beautiful informative videos! After playing guitar for 40 years, I started to learn alto sax last February (2020) (Conn ladyface 1932) It's great to learn and know about the instruments. Thanks a lot!!
I repaired clarinets and flutes as well at one time, but now only saxophones, and only professional & vintage saxophones. I'm a lucky guy, because that is what I am passionate about.
Thanks for this informative video. Now I understand regular/drawn tone holes and rolled tone holes. I guess it's better to purchase Sax with a regular tone hole as it is easier to repair.
Thanks for sharing your craft. The education is useful and enjoyable, even for a player who has no desire to do any in depth work for himself. This video changed my opinion on soldered tone holes
Hi Matt, Thanks for the very informative saxophone videos. I am not a repair tech but I love knowing how everything is done. Was wondering, have induction method tools for brazing been adopted in your repair shop yet? I imagine they could increase the efficiency of work with silver solder.
hi MATT this is DENNIS I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU ,whats is the best springs to use to have fast action on a vintage selmer tenor 85xxx??? IS BLUE SPRINGS BETTER than normal stainless steel springs?? thanks for your help and answer, all the best, Im a big fan of yours from watching your videos, they are really GREAT AND HELPFUL , ALL THE BEST TO YOU DENNIS BULLOCK
HI Stohrer THANKS FOR THE GREAT VIDEOS Man , I LEARN ALOT every time I WATCH YOUR SAXOPHONE VIDEOS, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, I WOULD LIKE YOUR IDEAS ABOUT THE PMAURIAT 76 tenor 2 SERIES SAXOPHONE, now I HAVE SELMER MARK 6 85,000 series , but I have troubles with the tuning being alittle sharp and not being so comforable to play like the economices of the vintage selmers are not so easy I feel they need to be made more comforable to play, So I would like to make my selmer more comforable to play or try a P marauriat tenor 76 series 2 ,for me the Pmarauriat does not have the sweet tone, like of a mark 6 vintage tenor, but its very comforable to play and maybe with the right neck and mouth piece the tone could be made better, but thats my idea about it, its a cheaper horn than the selmers , and the brass is not the same as the selmers either if that makes a difference which I think it does , I would like to know yours thoughts about it thanks for your help, and thanks for your reply all the best Mike
Hai Matt i have problem with my baritone saxophone leak i have my own leaklight in the bari bodey and can find the leaks with great ease and bend the cups in place and check for leaks and it is perfect in line no leaks but after a while the leake is back on the bary always the 3 lowest notes on the bell what is bending the keycupps out off line again sorrey for my bad inglish
An aspect thich has not been covered is the levelling of a tone hole, whether drawn or soldered on or drawn and rolled over which tone hole has been pushed into the body by an amount which is not possible to rectify by filing. In the case of rolled edge tone holes filing is totally out of the question unless one wishes to destroy the instrument. In the case of a tone hole which has been pushed in by anything up to about 2 or 3 mm, filing is of course of no avail. The tone hole has to be pulled bach out or lifted out of the body to its original position.There could be many ways to attend to this problem but one way which i have used and continue to use is the use of what may be referred to as an L rod. This is a failrly heavy round rod of diameter less that the diameter of the tone hole. At one end of this rod wich could be about 250 mm long.is welded a short round rod of diameter about half the diameter of the body at the site of the tone hole damage. This piece should be very short and could be half a round. It is very important the this small rod be rounded at its free end. This tool is inserted into the tone hole and the small rod positioned so that when the tool is lifted up with some force the pushed in part is lifted up. The lifting up of the tone hole is most important not to be done at one attemtp but in many repeated upward impacts. The tool should be rotated so that the small rod strikes the pushed in part over its entire area and not just in one position which would further damage not only the tone hole but the instrument as well. Once the tone hole has bee lifted up to its original position, whatever work is required to be done on the raised part is carried out.such as filing or smoothening etc. in the case of rolled edge tone holes these should be treated with the very greatest care and filing should not be attempted but rather scraping followed by burnishing. setting right any out of round of the tone hole is easily carried out by the insertion of a mandrel of exact diameter of the hole but tapered for easy insertion.I hope this will prove of interest and use to repair persons as much as it has been to me.. If done carefully and with full attemtion to the progress,the finish on the body will require minimum attention.. . A refinement to the tool would have a sliding weight on the vertical rod which is rapidly moved up to a stop. This results in an impaxt which acts on the pushed in part.. However the simple tool if used with extreme care will produce satisfactory results.
