Klarinet Archive - Posting 001025.txt from 1999/07

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] sax problems
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 11:40:33 -0400

Daniel,

One cause of warbling on low notes on the saxophone is the instrument
vascillating between octaves and being undecided about where it wants to play.
There is a good chance that there is some leakage, and it could be very little,
half way between the mouthpiece and the notes that are giving you trouble. Look
carefully at the little, top pad of the left hand stack, the first finger pad
(B), side C or maybe even the D palm key pad. I would suspect a leak somewhere
in the upper part of the upper stack.

The best way to detect pad leaks is with a drop light inserted into the
instrument and observed in a darkened room.

Another possible source of a leak could be the neck-to-body fitting. Without
special tools, this can be very difficult to detect.

You say you've had it checked by your repairman. Have him check it again. You
might even try another repairman if you know of one you trust.

It really doesn't take much of a leak, or just a few very, very slight ones to
cause these problems.

Good luck, and let us know what, if anything, you come up with.

Daniel Paprocki wrote:

> Here's a change of topic. Since almost all clarinetists play sax and the
> sax lists out there are dead or near death, I thought I'd present this
> problem.
> I'm about to purchase a used (like new) Selmer VII (yes you heard right
> the dreaded VII) alto sax. I love the sound, it tunes well, my hands
> (large) fit well, and the price is very good. It has one problem - the low
> C#, C, and B (not Bb) sometimes develop a slow warble in the sound. This
> comes and goes depending on reed and who knows what. I've been playing sax
> for a long time, have a great mouthpiece (Rousseau 4r) and reeds (Oliveri
> 3). I've played other saxes in the last couple years (Yamaha 52, Keilworth,
> Selmer VI) and haven't had that problem. I've had it checked for leaks with
> my repair person and it's tight. My next step is to have the pads doped. I
> have done the trick of dropping the end plug in the bell and that does solve
> the problem but sometimes makes the C# stuffy. Why is this happening and
> how do I fix this?
> --
> Daniel A. Paprocki
> Instructor of Clarinet & Saxophone
> Angelo State University
> San Angelo, Texas
>
>

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