I'm super excited and really disappointed all at once.

The Saxophone Ensemble that I play with, The North Carolina Saxophone Ensemble, was asked to play for the Navy Saxophone Symposium this year.

This new and energetic group is comprised of outstanding players from all-over North Carolina. This will be the Premier Performance for the group and everyone is really looking forward to it. If you're in the US, you should get on a plane, train, or take a bus to Fairfax VA and check out the ensemble!


So, why am I disappointed? This year the Symposium conflicts with the NAMM show in Anaheim CA. Although MusicMedic.com usually exhibits, and gives clinics, at the Symposium this year it's not possible. So I (Curt) will be in Anaheim CA at the NAMM show while my group is playing at the Symposium.

I'm really excited for all the players in the group! Break a leg!



To learn more about the Symposium go to their website here:
http://www.navyband.navy.mil/saxophonesymposium.shtml

The North Carolina Saxophone Ensemble is playing on Saturday the 16th. There is a schedule here:
http://www.navyband.navy.mil/Sax%20symp ... hedule.pdf

About 8 months ago I posted about this building that we bought and our crazy plan to for fixing it up. I promised some updates along the way. Then, it started, the huge undertaking of renovating a 40,000sqft warehouse including indoor parking a new shop, the supply house, storage, a residence etc... Well, the updates didn't happen but the work did! Everyone at MusicMedic.com buckled down and got to work. The place is still under construction but we're in! We made it thanks to the great crew here at MusicMedic.com and all the awesome repair techs and players that have supported us.

Thank you.


We started what is essentially a second business with a second crew working day and night on this project. To give you an idea of the scope, it took over 500 gallons of paint to cover the walls and ceiling, and we're still going.

We tried to make this project and our business as green as possible. For instance, in the shop we're not using any toxic chemicals -but I'll tell you more about the shop as we set it up (I promise). In the building, we're trying to use day lighting. When we started, the place was dark; and by dark I mean bump-into-walls cave-dark. Now, I'm sitting in my office with no lights on! The glass block windows and the light tube give plenty of light. The lights in the offices are all LED lights and run on about 15 watts each. The shipping area and the shop have 11 eight foot long sky lights. During the daytime there is no need to have the lights on at all.

The flooring is recycled rubber material that's nearly 3/4" thick! It feels great on the feet and should save our backs. The offices have cork flooring, the most renewable flooring anywhere! The paint, wall board and most other materials we used are green.

It's not easy to give you an idea of the building or the scale of this project with a camera. Hopefully this helps you get an idea.

In the beginning we decided that the place was too ugly to take 'before' pictures of. So, luckily there are not too many before pictures. If you're really curious you can check google maps street view here for an idea of what it looked like.


The retaining wall out front needed to be repaired. This is the same wall that Google maps brought you to.

First we fixed up the courtyard adding glass block, doors, paint etc.. That glass block work is my (Curt)first attempt at installing block.



The Door's are the old-school heavy-metal doors with wavy glass. They had too much character to replace so we stripped them down to bare metal and repainted them. Note the new glass and all new new power lines. When the "house" is done, this courtyard will be my backyard.



We repaired the wall and built pillars. Every pillar is tied into a "dead man" which is an anchor burried behind the wall to keep it from falling over. This is something that should have been done when the wall was built and something you can't see in the pictures as they are buried.


Added some caps to the pillars.


Built a fence and a gate in between the pillars. Next year, after the wood has dried, we'll paint it.


This area will look even better when we get that tree trimmed up, the fence painted and some trees planted at the curb.


This building, on the left, is going to be the 'house.' There are about 14 large block windows that will go into this front face of the building.



Now the parking deck... If you checked out the Google view of the place, you would need to go around the corner to see this side of the building.

The parking deck is still in progress. Although it's nearly complete, we still need lights and power. It's hard to take pictures in there without enough light but it's absolutely awesome in there now. The walls and ceilings have all been pressure washed and painted.

First we cut out the old loading dock and 700 sqft of slab in the building along with 3 door openings.


Then we built a 70 foot long ramp that runs from the street and 35 feet into the building.



We added some paint and a key pad for the door. The trim still needs paint and that will happen next week after the rain!


Jon's truck was the first one up the new ramp!


Now for the shop and offices. I'm glad I don't have any before pictures for you. The offices and new shop are so great, I don't want you to know!

The shop was built inside a 20,000 sqft part of the warehouse. There is a ton of room for storage and expansion all around it.

Here is the shipping area, shop and office hall during the sheet rocking.

Shipping area


Saxophone repair shop


Here they are with a coat of paint

Shipping area


Saxophone repair shop


Finally on our first day at the new place, were still setting up but you can see how it will look.

Shipping


Shop


The offices came out great but I don't have many pictures for you yet...




