Dominic Paione

Mrs. Corbett 7th

11/17/11

Saxophone Restoration

My senior project is the restoration of a 1926 Conn New Wonder II alto

saxophone. I picked this as my senior project because I have been playing the

saxophone for about six years, and love it. I am therefore familiar with the horn, but

would like to increase my knowledge about how the horn works, and consequently

how to repair many common problems. However, unless similar experience has been

had on the part of the reader it would be reasonably hard to understand parts of the

horn I will be referring to throughout this essay. Hence, a brief history and

explanation of the horn is necessary to inform the reader. Afterwards, I will move on

to the process of a saxophone restoration. This will include: disassembly of the horn,

cleaning and polishing, repading, reassembly, checking for leaks and readjusting

pads, and finally venting pads. This will cover the entirety of my restoration and final

product.

So, a saxophone works by covering tone holes, which are simply holes of

varying diameters going down the body of the sax, making the instrument longer. By

doing this the amount of saxophone that is vibrating has been increased, decreasing

the frequency of the sound waves emanating from the horn, and thereby a lower pitch

is formed. The parts of a saxophone are very intricate and complex in their nature.

The pads are perhaps the most important part of the saxophone, as they ensure there is

an airtight seal on the tone hole. The pads are laid inside of the cup, which looks a lot

like a very shallow upside down Frisbee disk; these pads vary in diameter as

according to their respective tone hole. The cup is connected to a rod; the rod is

simply a hollow cylinder, to accommodate a screw that fastens the rod to the posts,

small pieces of metal jutting off the body of the sax that accommodates the screw

hole (they also house the springs which give the keys resistance and action) these will

marry the rod to the body of the sax. All of these parts come together in what I have

dubbed “the worst jigsaw puzzle ever.”

The first part in any saxophone restoration is the disassembly of the sax. This

starts with the left hand palm keys, these key control the highest notes on the horn:

double octave D, Eb, and F. Next are the right hand palm keys, controlling several

notes including: alt Bb, alt A, and double octave E. These two groupings of keys are

the first to come off because they are isolated from the upper and lower stacks, which

account for the main bulk and intricacy of the horn. The next to come off the horn is

the upper stack; this is a very complex grouping of keys that controls the notes of: G,

G#, A, Bb, B, C, and C#. This is the majority of the top half of the horn. Next is the

lower stack, which is just as if not more complex than the upper stack; this grouping

controls the notes: D, E, F, and F#. After this is removed the horn is nearly barren,

save the notes that are controlled by pinky keys; the notes of: low Bb, B, C#, C, and

Eb. After these final pieces are removed the sax is left completely barren, and is at

this point a nonfunctioning bent piece of brass.

At this point the sax is in about 50 different pieces, this provides an excellent

opportunity to clean and polish the saxophone. A professional shop would do a

chemical bath in order to ensure the best possible clean. A chemical bath works by

completely submerging the body of the sax in a specially designed cleaning unit,

filled with a specially designed corrosive cleaning solution that eats away all foreign

bodies on the horn. However in my case I had neither the knowledge nor means to do

this the specially designed professional way. So I filled my tub with a mixture of luke

warm water, dish cleaner, and an extremely small amount of bleach. I then proceeded

to use an electric toothbrush and a toilet wand (new), and cleaned the inside and

outside of the sax with these tools. After it was sufficiently cleaned I used paper

towels and a large bath towel to quickly dry the inside and outside of the horn. After

the horn was dry I got my mother’s silver jewelry polishing solution and the electric

toothbrush and went to work. I used these to remove any and all tarnish and other

imperfections in the silver plating of the horn. After all of these steps the horn is as

clean as I was able to make it and I moved on to the next step in the restoration

process.

As I previously stated the most important part of the horn is the pads, and

therefore the most important job in the restoration process is the repading. This is a

very extensive process as all 24 pads must be replaced. All cups have been removed

from the body of the sax at this point. Pads are held to the back of the cup by a type of

hot glue called shellac; this shellac adheres only when cooled and does not when

heated. So in order to remove the old pads the back of the cup must be heated, this is

done by an alcohol lamp. The alcohol lamp burns any type of alcohol, such as

isopropyl alcohol, for several hours with very little fuel. The back side of the cup is

held above the flame produced by the alcohol lamp; this melts the shellac on the

underside of the old pad, allowing it to be removed. Once the old pad is removed a

very similar reverse process is used to apply the new pad; the melted shellac is

applied to the back of the pad and the pad is then pressed into the cup, the cup is then

heated and then reheated while the pad is adjusted until it is perfectly level. After this

has been done to all 24 pads it is time for the horn to be reassembled.

Reassembly happens in the reverse order of the disassembly; however there

are very common complications that can easily occur during the reassembly process.

The first keys to go on are the pinky keys, these are relatively simple. The next part to

go on is the lower stack; this is where most problems arise. This is because there are

about 8 different keys that have to go on exactly right, on top of that each of the 8

keys have to be set up just so, in order to facilitate the connections that must be made

to other keys on the horn. After this is done the upper stack is the next to go on and is

very similar in its complications as the lower stack. After the upper stack is reattached

to the horn the connection between it and the lower stack must be made; once this is

done the springs in both stacks must be connected to the keys in order to give the keys

action. Once this is done the palm keys must be put on the horn this, like the pinky

keys, is a relatively simple job. Now that the sax is completely reassembled, pads

need to be seated checked for leaks and readjusted.

To reiterate, the saxophone will only work if the pads have made a completely

airtight seal on the tone holes. New pads must be seated; this is a process that

attempts to create that seal as soon as the pads are on the horn. This is a relatively

easy process. It occurs by pressing the pad to its tone hole firmly for about a minute

creating a rim along the pad where the tone hole is located. After this is done one

must check for leaks, this is done by taking either a slim piece of paper or a section of

cassette tape (I used cassette tape because of its thinness) and inserting it in the tone

hole and closing the pad. Then, pull the cassette tape or paper out if it sticks then the

pad has seated properly, if it slips out then there is a leak. If there is a leak then the

pad must be adjusted. This is done by again heating the back of the cup with a lighter

to soften the shellac; whichever side of the pad the leak is on place a nail file on the

opposite side and press down. This will raise the side that has the leak; after this is

done the pad should be seated again in order to seal the leak. This must be done in

every instance of a leak, again because if there is not an airtight seal on every pad

then the instrument might as well be a fancy paperweight.

The last step in the restoration process is venting the pads; this is a way of

getting the best tone and intonation possible out of the sax. This is done similarly to

checking for leaks except that the sax needs to be being played while being vented.

While playing the sax the player should play down the horn chromatically; stopping

at each note and slowly pushing down the key until the key height is in such a

position to play with the best tone and the most in tune. This is then used to determine

the final key height, which is set by placing pieces of cork in-between the cup and the

body of the sax. This is done on every note from the uppermost range of the sax to the

lowest. Once this is done the sax has been restored to an excellent playing condition.

After reading this my hope for the reader is an increased understanding and

knowledge of the saxophone. Perhaps even an interest in learning how to play the

saxophone, it has certainly be and amazing experience in my life. Even though I have

been playing the sax for 6 years, and am very well acquainted with the instrument,

this restoration has given me a new respect for the instrument.