old conn new wonder I c melody and was wanting to know some info on this model playability and history cheers. I sent an email through about it.
Does Ferees also have the pivot screws? They have a $25 minimum cart and 12 set screws are about 18 bucks. If they had the pivot screws that would help tons.
Got an old conn chu berry soprano that my son (Roland B) says plays out of key but it’s fine with me. Is my ear screwed up or am I automatically correcting ?
Great job ! Thank you for sharing. Y’all are an encouragement for me being that I’ve been struggling to get mine done for six years. Well, I’ll keep dreaming and trying 😁👍🏼… looks so cool.
Too funny, I just got one of these in Tenor (318K serial as well) with the original case cover, mostly original pads and case in good condition. The horn has several dents, some lacquer wear and needs an overhaul to play well. Thanks for the video!
I got to play one of these in our community band a few years ago. The owner had bought it brand new from a Pasadena, CA store in 1950. He dropped it performing in a parade and cracked the back shield. I found a replicated shield and mounted it, but not too precisely because the mounting holes weren't already pre-drilled. The intonation was light-years ahead of that from the Bundy II alto I was then playing, whose sound elicited grimaces from the conductor.😒
I just acquired a 1923-4 King Soprano C, have you any knowledge on them or opinions? I also understand the length is different from a Bb soprano, what should it be, as there are no markings I can find to indicate that it's a C vs a Bb? thanks for any help.
not sure! either brass or hard rubber if I can machine it that thin, and epoxy it in place. not a high priority as it plays well as-is, but eventually I would like to do it to get it even closer to correct.
