Saxophone Repair Topic: The Pop Test, Version Two 

Hey Matt version 3.0 should include examples of horns that need work before and after. Thanks for your amazing channel and the info you provide.

Matt, you are awesome. I lover your videos, and especially your video descriptions. Sometimes I imagine some guy out there in Internet Land accidentally clicking on one of your videos, inadvertently stumbling through the door of Sax Geek Heaven, thinking, "THIS is what these guys crank up their speakers for?!" then wandering off in a daze of confusion before moving on to watch some entertainment-claiming-to-be-music videos. For that guy, who still doesn't know what hit him, I salute you.

I have to say , it's the first time I have listened to "Pads". Very useful , thanks.

I love that this removes the human variable from the equation. I noticed this sound when I was playing scales without my mouth on the mouthpiece and I bought a new horn. I noticed how flat my old horn sounded in comparison (and have sent it off to the mech for service and probably new pads). I love your channel by the way.

Thanks, I am glad you enjoy it! As to your question, it could indeed end up to be an easy fix, but its not an easy diagnosis- it will need to be in the hands of a skilled and honest repairman to figure out what is wrong.

Nice demonstration. I love every thing that you put out there on the web. You are amazingly generous with the great information that you are sending to the saxophone community. Thanks. I'm such a sax nerd that I've got my tenor out and I'm "poppin" some 4ths in sync with your alto testing. Anyways, thanks.

Haha, thanks man. And thanks for mentioning the descriptions, I have fun writing them.

Thanks Matt. I've actually in the past sampled that sound and some others with a different fingering (Eb to be exact), and used them as conga drum replacements/enhancements. It's a cool sound. And a cool way to tell if your horn is in basic good shape, though it's possible to get a good pop even if the horn isn't sealing completely.

Thanks Matt that really helps. I wasn’t crazy about sucking on a Sax! Best regards. Jimp

I used to wonder why doing this produced a note about a minor third higher than the actual fingered note. E.G. if you pop a low Bb (on the horn/transposed) you actually hear an Db. Putting the mouthpiece on does lower the pitch, but not all the way. However if you actually put the mouthpiece in your mouth as if you were ready to play and pop the note its just about correct. It makes sense, but I found it a fascinating way to demonstrate that adding the mouthpiece and air column of a person affects the pitch produced. And of course, popping a note on the flute actually produces the note as if it were being played normally (no mouthpiece or additional volume added when playing vs popping).

Can you do a pop test on a horn before being overhauled to compare? Thanks.

Matt, How about a soldering demo of some type? Occasionally I need to make emergency repair on my horn before I can get it back to the shop. Thanks!

That's really useful...! Thanks!!!

Yeah, thanks Matt - octave pip. More like protruding 5/16" i guess. Just seemed strange. Pad saver fibers catching on it, too. Thought it maybe good to dry it out a bit w/ pad saver after playing (not leaving saver in ofcourse), but now i'm thinking not. Dont need fibers accumulating, and maybe even damage octave pip with continued nudging by pad saver? Thanks for replying Matt!

that SBA looks amazing... ... ...

Woohoo! My ol' 10m is still going strong

Definitely not the end all be all and not even a tool, and I hope I did not give that impression. This is fun and probably useful in conjunction with regular repair methods, but it is not more than that.

A comparison between a tight sax and a not so tight horn would be helpful.

Hey Matt, i love your channel - so much love to vintage horns! If you dont mind need your advice - on my Martin the tenor low B is unstable and this only feels after you play for a while. I know that needs to go to technician, can it be easy fix? Thanks!

Good to know! That reassures me that I'm not out of my head, still doesn't reassure me of my pads... Oh well, I only play alto once every six months anyways!

Hi Matt. Great video but it raised a question. When I do it to my 65 Bundy H.S. Selmer, Alto, it resonates well lke yours but subsequent hits don't. If I hit it 4 or 5 times in a row, I may get 2 nice resonant sounds while the other 3 are rather dull sounding. Think it's me or the horn? Is there any condition that would cause this besides my hands? Again, I like your videos as I try to get this horn to play the best it can. Thanks!

Matt, you say that you have been focusing on, and experimenting with, pads recently. What are your opinions of Roo pads, if you have any?

can you do a pop test on a horn that has bad pads to compare?

Hi Matt, just noticed a post protruding about 1/2 " inside my YTS-62 a couple inches from the Gooseneck coupling. Is that typical? Seems strange. Noticed it when i was putting in the pad saver. Thanks much

Hi,I have a tenor saxophone but I can not play the note D5.Despite of pressing the octave key the hole on the top gets closed and an other hole,lower on the right side gets opened.Is my sax broken?Can it be repaired?

Is this the end all be all for pad tests though? I pulled out my alto and ran through it, and it sounds fine, but I still have a sneaking suspicion that my low B is leaking, because it's so much harder to blow than any of the other notes on the horn. I tried checking it with a makeshift leak light too, and didn't find anything. Am I hallucinating, or is there something missing?

Fix it felix is gonna fix it!

I have a buesher272470 I had the pads changed and adjusted and I still find it out of sink .Could if be the mouth peace? Or the over adjustment?

What kind of glue do you use?

so if you get no noise what could that mean

in your test, what better pads?! thanks

Very informative. I know you only deal with higher end saxophones .though the pop test would be interesting between newer import lower end sax and older more vintage selmer, king etc...That pop in f really says a lot about the material the sax is made out of.though the silver plate are brighter for sure. The Warmth of the sax brass and resonance .Have you ever compaired also thickness of the brass between different models? Very Informative your videos are and entertaining for us obsessive compulsive mechanical nerds.

Hi mat,just wondering if you can tell me why my new sax played great for a little while then suddenly when i play the E or D n note it goes in to an octave, just like if the octave key is pressed, but it's not,driving me nuts,sax is an alto.

What does it mean if I don't get the same pitch as you when I do the pop test with my alto? Thanks