Yay! New-old bari!

[sopranofreak]

Glee!

My darling boyfriend just went and bought a 1934 Martin baritone, bless 'im. Got most of its original lacquer (except on the neck), no major dents, all the toneholes are solid and there are just a couple of small soldered repairs where key guards have obviously come loose. Came with a Meyer piece - a 5 or 6, not really sure - and its original (very tatty) case.

Ooh, that thing is pretty! I've never had much contact with proper vintage saxes before - blimey but that dark golden aged lacquer is lovely!

Anyway, enough wibbling - I have a couple of questions for you good folks:

a) I can play all the high stuff but I can't get the lower notes (I mean below A...) without a good run up and a following wind. My boyf can play the low notes easily but can't play the higher register. I guess between us we make a handy bari player! ;) I've tried the usual 'increase air support, open throat' stuff - doesn't seem to help if I'm trying to attack the note rather than play it chromatically. Anything else I can try?

b) It smells a bit funky. Pretty much like you'd expect a 70 year old instrument to smell - like it's thinking about going mouldy but hasn't decided yet! Any tips on how to stop it stinking out the whole house? My boyfriend is very sensitive to any chemical scents so commercial air fresheners/febreze etc. are out...

Ta muchly!

PS Thinking about it, I also have a lot of trouble with the low notes on the boyf's tenor. The only time I could hit them easily was when I borrowed a Link 10* HR mouthpiece from work - does that make me weird? :D

[Michael Ward]

Have the workshop check it over.. it sounds like set up problems.

[tbone]

Have the workshop check it over.. it sounds like set up problems.

This is a good place to start. Once it's leak free and properly regulated then you'll be able to address player/equipment issues. (practice, technique, mouthpiece, reeds, etc.)

[sopranofreak]

Fair point. Looking at the pads, I don't think they've been replaced in heap long time, and the fact I can get further down the horn chromatically than I can attack notes does seem to suggest a bit of a leak. Just a bit confused how my boyf can quite happily attack the low Bb... Anyroad, I will schlep it in to work at some point, but with a knackered case and me on two crutches it may be a while before it sees a tech!

Cheers...

PS Any suggestions on the smell issue? Our lounge smells... old.

PPS Just had another blow on the YTS 25 the boyf has sitting next door. Turns out I can play it quite happily on his Link 7 with Vandoren Jazz reeds but can only squeak on the Rico Royals - go figure!

[Grumps]

You can search through posts here in regard to olde sax smell to see what others have done. You can try dousing the inside of the case with baking soda, sit it out in the sun and then later vaccum it, but the smell could also be imbedded within your sax pads and could eminate from exposed brass on the horn. A new case would probably be your best bet if you're not going to go the chemical cleaning route.

p.s. Rico Royals ain't what they used to be.

[sopranofreak]

... You can try dousing the inside of the case with baking soda, sit it out in the sun and then later vaccum it, ...


Sun? What's that? :D

[Pete Thomas]

You'll probably never get the smell out of the case. If it was mine I'd bung the case in a bath with something that that smells nice for about 10 minutes, then dry it out as quickly as possible, in a warm place like an airing cupboard or the Bahamas. This won't do the case any good at all but it'll probably survive, but it might just shorten it's life a bit. Oil the hinges and locks afterwards (spray lots of WD40 on them, although it will then smell of WD40 for a while). You can get stuff that stops the semll of cat pee - that might be good as well. You dust it on then vacuum it up after a while

I'd bung a pint of warm water down the bell with all the keys closed, slurp it around so all the inside gets nice and wet, then empty it. A better plan would be to dismantle it and give all the pads a good clean with lighter fuel. That will remove most of any mould on them. Dismantle as much of the horn as you dare and clean everything, rods etc. Oil all moving parts.

These are great horns, I have one that may be around this era. The tone holes are soldered and it's very likely they are coming adrift. This will cause leaks that you can't tell with the normal leaklight or cigarette paper trick. It's very likely a trip to the repairers is going to have to happen - I can subtonme the low Bb on mine - it should be possible.

[Grumps]

Sun? What's that? :D

Well, it's supposed to be the middle of winter where I'm at, but it was almost 70 degrees (f) and sunny the other day... sorry if we're hoggin' all the sun on this side of the pond.

I went the new case route myself with three old horns I picked up that reeked. DEG makes a fairly decent (but heavy) and inexpensive case that will hold vintage bari's.

It's funny about that smell though... can remind you of horns long lost. I remember playing a job a long time ago where the only decent call brand of liquor was Dewers. I wasn't a scotch drinker at the time, but didn't want a headache from cheap liquor, so I got a scotch and soda with a twist. To me, it seemed to taste like a mouldy old sax case... kinda nostalgic, really. Been drinkin' scotch ever since.

[sopranofreak]

Right. Since my bass clari has had a tantrum again I think it's time to get a cab in to work and set our repair guys on the horns. Thank goodness for my reliable little Yani...

Grumps - I have to say, the first time my other half opened the case up I was overwhelmed by nostalgia for the first sax I ever blew - a knackered old no-name alto my dad had (he was a guitarist). I played it twenty years ago and could barely produce open C sharp... Smelled exactly the same.

Come to think of it, that same sax is up in our loft now - handpainting sax anyone? (see www.greatmind-sax.com)

[Pete Thomas]

It's funny about that smell though... can remind you of horns long lost. I remember playing a job a long time ago where the only decent call brand of liquor was Dewers. I wasn't a scotch drinker at the time, but didn't want a headache from cheap liquor, so I got a scotch and soda with a twist. To me, it seemed to taste like a mouldy old sax case... kinda nostalgic, really. Been drinkin' scotch ever since.

Another option would be to fill the case with Scotch of course...That'll sort the smell.

[sopranofreak]

Or, even better, drink the scotch and throw the case away.

Or drink enough scotch to not care about the smell...

[Grumps]

Another option would be to fill the case with Scotch of course...

Blended, I hope.

[tbone]

Blended, I hope.


Single Malt!!!!!!! :drunken: :sleepy2:

[SAXISMYAXE]

That should be a nice player Sopranofreak! Nice boy friend by the way; All the girlfriends I've had bought/brought me nothing but a whole lot of heart ache...........I'm turning it into a song.;) BTW, DEFINITELY Highland Single Malt. Take it from a Kilt wearing Piper(Your's truly):D

[tbone]

That should be a nice player Sopranofreak! Nice boy friend by the way; All the girlfriends I've had bought/brought me nothing but a whole lot of heart ache...........I'm turning it into a song.;)

Play the song backwards so you can :D

[Grumps]

Wait a minute... we're talking about filling up a sax case... not a snifter.

[tbone]

Wait a minute... we're talking about filling up a sax case... not a snifter.

In that case, go for the rot gut! ;)

[sopranofreak]

Good plan guys - if I ever need to freshen up the case for my Yani sop I'll stick with the single malt tho! :D

Update - when boyf got home last night I got him to blow the thing again: the man can happily subtone the low Bb so I guess it can't be leaking too badly... Guess I'm just a bit lame really - metaphorically as well as literally! :oops: Borrowed two Link HRs from work today: a 7 and an 8. Starting to think I am really weird - the 8 is easier than the 7 which is much easier than the Meyer it came with... What the heck is up with that??