Change pads

[TRommel]

Hello everyone,
I have recently bought a nice SML "standard" tenor, gold lacquered. The horn is in perfect state but I don't really dig its sound very much, and I was wondering if it would change if I had the soft pads replaced by resonator pads. Can anyone tell me if that is possible, how it can be done, where to buy them pads, and anything else you can think of.
Thanks, T

[tbone]

T, You would be far better off trying other mouthpieces. The amount the pads would change the horn's overall sound is minimal at best. Try diffewrent mouthpiece/reed combinations until you find a more suitable tone! ;)

[TRommel]

Okay, but won't the resonator pads upgrade the volume?

[Sigmund451]

An SML shoud blow you out of the water in terms of volume and projection. If it sounds weak Id first have it looked over for leaks. Rez or none they are big sounding horns and have a very tight core.

[hornimus]

I suspect maxing-out the reso size can ruin the balance of the tone you get on any horn. I'd take either flat metal or the plastic Selmer style, but in average sizes or maybe even a little bit undersized. Or I might put resos on the lower stack and bow/bell pads only, and leave the upper stack pads with none.

But it all boils down to the sound you like. I recently bought an SML stencil tenor with its original pads -- equipped with seamless flat metal resos of average diameter, not huge like you see on the older Buffets. This is one of the few horns I have that I can say is a 'keeper' (unless another SML comes along....).

Should add, like some Keilwerths I've played, my SML has a sound that might not care so much what the pads are. Suggestions above about setup (mouthpiece etc.) apply. I can't advise tho'; I play a $70 NY metal Link on everything and I'm happy with that.

[Ari]

Yes, save yourself time money etc - If it doesn't leak, leave the pads alone. While its true that big resos will brighten the sound and no resos will darken it, these changes can't compare with the sound change that you get playing around with mouthpiece/reed setups.