Broken soprillo?

[CMelodyMan]

What happens when your soprillo breaks? Do you take it back to Eppelsheim, or do any repairmen work on the little beast? Also, what if a pad comes off of your soprillo, then what happens?

[dougal]

All of the above...well in the UK anyway! I hear from our Tubax and Soprillo players that Benedikt Eppelsheim is an extremely accommodating chap and has done repairs and/or modifications. However, we have found a repairer (Paul Windridge) who is willing to work on the Soprillo - as you can imagine, as well as routine repairs, the setup is crucial to its playability and I believe there is still a lot of tweaking going on.

[Benjahmin]

Hmmmm....
I`ve never done it before...but what makes a Soprillo so hard to fix??
I`ve overhauled allmost everything from Bass-Saxes to Piccolo-Flutes....and I guess, a Soprillo shouldn`t cause any extraordinary problems out of that range should it ?
If so...let me know. I`m allways interested in News of that kind.
Btw. what kind of pads do they use on a Soprillo? Normal Sax-Pads, Clarinet-pads or even those Fishskinpads which are used in flutes ?
Yours
Benjahmin

[sopranofreak]

Our sax guy at Howarth of London repairs soprillos - but you wouldn't be popular if you brought one in!

Courtney Pine bought a soprillo from us and brought it back in for some tweaking. By the time he finally took it away, the admin department (we're downstairs, near to the sax repair bench) was threatening to wrap it round his head! Ooh, I can still hear that terrible squeak... :shock:

[bruce bailey]

Anything can be fixed for a price. It may be annoying to work on these things but I still enjoy repairing something different. I would rather work on a rare bird than fix a Bundy flute, school alto or plastic clarinet.

[saxtek]

Soprillos use Valentino pads. The square edges of the pads help to cover the toneholes despite the limited space for keywork.
Benedikt Eppelsheim's Soprillo is similar to other conventional saxes when dealing with the mechanical aspects of repair and adjustment. However, the upper octave key, which is on the mouthpiece, presents a unique situation when it needs adjustment. Also, one key on the Soprillo must me adjusted so that it leaks slightly on some notes. The most difficult adjustments involve spring tension.

[Benjahmin]

@Saxtek
Right...I`ve used those Valentinopads before...never like them, but OK.
The Octave-key within the mouthpiece seems a challenge, and having a pad leak, as I guess through Kork-"mis"adjustment, shouldn`t be the problem.
I guess I`ll have a look at those little things the next time I´m in Munich...
I never want to go beyond the altitude of my Soprano when playing, but I´d like to get into the technical aspekts of those Soprillos. Seem interesting:)
Yours
Benjahmin

[magicpsn01]

one key on the Soprillo must me adjusted so that it leaks slightly on some notes. .

Saxtek -

What key needs to leak slightly? Just wondering, before I do something to my Soprillo that I shouldn't.

Are there any adjustments that help the notes play above high G? I have problems with high A and above and have read several posts of others having the same problem. I always assumed that it was me (and probably is) and that my embouchure was not correct or built up enough for the Soprillo.

Thanks!

[saxtek]

There is a key underneath the touchpiece for the octave key. It closes when the B key or the A key is closed. Benedikt told me it should be adjusted to close very lightly when B is pressed, or even leak slightly. I prefer to have it close completely.

I have cured problems with notes above high A by trying alternate fingerings, usually invoving the fingers of the right hand. A different reed can change everything from day to day. I suggest just experimenting.

[magicpsn01]

Thanks Saxtek!

Last night I did try a different reed, a harder one, and it helped some. Was able to have the A and Ab sound and every once in a while the B. Anything above that wouldn’t sound, but I could hear the note faintly like an overtone. I'll check the key underneath the touchpiece for the octave key and see what it is doing and do a little more experimenting. I bet there is nothing up with the instrument…just me and my embouchure. I will try some alternate fingerings, as you suggested though. Thanks again!!