Sax on the Web Forum

Sax on the Web Forum Archive / Selmer saxes / VI Tenor neck...who to repair???

jpciii
User ID: 0952054 May 28th 1:50 AM
I've got a very early vi tenor that came to me with the original neck showing dent work. I don't know how bad the dent was, but the repair job looks awful. It sounds really dead compared to the late model replacement neck I use on it. Soooo... who can make the original neck right again?

thanks!

BATMAN
User ID: 0589754 May 28th 2:37 AM
what happened to it? What sort of dents?

BATMAN
User ID: 0589754 May 28th 2:38 AM
also...Randy Jones at Tenor madness does great work. Steve Goodson also seems to be a great authority on neck issues.

Bari Martin
User ID: 1042384 May 28th 8:34 PM
The repair shop at the Woodwind and Brasswind does a great job on necks. Another good shop is the Brass Bow in Chicago. You will need to have it cryo'd after all the work is done, and the Brass Bow does that on-site. You're probably looking at about $85-$100 total.

jpciii
User ID: 0952054 May 28th 9:18 PM
BATMAN
The whole underside between the octave vent and the cork has some ridges, small wrinkles, and general uneveness (is that a word?). It almost seems that it was stretched farther than it should have been, but I can't tell for sure.

The Brass Bow is near my repair tech and very respected among the brass players I know, but I've never heard about their sax work. I'm willing to send it across the globe if there is some "Mark VI neck Super Genius" out there.

Steve Cars
User ID: 2386864 May 28th 11:30 PM
I wonder if it might be more economically feasable to replace the neck... Perhaps with something special like silver or...

Perhaps you can find a replacement VI neck...

Goodson is a great resource...b

Nitetimer
User ID: 9440113 May 28th 11:52 PM
Ralph Morgan used to know someone who was an expert on neck repair that was in his 80's. I don't know if he's still available but I'd give Ralph a call.

jpciii
User ID: 0952054 May 28th 11:54 PM
Steve,
I play a new (late 90s) Mark VI replacement neck with the horn, and it sounds pretty good. The horn is VERY early: 55783. The octave key has the curly-que S design (only found on the first few hundred Mark sixes). It has many Super Action keys and American engraving to the bow like the late Super Actions. The neck has the serial number and deserves to be put back in order if it isn't beyond proper repair.

Steeve Goodson saw the horn 2 years ago and said it was the lowest number VI he had ever seen. He did not however see the neck (I was on tour, and only brought the replacement neck).

Any more suggestions are welcome, thanks.

BATMAN
User ID: 9391453 May 29th 2:09 AM
jpciii---it's a shame the original neck is in that condition. Whoever messed with it obviously wasn't very competent. It sounds as if the problem could be fixed though...ask Steve Goodson and Randy Jones. The Brass bow sounds like a good bet too...and the price is reasonable, especially with Cryo included. But this is assuming they know anything about sax necks...

BATMAN
User ID: 9391453 May 29th 2:09 AM
jpciii---it's a shame the original neck is in that condition. Whoever messed with it obviously wasn't very competent. It sounds as if the problem could be fixed though...ask Steve Goodson and Randy Jones. The Brass bow sounds like a good bet too...and the price is reasonable, especially with Cryo included. But this is assuming they know anything about sax necks...

tungp
User ID: 0952054 May 29th 2:35 PM
(Hey Batman)

jpciii, I had a Super 20 a while back with a neck that was nearly destroyed. Mark Vandermark (MS) did a great job bringing it back to life, at a very reasonable cost.

tungp
User ID: 0952054 May 29th 2:37 PM
(the above is not a knock, in any way, on the others mentioned; Mark Vandermark is the only one to whom I've farmed out that kind of back-from-the-dead work in the past, & therefore the only one on whom I can comment from experience)

BATMAN
User ID: 1418774 May 29th 4:19 PM
I agree with Tungp on that one. I have heard quite a bit about Mark Vandermark. I have seen examples of his restore work on saxophones, and I know it's top quality. You will not believe some of the stuff that he's done! I forgot all about him...go check him out!

Bari Martin
User ID: 9265663 May 29th 7:46 PM
You're right - I didn't think of Mark. Take a look at his website to see some incredible restorations.

BATMAN
User ID: 1418774 May 29th 7:55 PM
Mark's website is:

http://members.tripod.com/~BrassLacquer/vandermarks.html

check out the samples! There's a tenor that was flattened and then restored. Wow. I'm sure he can easily fix that neck.

jpciii
User ID: 0952054 May 29th 11:54 PM
I remember an ebay auction for an alto sax overhaul a year or so ago. It was Mark's auction, and I followed the link to the above website. I wasn't sure what to think...with the roadkill mark six tenors and brass bed frame repair! lol

tungp, how did the neck play after the repairs? Was the tuning OK?

Maybe I should just give him a call.

tungp
User ID: 0952054 May 30th 3:18 AM
Very well. Probably not as good as originally -- this was my teacher's Silversonic, and it is not as good as my silver necked 20 which is about 40K off his serial #, I think, both Cleveland -- but his neck was nearly flat in one spot. This was a jaws-of-death kind of 911 situation.

Nefertiti
User ID: 3591464 May 30th 2:55 PM
I have a VI neck for sale in the Marketplace thread. Perfect condition except that the lacquer was taken off in the past. From 128,000 serial #. Fits my 47,000 SBA tenor.