Vivian Astridge This comment was held in moderation, and I didn't see it until now. I did say very clearly and several times in this three-part series that toneholes can only be leveled on an undamaged body, and that the typical amount of material taken off is much less than the thickness of a sheet of paper. This is very important! And thank you for sharing your method of lifting toneholes up from the inside.
***** Thank you for your reply to my comment about levelling tone holes. The method i havedescribed is not one that i have developed but i read it an instrument repair manual. I did not mention it in my comment but i avoid filing tone holes unless the amount required to be removed is as y ou say less than or not more than the thickness of a sheet of ordinary paper. One method that i think is original is the making of a set of dies. The lower die is a disc with a half inch hole at its center. The t op die is shaped like a large but flat top hat. The smaller dia fits absolutely exactly into the tone hole and the larger dia prevents the die f rom entering the tone hole but its only function is to level the top of the tone hole. The top die also has a matching hole at its centre. A bolt is inserted from the bottom through the two dies and a nut on the top die clamps the t wo dies . To begin with the diameters of the top and bottom dies where these parts enter the tone hole are made so the neither die entes the tone hole freely. This is because the tone hole has been pushed out of s hape by the levelling process. tightening the nut draws the two dies together. The tone hole is made round again and the larger diameter of the top die is judiciously hammered all around to level the tone hole. The t one hole edge with the dies in cannot buckle in any way. The hammering or rather t apping on the top die all around levels the tone hole edge.The part of both dies which enter the tone hole are polished round so that as they enter the tone hole sides are hot damaged or gouged. The thickness of the bottom die is just a little more that the total depth of the tone hole. The top die enters just about more than half the tone hole depth.I used this method of Keilwerths which have rolled over tone holes or else a fine round ring soldered to the tone hole so that in appearance the tone hole looks like a rolled over tone hole.
Matt dont you level rolled tone holes? Its not that difficult and makes the pad job so much easier. I guess I will have to make a video of how to level a rolled tone hole.... :-)
SaxWorks Denmark Please do! I do not level them because as far as I can tell the methods involve basically installing dents in the horn- either by pushing the tonehole down into the body or lifting the tonehole up from the inside. I don't feel good about doing that, so I just make up for it on the padwork side.
***** You need to use a bit of force but not more than you would fixing dents, and I would say that it can be done well enough so It will not be noticeable at all. I will make a video showing my technique. I am not saying its the right way of doing it, its just what works well for me. Happy to pass that on
SaxWorks Denmark Cool. Yeah there is definitely more than one way to do this job well. I look forward to seeing your video! I will likely add it to the open source saxophone project :)
In one of my future videos I will show how to repair a damaged rolled tone hole. I have an SML where a tech has planed the ring away so I will use the Keilworth method of putting a new ring on gcrav.
SaxWorks Denmark I definitely want to see this! I have heard of people using the rings from a Conn res-o-pad as a starting point for making a solder-on roll.
***** Oh... that might work.... I havent quite figured out how I want to go about it - but I have desided to do it, so I will post the video showing what I ended up doing :-)
beautiful informative videos! After playing guitar for 40 years, I started to learn alto sax last February (2020) (Conn ladyface 1932) It's great to learn and know about the instruments. Thanks a lot!!
I repaired clarinets and flutes as well at one time, but now only saxophones, and only professional & vintage saxophones. I'm a lucky guy, because that is what I am passionate about.
