Saxophone Octave Problems That Are Easy To Repair 

Exact same thing happened to me

My thumb key is having trouble

sameee

@@digitalrxven thats what i did LMAOO

Same

Lol...that's what I have been planning to do..till I found this😅😅😅

That is the lyre holder.

There are a few different screws for the octave mechanism. You also need to know what the brand is. You can probably get a screw or hinge rod from your local band instrument repair shop. If you put it on yourself, it should not be very expensive.

Put one thumb where you put your thumb when you play it and the other thumb where the key comes up when you push the key. Push down on both at the same time. If you go too far, carefully bend one of them back up. A note of caution: if you are not careful, you can do damage. If you are not comfortable doing this job, do not try it.

Do both of the octave pads open? Does one of the pads stick to the little octave vent?

The body octave key should be up and the neck octave key should be down.

The lever that you push is going down, but the key is not coming up. that is either because the hinge rod is bent or the pad is sticky and needs to be cleaned. Push down the Side B flat lever with one hand and with the other hand open the B flat key and see if you can figure out what is wrong. The easiest repair is to clean the pad with a little water and a cloth. I hope this helps. Art

My first guess is that the neck octave key is slightly open. Check to see if there is a little space between the floating lever (on the very top of the sax) and the lower part of the neck octave key. If there is not, bend the neck octave key so that there is just a little space.

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop how long should i keep trying to bend it?

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop what if that isn’t the problem?

It will play in the lower octave if neither of the octave keys are open. If the wrong octave key is open, I am not sure what will happen. I think it will just sound stuffy, but I am not sure.

Check to see if the neck is bent. Sometimes that can cause this problem. You will not be able to see it, but you can feel slightly oval tubing on the mid portion of the neck if this is the problem. There are other things that can cause this problem, but check this first.

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop Thank you, the neck is good..It didn't do it before the overhaul . Is there a specific distance for the body octave to open? Everything is good with the leak light...the odd thing also is that my 6 alto is doing it also but not as much and the same guy did the overhaul..both horns play all the way down, and starting on any of the low notes is great, which is the best I've had them play. It just that area from A-F that is resistant when the body octave key is open..I tried adjusting the screws over the g# but there is no play there and that is tight..It is quite bafflingly..I live in Mexico and don't speak Spanish so it was hard for me to explain..he tried some things but it's still the same..The necks are good.

dude, I am having a similar problem after a mild overhaul....that and a real barking tone on low E...honestly wished I never took it in.

On some models the cork goes on another part of the key and not under where the thumb rests. If it works fine and does not click when you press the key down, there is nothing wrong. If that is not the case, you need to remove the key and install a cork under where the thumb goes.

There are several reasons this could be happening. My first guess is that the spring on the neck octave key is too weak. It very well may be something else, but you can start by checking that.

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop how could I check that

There are a few reasons for this. My first guess is the G spring does not have enough tension. This can be caused by the spring being bent or the spring being ready to break. I hope this helps.

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop I think this could be the reason. Thank you

It is possible that there is something clogging up one of the octave vents. Try raising the octave keys and cleaning the vents with a pipe cleaner. That may or may not solve the problem, but it is the first thing to check.

I always say, If you are not comfortable doing a repair, don't try it. That is usually when things go wrong.

There can be different reasons for this. Are you talking about the body octave key, neck octave key, octave lever, or octave rocker?

When I push down the octave lever it stays down instead of coming up essentially not allowing the neck octave key to close back up

Does it stick only when the neck is on the sax, or all the time?

All the time

On the octave lever, some saxes have two pivot screws and some have a hinge rod. If you have a hinge rod, it is probably bent or rusted causing the key to stick. If you have 2 pivot screws, they could be rusty or the posts could have bent, causing the octave lever to be squeezed between the posts. These are the most likely problems, but there are several other things it could be. Try unscrewing the pivot screws or hinge rod (if they are not stuck) and see what you can find. Also check to see if the hinge rod moves freely inside the lever; or does it get stuck?

It sounds like more than one key is opening up at the same time. Try looking at it carefully while using the different fingerings to see how the mechanism is working. (do not play it while you are doing this) Look for anything that does not look normal. Sorry I cannot help more, but it is hard to diagnose that problem without seeing the sax.

Thought it was just me having the same problem right now you get a solution to it?

Check to see if the key is running into the key guard.

@@TheBrassandWoodwindShop I got it! Thanks! It had fallen off a stand and it must’ve bent it. I had to remove the guard and bend the key by force back into place. But it worked!