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OT: Building up a sax key

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-07-17 04:50

I'm playing alto and clarinet for a production of Anything Goes in two weeks. So I've dug out my 1930s Conn alto to look through the book. An issue that has plagued me forever is predictably causing problems. The LH palm D key at the top of the sax is much too low for me to find or press reliably. It's lower than the Eb key next to it and, of course, farther around the side, so I regularly land on the Eb key and have to contort my hand position considerably to get to D. I don't know whose hand it was designed for. The key doesn't look distorted as if it has been bent - it's just ergonomically extremely ungraceful.

I've glued a thick hunk of cork onto the key surface with contact cement (after first trying it with blue-tac as the adhesive) and it raises the key level enough for me to reach it reliably. I'm afraid the cork piece will not hold under normal playing use.

(1) Does anyone know without actually seeing the instrument how safely the metal of this key can be bent to raise it to better position? I don't know what the keys are made of - hopefully the make and age of the sax may suggest a material to someone here. The lacquer is worn, so there's no cosmetic issue involved as long as the key doesn't break off.

(2) As an alternative to bending the key upward, what might be a better way to build it up so that it's a permanent fix? Are there products on the repair market that can be used for this?

Karl

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