Thanks for this informative video. Now I understand regular/drawn tone holes and rolled tone holes. I guess it's better to purchase Sax with a regular tone hole as it is easier to repair.
Thanks for sharing your craft. The education is useful and enjoyable, even for a player who has no desire to do any in depth work for himself. This video changed my opinion on soldered tone holes
Very Good video look forward to seeing more of your videos Matt
Hi Matt, Thanks for the very informative saxophone videos. I am not a repair tech but I love knowing how everything is done. Was wondering, have induction method tools for brazing been adopted in your repair shop yet? I imagine they could increase the efficiency of work with silver solder.
I agree that Conn made the best rolled tone holes. Also the easiest to level
hi MATT this is DENNIS I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU ,whats is the best springs to use to have fast action on a vintage selmer tenor 85xxx??? IS BLUE SPRINGS BETTER than normal stainless steel springs?? thanks for your help and answer, all the best, Im a big fan of yours from watching your videos, they are really GREAT AND HELPFUL , ALL THE BEST TO YOU DENNIS BULLOCK
HI Stohrer THANKS FOR THE GREAT VIDEOS Man , I LEARN ALOT every time I WATCH YOUR SAXOPHONE VIDEOS, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU, I WOULD LIKE YOUR IDEAS ABOUT THE PMAURIAT 76 tenor 2 SERIES SAXOPHONE, now I HAVE SELMER MARK 6 85,000 series , but I have troubles with the tuning being alittle sharp and not being so comforable to play like the economices of the vintage selmers are not so easy I feel they need to be made more comforable to play, So I would like to make my selmer more comforable to play or try a P marauriat tenor 76 series 2 ,for me the Pmarauriat does not have the sweet tone, like of a mark 6 vintage tenor, but its very comforable to play and maybe with the right neck and mouth piece the tone could be made better, but thats my idea about it, its a cheaper horn than the selmers , and the brass is not the same as the selmers either if that makes a difference which I think it does , I would like to know yours thoughts about it thanks for your help, and thanks for your reply all the best Mike
Thank you for sharing Matt.
Regards
Chris (Kohlert Uk) ;o)
Any evaluation of ring-rimmed (Keilwerth type) toneholes in the works?
Hai Matt i have problem with my baritone saxophone leak i have my own leaklight in the bari bodey and can find the leaks with great ease and bend the cups in place and check for leaks and it is perfect in line no leaks but after a while the leake is back on the bary always the 3 lowest notes on the bell what is bending the keycupps out off line again sorrey for my bad inglish
An aspect thich has not been covered is the levelling of a tone hole, whether drawn or soldered on or drawn and rolled over which tone hole has been pushed into the body by an amount which is not possible to rectify by filing. In the case of rolled edge tone holes filing is totally out of the question unless one wishes to destroy the instrument. In the case of a tone hole which has been pushed in by anything up to about 2 or 3 mm, filing is of course of no avail. The tone hole has to be pulled bach out or lifted out of the body to its original position.There could be many ways to attend to this problem but one way which i have used and continue to use is the use of what may be referred to as an L rod. This is a failrly heavy round rod of diameter less that the diameter of the tone hole. At one end of this rod wich could be about 250 mm long.is welded a short round rod of diameter about half the diameter of the body at the site of the tone hole damage. This piece should be very short and could be half a round. It is very important the this small rod be rounded at its free end. This tool is inserted into the tone hole and the small rod positioned so that when the tool is lifted up with some force the pushed in part is lifted up. The lifting up of the tone hole is most important not to be done at one attemtp but in many repeated upward impacts. The tool should be rotated so that the small rod strikes the pushed in part over its entire area and not just in one position which would further damage not only the tone hole but the instrument as well. Once the tone hole has bee lifted up to its original position, whatever work is required to be done on the raised part is carried out.such as filing or smoothening etc. in the case of rolled edge tone holes these should be treated with the very greatest care and filing should not be attempted but rather scraping followed by burnishing. setting right any out of round of the tone hole is easily carried out by the insertion of a mandrel of exact diameter of the hole but tapered for easy insertion.I hope this will prove of interest and use to repair persons as much as it has been to me.. If done carefully and with full attemtion to the progress,the finish on the body will require minimum attention.. . A refinement to the tool would have a sliding weight on the vertical rod which is rapidly moved up to a stop. This results in an impaxt which acts on the pushed in part.. However the simple tool if used with extreme care will produce satisfactory results.
