Today we finished a job for a player in Florida named Martin. This work was done by Matt Scott here at the MusicMedic.com saxophone repair shop. Martin's saxophone (who's name is Ed) is a Buescher "New Aristocrat." Ed is a saxophone that we overhauled years ago. One problem with Ed, that most Bueschers suffer from, is an uncomfortable octave mechanism. The octave pearl on a Buescher Alto is located directly above the rest and it pivots in the opposite direction from a modern saxophone octave mechanism.

Although I didn't take a before picture, there is a similar saxophone on Saxpics here

Due to some hand problems, Martin took his saxophone with him to a doctors visit. After looking at the configuration of the octave mechanism on this saxophone the doctor explained to Martin that his octave mechanism may be adding to the problems with his hand. Martin decided to take the plunge and have a Selmer style octave mechanism put on Ed. Since Ed already had a C-bar (which is a simple version of Clyde the Glyde) we decided to add Clyde the Glyde to the mechanism to improve on the C-bar and remove lost motion.

Most Buescher Altos also have lost motion in the G key where it hits the octave pad. This has always been a problem on these instruments, so Matt decided to address that problem as well.

As this modification is intended to ease the players hand position and motion, we also wanted to make the amount of movement in the LH thumb variable, without varying the amount of movement in the octave pad. This is something I have seen on any saxophone in production but it is very handy.

All of these adjustments were made by allowing the relationship between the various opposing fulcrums to be completely adjustable. Although the intention was to make and install a Selmer type octave mechanism, the result is a greatly improved hand-made Selmer style octave mechanism.




Here is the whole mechanism before polishing and plating. It's not pretty yet but it works very well.



Here you can see Clyde the Glyde in his naked form before clean up.



This is the adjustment screw that allows the thumb lever's movement to be adjusted without changing the amount of movement in the octave pads.


This adjustment lever allows the technician to change the height of the G pad without adding lost motion to the mechanism. Again, this is done by changing the contact point between the two opposing fulcrums.



Here's Ed back to being beautiful. All polished and plated. The new octave mechanism works like a charm!



Another shot of Ed, this time from the back.

This mechanism works perfectly on the Buescher without adding any lost motion and even removes lost motion present on so many Bueschers. Martin tells me that the mechanism allows him to go over the break more easily and the new, more natural, thumb motion will certainly help technique avoid problems in the Left thumb.

Great job Matt!
Thanks for looking!

-Curt

It's kind of funny the things that excite a repair technician. In my shop I was struggling with files that I didn't really care for. So about 6 months ago I bought all new files. This made my repair-shop life a lot easier. Manufacturing keys and such is a breeze with good files. I'll never go back to inferior files in my shop. I've gone ahead and added the most popular files in my drawers to the website.

With some great new hand files and killer tone hole drill-file set, work has been a day in the park lately.

I use the coarse file for cutting and removing metal. The fine file is perfect for taking out the large file marks or removing small amounts of metal. The fine hand file on the site is so nice parts go directly from the file to the buffer.

life is good.

If you have a favorite shape that you like to use in your own repairs, please drop me a line and I'll try and get them in stock.

Here is a link to our files:

http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/categ ... at_22.html


All the best!

-Curt

Changing the angle or location of spring cradles on woodwinds.


We do a lot of modifications in our shop and have developed some tools and techniques to make this work faster with better, more predictable, results. One modification that can be completely invisible to the player yet can make many vintage instruments feel a lot better, is relocating or modifying spring cradles.


When to move a spring cradle.

There are a number of vintage Conn's and many sopranos of all makes that can benefit from longer springs. The distance from the post to the spring cradle is sometimes not enough to get the needed feel. Springs that are too thick or short will have an uneven pressure. The key will get harder and harder to close as is it pressed.

This is also true when a player asks for very tight action on a small instrument such as a soprano and especially a vintage soprano.

Sometimes a longer spring or a longer spring cradle (one that extends further from the key) is the answer to key bounce.

Of course, when we make a key from scratch, deciding where to put the spring cradle is always a question.

In most of these instances, the quickest and most long term solution can be moving the cradle. Sometimes there is very little room on the key and the new location of the spring cradle is obvious; as far as possible. Other times, for example the low C key on many saxophones, there are many places that the spring cradle could go and the length of the cradle is a variable.