Well, looking these pictures over it's clear that giving you an idea of this project is not going to be easy using this media. So, you're going to have to come check us out!

You are cordially invited to come by for a visit!

Thanks again everyone. This was/is a huge project and one that could only be done with the help of many-many people.

In a recent NAPBIRT clinic given by Carl Thacker of Carl's Pro Band, Carl tested our Shellac right there under the watchful eye of a panel of NAPBIRT technicians.

After the Clinic, Carl sent me an Email about his finding. Check out Carl's test!


"Hey thanks guys! Got your stuff in time for the Sat. clinic. I did a cool demo on you shellac. I used some old key cups, pads and your shellac.

1 with clean nickel plated cup & pad
1 with etched nickel plated cup & pad
1 with UMI OG pad and hot glue from junk Conn 21M
1 with Jeff Smiths amber hot glue & pad
1 with brass cup, shellac & pad
1 with etched brass cup, shellac & pad
1 with nickel cup shellac and no pad

I put them in the freezer over night at the Napbirt training center. I had on idea what was going to happen.
I pulled them out while in the clinic and started the test.
I started slamm'in the keys on the vice. None fell out so I used a screwdriver to pry on the pads.
The Conn UMI hot glue came right out and had little glue in the cup.
The JL Smith hot glue that I installed was hard to come out. The etching was with a hand scraper and seem to be a little stronger bond.
Here is the surprising part the shellac was very hard to come out and when it did, it had some shellac in the cup
and some on the back of the pad.
The Shellac that was in the cup with on pad did not come out with beating it on the vise!!!!!

Cold region Techs worry about this because traditionally shellac falls out in the cold. The test was a big surprise to everyone.

Also FYI your post swedging tool went over well to. I'm not sure that you are aware of this but I used it on the top stack C key
King super 20. The south side of that key has nowhere to swedge so I used the post pliers and it worked great!

You need to make a smaller version for Clarinet and Oboe.

Hope this helps,

Carl Thacker"


Thanks Carl!


To learn more about Carl and Travis Thacker (a couple of outstanding techs!) or Carl's Pro Band check out their website:

http://carlsproband.com/

Working with a professional player is among the most rewarding experiences we have in the repair shop. Very often we are forced to find ways of 'repairing' an instrument that borders on re-manufacturing. Our most recent overhaul certainly falls into that category.


When professional saxophonist Wayne Leechford first came to our shop, he was excited to have his Keilwerth SX90R Alto saxophone overhauled. When the overhaul was complete, Wayne let us know that he was really-really excited about the way the instrument came out. We worked with Wayne for some time setting up the instrument to match his playing both in tone and intonation. After seeing how the Alto went, Wayne started asking what we could do for his Keilwerth SX90R Baritone. Overhauling Wayne's baritone sounded like a real treat to us as we certainly enjoy Wayne's visit and working with him again.


Wayne talked about the possibility of making his high notes speak more freely. When playing the palm keys, the notes wanted to speak an octave lower. Basically the only way to get the notes to speak properly was to voice them as though they were altissimo notes. Playing these notes with a strong articulation, very softly or with any force was more difficult than playing altissimo notes and basically impossible. We figured that this was a problem that would be solved during the normal course of a professional overhaul, So we took on the project of overhauling Wayne's SX90R Baritone.


When the mechanical overhaul was complete the high note problem persisted. It soon became apparent that the problem was related to the location of the second octave pip, the one closer to the mouthpiece, and that fixing this problem was not going to be easy. It would require changing the location of the octave pip from the body of the instrument on to the neck. If you consider the way the octave pad moves, you know that the geometry is not as simple as drilling a hole and adding a pip. This would take some planning.


First we snapped a few photos with a cell phone in the shop. Then we sent Wayne home while we designed the new key.


Here is Wayne's original key taken in the shop.


Note that the original (pre-modification) neck has no key or lever on it.

Here is original neck with an added pip and a Leblanc style octave lever. The lever is 100% fabricated from brass stock.

Before the neck would work on the instrument the old octave pad needed to be removed and a new lever was brazed in it's place. The entire mechanism working like a champ!


Shortly after we sent Wayne home with his new octave mechanism this letter showed up.

Curt,
Thanks so much for all of your and Matt's hard work on my horn. I just finished playing it for about an hour and it plays great!! Even without the tuner, I can tell that the intonation is SO much more even than it ever has been. Those high F#s are magical! You just turned me into a much better player. This kicks ass!
-Wayne


We know that Wayne is the real-deal. He's a 100% pro and very picky about how his horns work. So, we take this compliment very personally.

To learn more about Wayne and his playing check out his website
Thanks Wayne for your kind letter and your great music!

Well, we've done it. MusicMedic.com is now twittering. None of use know where it will go but we hope you follow us there!