Sherry
User ID: 1759784 May 30th 3:44 PM
Well if you can put up with being told that you suck as a player and that you really should buy one of his necks, Oleg would be the one to contact. A friend of mine who is a very good player recently damaged his neck on a gig and took it to Oleg. It's great again.

jpciii
User ID: 0952054 May 31st 1:48 AM
LOL...look, now I have TWO necks to repair

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=875414717

jpciii User ID: 0952054	May 28th 1:50 AM I've got a very early vi tenor that came to me with the original neck showing dent work. I don't know how bad the dent was, but the repair job looks awful. It sounds really dead compared to the late model replacement neck I use on it. Soooo... who can make the original neck right again? thanks!
BATMAN User ID: 0589754	May 28th 2:37 AM what happened to it? What sort of dents?
BATMAN User ID: 0589754	May 28th 2:38 AM also...Randy Jones at Tenor madness does great work. Steve Goodson also seems to be a great authority on neck issues.
Bari Martin User ID: 1042384	May 28th 8:34 PM The repair shop at the Woodwind and Brasswind does a great job on necks. Another good shop is the Brass Bow in Chicago. You will need to have it cryo'd after all the work is done, and the Brass Bow does that on-site. You're probably looking at about $85-$100 total.
jpciii User ID: 0952054	May 28th 9:18 PM BATMAN The whole underside between the octave vent and the cork has some ridges, small wrinkles, and general uneveness (is that a word?). It almost seems that it was stretched farther than it should have been, but I can't tell for sure. The Brass Bow is near my repair tech and very respected among the brass players I know, but I've never heard about their sax work. I'm willing to send it across the globe if there is some "Mark VI neck Super Genius" out there.
Steve Cars User ID: 2386864	May 28th 11:30 PM I wonder if it might be more economically feasable to replace the neck... Perhaps with something special like silver or... Perhaps you can find a replacement VI neck... Goodson is a great resource...b
Nitetimer User ID: 9440113	May 28th 11:52 PM Ralph Morgan used to know someone who was an expert on neck repair that was in his 80's. I don't know if he's still available but I'd give Ralph a call.
jpciii User ID: 0952054	May 28th 11:54 PM Steve, I play a new (late 90s) Mark VI replacement neck with the horn, and it sounds pretty good. The horn is VERY early: 55783. The octave key has the curly-que S design (only found on the first few hundred Mark sixes). It has many Super Action keys and American engraving to the bow like the late Super Actions. The neck has the serial number and deserves to be put back in order if it isn't beyond proper repair. Steeve Goodson saw the horn 2 years ago and said it was the lowest number VI he had ever seen. He did not however see the neck (I was on tour, and only brought the replacement neck). Any more suggestions are welcome, thanks.
BATMAN User ID: 9391453	May 29th 2:09 AM jpciii---it's a shame the original neck is in that condition. Whoever messed with it obviously wasn't very competent. It sounds as if the problem could be fixed though...ask Steve Goodson and Randy Jones. The Brass bow sounds like a good bet too...and the price is reasonable, especially with Cryo included. But this is assuming they know anything about sax necks...
BATMAN User ID: 9391453	May 29th 2:09 AM jpciii---it's a shame the original neck is in that condition. Whoever messed with it obviously wasn't very competent. It sounds as if the problem could be fixed though...ask Steve Goodson and Randy Jones. The Brass bow sounds like a good bet too...and the price is reasonable, especially with Cryo included. But this is assuming they know anything about sax necks...
tungp User ID: 0952054	May 29th 2:35 PM (Hey Batman) jpciii, I had a Super 20 a while back with a neck that was nearly destroyed. Mark Vandermark (MS) did a great job bringing it back to life, at a very reasonable cost.
tungp User ID: 0952054	May 29th 2:37 PM (the above is not a knock, in any way, on the others mentioned; Mark Vandermark is the only one to whom I've farmed out that kind of back-from-the-dead work in the past, & therefore the only one on whom I can comment from experience)
BATMAN User ID: 1418774	May 29th 4:19 PM I agree with Tungp on that one. I have heard quite a bit about Mark Vandermark. I have seen examples of his restore work on saxophones, and I know it's top quality. You will not believe some of the stuff that he's done! I forgot all about him...go check him out!
Bari Martin User ID: 9265663	May 29th 7:46 PM You're right - I didn't think of Mark. Take a look at his website to see some incredible restorations.
BATMAN User ID: 1418774	May 29th 7:55 PM Mark's website is: http://members.tripod.com/~BrassLacquer/vandermarks.html check out the samples! There's a tenor that was flattened and then restored. Wow. I'm sure he can easily fix that neck.
jpciii User ID: 0952054	May 29th 11:54 PM I remember an ebay auction for an alto sax overhaul a year or so ago. It was Mark's auction, and I followed the link to the above website. I wasn't sure what to think...with the roadkill mark six tenors and brass bed frame repair! lol tungp, how did the neck play after the repairs? Was the tuning OK? Maybe I should just give him a call.
tungp User ID: 0952054	May 30th 3:18 AM Very well. Probably not as good as originally -- this was my teacher's Silversonic, and it is not as good as my silver necked 20 which is about 40K off his serial #, I think, both Cleveland -- but his neck was nearly flat in one spot. This was a jaws-of-death kind of 911 situation.
Nefertiti User ID: 3591464	May 30th 2:55 PM I have a VI neck for sale in the Marketplace thread. Perfect condition except that the lacquer was taken off in the past. From 128,000 serial #. Fits my 47,000 SBA tenor.
Sherry User ID: 1759784	May 30th 3:44 PM Well if you can put up with being told that you suck as a player and that you really should buy one of his necks, Oleg would be the one to contact. A friend of mine who is a very good player recently damaged his neck on a gig and took it to Oleg. It's great again.
jpciii User ID: 0952054	May 31st 1:48 AM LOL...look, now I have TWO necks to repair http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=875414717