The temporary spring cradle:

To solve this problem, we made a small movable spring cradle with various lengths. It's not a pretty part but it works very well. If any of you have a need to move a spring cradle, you can make this tool quickly.

If we have a need to make more of these, they will be made from steel rather than brass. The bushing serves 2 purposes. First, it keeps the key from being marred when the cradle is moved around. Also, it allows us to use this little tool on keys of various diameters.




All the best!

-Curt

A better way to sand.

At the last national NAPBIRT (National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians) convention in Tuscon, Matt Scott from MusicMedic.com gave a clinic and MusicMedic.com exhibited tools and supplies. Although these activities were great, the best part of the convention for us was attending other technician's clinics. One never knows where the next good idea will come from at these clinics.

While we were attending a particularly great clinic given by Dale Barton we picked up this tip. Months later we gave it a try and it's a great little time saver I thought I should share with you.

It's this simple: Put packing tape on the back of the sandpaper you use in the repair shop. There are two reasons to do this. First, the tape makes the sandpaper much stronger so it won't tear when you are ragging or sanding under key feet. Second, the tape is much less abrasive than the back of the sandpaper, and doesn't scratch the body of an instrument when you are sanding key corks. This tip has saved us a good deal of frustration, not to mention sandpaper.
Give it a try!

-Curt

Headquarters Post 2 the layout.

As we enter the design phase of our project, I'd like to share a few pictures so you can have the before and after experience. This is quite a project and the end result will be impressive, especially if you see what we are starting with.

For pictures I'm going to show you an aerial view first, then the street level pics will make some sense.

So, below is an aerial view of the building. Notice that we're right on the tracks? Should we need it, I can request that a train stop right outside the back loading dock. As the building is only 9 blocks from a major port, this may be useful.

I left the building next door in the shot for perspective. There is a tractor trailer parked there. It amazes me how small the tractor trailer is compared to the building!

So, here's the tour.




Section A: The Shop.
This is all MusicMedic.com's new shop. At nearly 20'000 sq feet, it will surely provide ample room for us. There will be more room in section D should we want to expanded further. This part of the building is the one we are most excited about. I am in the process of designing the offices and and shop portions of the building now. The offices and shop will be partitioned off from the rest of section A, leaving room for manufacturing and a warehouse space.

Section B. The Parking Deck.
Notice in the picture that there is very little room for parking? This was a huge consideration when we bought this building. There is a lot of building but only a few on-site and street side parking spots. To solve this we are going to take section B and turn it into a parking deck. It's about 8500 sq. feet and will hold plenty of cars. Right now Section B is just like the rest of the place. It's a huge open concrete room with concrete pillars. We have a great architect working on the plans to make this part of the building a parking deck. It's going to take a lot of work including building a ramp, fire exits, some major ventilation and the addition of a few large, fireproof bay doors. When it's done, it will be a real convenient space for everyone to park indoors.

Section C: Home sweet Home
I'm going to take this portion of the property and live in it! Section C is the original building, it was built first and differently than the rest. This building is free standing, it shares no walls with any other buildings on the property. Like the other parts of the building, it's got a concrete floor, is an open room with pillars and is one story. Unlike the rest however, the walls are block, the roof is wood and the pillars are made from wood, not concrete. There are windows along one long side which provide plenty of natural light. We will add glass block windows along the other side for more light. The rafters inside Section C are very cool and totally exposed. It has the feel of an old mill right now. I've seen some very nice homes in our area where this exposed wood look was integrated with a steel frame. The steel beams were covered with wood to make it look like the wood held up the place. Our home will have the real thing and will most likely have an urban loft feel to it.

Section D: The future:
I've had many conversations with various music related entrepreneurs who are considering section D. Eventually we may want to expand into this section but I think we have plenty of room in the rest of the building for now. We will have over 7000 sq ft of indestructible lease space with outside and indoor parking and a loading dock outside. There is also a large Bay door that opens into the parking deck. I am always open to hearing your ideas if you need warehouse space for your products.

OK back to my repairs... more on the Headquarters later.

-Curt