Vivian Astridge This comment was held in moderation, and I didn't see it until now. I did say very clearly and several times in this three-part series that toneholes can only be leveled on an undamaged body, and that the typical amount of material taken off is much less than the thickness of a sheet of paper. This is very important!
And thank you for sharing your method of lifting toneholes up from the inside.
***** Thank you for your reply to my comment about levelling tone holes. The method i havedescribed is not one that i have developed but i read it an instrument repair manual. I did not mention it in my comment but i avoid filing tone holes unless the amount required to be removed is as y ou say less than or not more than the thickness of a sheet of ordinary paper. One method that i think is original is the making of a set of dies. The lower die is a disc with a half inch hole at its center. The t op die is shaped like a large but flat top hat. The smaller dia fits absolutely exactly into the tone hole and the larger dia prevents the die f rom entering the tone hole but its only function is to level the top of the tone hole. The top die also has a matching hole at its centre. A bolt is inserted from the bottom through the two dies and a nut on the top die clamps the t wo dies . To begin with the diameters of the top and bottom dies where these parts enter the tone hole are made so the neither die entes the tone hole freely. This is because the tone hole has been pushed out of s hape by the levelling process. tightening the nut draws the two dies together. The tone hole is made round again and the larger diameter of the top die is judiciously hammered all around to level the tone hole. The t one hole edge with the dies in cannot buckle in any way. The hammering or rather t apping on the top die all around levels the tone hole edge.The part of both dies which enter the tone hole are polished round so that as they enter the tone hole sides are hot damaged or gouged. The thickness of the bottom die is just a little more that the total depth of the tone hole. The top die enters just about more than half the tone hole depth.I used this method of Keilwerths which have rolled over tone holes or else a fine round ring soldered to the tone hole so that in appearance the tone hole looks like a rolled over tone hole.
very interesting, thank you!
hello matt, i am adrian from Argentina, Can this be done on the old martins with beveled tone hones?
dude, thanx for this
Matt dont you level rolled tone holes? Its not that difficult and makes the pad job so much easier. I guess I will have to make a video of how to level a rolled tone hole.... :-)
SaxWorks Denmark Please do! I do not level them because as far as I can tell the methods involve basically installing dents in the horn- either by pushing the tonehole down into the body or lifting the tonehole up from the inside. I don't feel good about doing that, so I just make up for it on the padwork side.
***** You need to use a bit of force but not more than you would fixing dents, and I would say that it can be done well enough so It will not be noticeable at all. I will make a video showing my technique. I am not saying its the right way of doing it, its just what works well for me. Happy to pass that on
SaxWorks Denmark Cool. Yeah there is definitely more than one way to do this job well. I look forward to seeing your video! I will likely add it to the open source saxophone project :)
I am currently uploading it will up in a few hours. feel free to share anywhere :-)
***** Video is uploaded and ready for use :-)
In one of my future videos I will show how to repair a damaged rolled tone hole. I have an SML where a tech has planed the ring away so I will use the Keilworth method of putting a new ring on gcrav.
SaxWorks Denmark I definitely want to see this! I have heard of people using the rings from a Conn res-o-pad as a starting point for making a solder-on roll.
***** Oh... that might work.... I havent quite figured out how I want to go about it - but I have desided to do it, so I will post the video showing what I ended up doing :-)
SaxWorks Denmark I've got a bunch of old res-o-pads, if you need a certain size ring just let me know.
Thanks. I will keep that in mind.