This reminds me of the instructions which read "to reassemble, reverse procedure;" of course that's easier said that done in this case. That repair looked virtuosic man.
Nice! If you can find a spot to mount a laser pointer from above you can point it at the middle of your dent ball before sliding the sax on and the laser point will show you where the ball is inside the body tube.
Matt, you mentioned in this video the owner doesn't want this horn overhauled, yet I see the upper stack pads @11:32 are completely shot. I am curious how a conversation about the scope of job that you would prefer to see for the horn (presumably a full overhaul) vs. the work the customer requested went in this case, and where you draw the line when it comes the a disparity between the two. For context I work as a technician at a local family owned music store, and have more than once found myself in an uncomfortable situation with professional players and parents of students alike where their diagnosis of the problem and the instrument's actual needs to achieve playability are very different.
I will do dentwork or soldering on request without touching the rest of the horn, but when it comes to putting it in playing condition and the person wants to do less than I think it needs, I turn it down. I usually say something along the lines of "you won't get the result you came all this way for if you don't let me do what I think needs done." Luckily I live far away from most folks, have a long waitlist, and am known for being grumpy and mostly doing overhauls so it is not something I have to say often, unlike most music stores. As I said elsewhere recently when someone said they thought I did good overhauls and wished good overhauls were easier to find: I am very lucky to have been in a place where I can get good at doing soup-to-nuts overhauls on vintage horns by doing them day in and day out for 15 years so far, starting from day one of my career (first job at minimum wage was overhauling the store manager's Mark VI tenor- probably because my boss wanted to deep six me since I was assigned to him without his consent, but thats another story). Most of the money in this business gets spent $50 at a time. There is definitely much utility in that, and unfortunately it is not a skill I have honed. But I have made an effort through youtube and my websites and forums and facebook to help others continue to see the value of and to have high standards for overhauling these old works of art, and so far have continued to be lucky enough to find more work than I can handle.
Hey Matt, I know this is an older upload, but I was curious about whether or not you use some form of lubricant on the dent ball, either cork grease, slide grease etc.
I know that is a somewhat common practice, but I do not, at least when I am pushing out from the inside. I try and keep my dent balls clean and shiny, and I want the inside of the sax clean. The little bit of resistance I get from the metal-to-metal contact, I find useful for pinpoint application of force. On exterior dentwork (like bell lip) I will sometimes use something to try and reduce lacquer damage.
Matt,...I hope he let you at least replace the Bb bis, and G key pads. I never coul understand customers who worried about acouple dings,...but let the leaks/mechanics go.
I have seen other people doing this who use a laser pointer aimed at the ball to keep track of where it is after it is in the horn. Nice work.
This reminds me of the instructions which read "to reassemble, reverse procedure;" of course that's easier said that done in this case.
That repair looked virtuosic man.
Every time I rewatch your dent videos I wish I had that touch. Maybe someday.
@Graham Leon take your freakin spam somewhere else
What would be the prices for dents? I need to fix mine but I have no idea what it would cost.
Nice! If you can find a spot to mount a laser pointer from above you can point it at the middle of your dent ball before sliding the sax on and the laser point will show you where the ball is inside the body tube.
Good idea... just put it in a mic stand.
Matt, you mentioned in this video the owner doesn't want this horn overhauled, yet I see the upper stack pads @11:32 are completely shot. I am curious how a conversation about the scope of job that you would prefer to see for the horn (presumably a full overhaul) vs. the work the customer requested went in this case, and where you draw the line when it comes the a disparity between the two. For context I work as a technician at a local family owned music store, and have more than once found myself in an uncomfortable situation with professional players and parents of students alike where their diagnosis of the problem and the instrument's actual needs to achieve playability are very different.
I will do dentwork or soldering on request without touching the rest of the horn, but when it comes to putting it in playing condition and the person wants to do less than I think it needs, I turn it down. I usually say something along the lines of "you won't get the result you came all this way for if you don't let me do what I think needs done." Luckily I live far away from most folks, have a long waitlist, and am known for being grumpy and mostly doing overhauls so it is not something I have to say often, unlike most music stores.
As I said elsewhere recently when someone said they thought I did good overhauls and wished good overhauls were easier to find: I am very lucky to have been in a place where I can get good at doing soup-to-nuts overhauls on vintage horns by doing them day in and day out for 15 years so far, starting from day one of my career (first job at minimum wage was overhauling the store manager's Mark VI tenor- probably because my boss wanted to deep six me since I was assigned to him without his consent, but thats another story). Most of the money in this business gets spent $50 at a time. There is definitely much utility in that, and unfortunately it is not a skill I have honed. But I have made an effort through youtube and my websites and forums and facebook to help others continue to see the value of and to have high standards for overhauling these old works of art, and so far have continued to be lucky enough to find more work than I can handle.
Hey Matt,
I know this is an older upload, but I was curious about whether or not you use some form of lubricant on the dent ball, either cork grease, slide grease etc.
I know that is a somewhat common practice, but I do not, at least when I am pushing out from the inside. I try and keep my dent balls clean and shiny, and I want the inside of the sax clean. The little bit of resistance I get from the metal-to-metal contact, I find useful for pinpoint application of force.
On exterior dentwork (like bell lip) I will sometimes use something to try and reduce lacquer damage.
love the vids mat your an artisan for sure ,,, on dent removal ive seen smaller hand tools used are they any good
Nice work
Jim
I would like to see where and how the rod is installed to safely handle that kind of pressure please.
It's a large vice bolted into the floor. You can see it at 1:20.
Hey Matt can I ask you a question?
Matt,...I hope he let you at least replace the Bb bis, and G key pads. I never coul understand customers who worried about acouple dings,...but let the leaks/mechanics go.