After I posted the Buescher Alto modifications, I received a bunch of Emails asking for more modifications. It's too bad we don't take more pictures here at MusicMedic.com! Maybe this new blog will change that. I'll try and take more pictures of our work as we finish. It may keep others from having to reinvent the wheel.


Here are some Buescher mods that we did to an Alto a little while back. This Alto is a Transitional.



Clyde the Glyde

Clyde the Glyde is the name we have affectionately given to a mechanism that lowers the pitch of the second octave open C#. This little mechanism is miraculous. When the octave key is pressed Clyde closes the C# pad the proper amount to allow the tone to play in tune. Because this mechanism is adjustable, it also takes any play from the octave key that might be introduced when the mechanism is installed.

There are two screws on Clyde, one on top and one on the side. The screw on the top allows Clyde to glide back and forth between the fulcrums of the C# pad and the octave touch. This changes the amount of movement in the small C# pad.

The second screw is tightened down to keep two parts in constant contact.

Although much more difficult to manufacture than a simple attachment and adjustment screw, Clyde works so seamlessly it makes it worth the effort.



Neck Brace


This is a simple mod, but since it was done to this same instrument I thought it noteworthy. Here, a piece of guard wire was soldered to the bottom of the neck to reduce "pull down" that is common on so many saxophones.


Bumper added to low Eb.

On Bueschers there is often a problem with noise in the low Eb key when pressed. This is slight but when the entire instrument is super quiet, it is noticeable. Even if these keys are swedged to perfection, there can still be a little bit of noise as the pad cup vibrates when open. Here we added a bumper to the low Eb and the problem is solved.



Side Key Contact Points

This is a mod that I do to most horns coming in the shop. When a horn is set up perfectly, all the play is gone, cork is replaced with more appropriate materials and things are generally tight, any lost motion or imperfect feel in the keys is quickly noticed by the player.

Here we added contact to the side C and side E keys. If you look closely, you will see the side C key now contacts the body under the key touch. The side E key has an added part near the post to contact the post and reduce flex in the key. If these parts are hard to see in the picture, good. This means the modification is a success!

Good luck with your Bueschers!

-Curt

In 1999 I started making RooPads (Kangaroo Skin Saxophone pads) in my small shop in Mississippi. The air there was so humid that everyone's pads were sticking. Coming from NY, I had not seen anything like it. I did some research and found that Kangaroo Skin, when properly tanned, will not stick and is incredibly durable. Having tried to make saxophone pads from various other leathers including, goat, kid, sheep and deer, I was getting pretty good at making pads by hand. Although the results were very nice, it took me nearly 8 hours to make a complete set. That's when I started to have these pads produced for me by Precision USA; an excellent pad company for which MusicMedic.com is now the sole distributor. Precision was the only company that agreed to make these pads for us by hand, to our specifications.

Today RooPads, both the Black SaxGourmet pads and the white RooPads, are well known as the highest quality pads available for saxophone. RooPads have withstood the test of time. Even the most skeptical technicians offer RooPad overhauls and when they do, both the technician and player are amazed at how well the horn plays. The finest players in the U.S. and abroad are using RooPads on their horns, and insist on RooPads.

So many players are excited about RooPads, it's incredible. Some of the great players using RooPads include:

Kenneth Coon, Baritone Saxophonist -The Rascher Saxophone Quartet

James Carter, International Recording Artist


Paquito D'Rivera, International Recording Artist


Wess 'WarmDaddy' Anderson, Saxophone Professor Julliard School of Music

Jay Mason, Baritone Saxophone Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band


Wally West, Tenor Saxophonist


Trent Kynaston, Saxophone Professor Western Michigan University



In addition to excellent players using RooPads there are many technicians around the world using RooPads on their instruments. We are honored that the following technicians recommend RooPads as the finest pads available.

Jeff Peterson,
Horn Improvement

Dell Knickerbocker, Quinlawn and Fabish

Eric Satterlee, Meridian winds

Matt Stohrer, Sam Ash, NY, NY


Mike Manning, Manning Custom Woodwinds.

Jim Scimonetti, Scimonetti Band and Orchestra

Steve Stransky, World Wide Sax

Steve Goodson
www.SaxGourmet.com

There are many more great repair shops, players and manufacturers using our RooPads on their instruments I am working on a list of players and techs that are using RooPads. If you would like to be listed, please contact me.


-Curt

The Z-gun makes news!

Today a technician and Z-gun (pat.pend.) owner sent me a link to a write-up in the Frankfurt Musik Messe news. The Z-Gun was previously featured in Jazz Times magazine and now it's on the Messe site. I feel like a father who's child just made the team! I feel great pride when something I created grows, is praised, or just works well as it was intended to.

The Z-Gun resulted from many years of trial and a lot of error. I used to heat and roll sticks of shellac to make them round to fit in a hot glue gun. Trying to find a glue gun that would accept such a stick was impossible. The shellac would either not heat up enough or ooze out the tip. I finally came to the conclusion that a heated canister would be the only way to accurately and safely dispense shellac when repairing woodwinds. It worked like a charm and I knew I had a winner right away. My padding time was seriously decreased. We started testing in our repair shop and sent a prototype to Jeff Peterson at HornImprovement and one to Steve Goodson for comments.

Once tested, I worked to have the new shellac gun produced. That was tough job. When it all come together we exhibited the Z-Gun at the 2006 NAPBIRT convention where it met both amazement and disbelief. For hundreds of years, technicians have heated shellac over a flame. I was sure that I would sell thousands of these the first month. We got the Z-gun on the site and, in the first three weeks.. we sold 2!

Technicians are fickle and rightfully so. They seem to like thinking things over. They worry about change when they perceive their current situation as working. Eventually we attended more shows and displayed the Z-Gun. Today it is one of our best selling items. I'm happy to say that today there are hundreds of woodwind repair technicians using the Z-Gun. I get Emails almost every day from Technicians who tell me it's a great time saver.

Check out the writeup here:

Article in German


Article in English

True Tone LH Table Modifications

Today we're finishing up an overhaul on a very nice True Tone Alto. The horn was in good physical condition when I started the overhaul. Now it's tight and fast with great intonation. One modification I like to install on True Tones is the low Bb spatula on the LH table. The original LH table forces the player to push their littlest finger down when playing low Bb. For me, this makes the low Bb very hard to get to. As you can see in the picture, I have added a low Bb key with a roller to allow the player to travel out to the low Bb. This makes playing low notes on a True Tone a lot easier.

Also pictured is a LH mechanism modification on a very old Buescher Baritone Sax that Matt and I did a few months ago. This horn went to the plater and is now back in the hands of the player. On this Bari, we added a Low Bb spatula, removing the Buescher Pearl G# and replacing it with an Aristocrat G# key. When the plating was done and the rollers installed, this mod looked great.

This baritone, underwent extensive surgery including major dent work, additional guards, LH mods, additional contact on the RH side keys, tone hole rebuilding and replacement pad cup on the low Bb. Actually, there were too many mods to mention! This old True Tone Baritone is probably the coolest High Eb Baritone on the planet.

-Curt









True Tone LH Table Modifications

There are so many things happening here at MusicMedic.com that I set up this blog to share them with you.

On the repair side, we are working on projects that any saxophone junkie will appreciate. We are always trying new things. Apparently I can upload pictures to this blog, so I'll try that out next.

On the woodwind repair supply side, we are always developing new products that I would like you to see and give me your opinions on.

Since we hire strictly pro musicians and performers here at MusicMedic.com, there may also be the occasional 'gig story' thrown in.

Come back often and see what we're up to!


-Curt