[Chu-Jerry]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I just put the horn down after playing a while. Either my playing is getting suddenly better, or I've got some great sounding horns now. (maybe both?)

I've never been able to pop an altissimo G out like I can with this horn. I tried 4 different mouthpieces and it's the same with any of them. Usually I have to slur up to it and it comes out weak.

There's got to be something wrong here - I'll keep checking .

 

[Jonathan C.]

Hey Chu-Jerry, how can you tell between Silver and Gold when the horn looks like how it started?

 

[Chu-Jerry]

Hey Chu-Jerry, how can you tell between Silver and Gold when the horn looks like how it started?

You can tell by the engraving pattern. On the gold horns the engraving is more elaborate than the equivalent model silver plated horn. Also, with this model, the bell is burnished all the way around on the outside near the top, and the silver ones are only burnished on the front.

 

[bruce bailey]

Interesting about the G. It is better on my gold horns than the silver ones. Actually my 1923 is my main horn out of 19 altos I have this week.

 

[MikeRoManiak]

that's a beaut job!

I think this sax is my inspiration to start doing some work on my own

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Muahahaa - It Lives!

Well, looks like two weeks for this one. I'd say about 100 hours - but I'm slow.

Played great right off the bench too. This one surprised me a little; the full range just flows right out - even the altissimo was easy for me and I can't play altissimo.

Just a few last things to do:
I need to replate the neck since its plating got messed up during dent repairs. Case needs cleaning, then this one's good to go.

Good God Jerry, that is absolutely breathtaking. I have to agree with Jason, your restoration work is seemingly flawless judging by the photos.

Outstanding.

 

[benbyrne]

I wish my conn 10 M looked like that

 

[Cerot]

That is the most beautiful horn ive ever seen...

 

[Chu-Jerry]

I received some questions about the neck. As I had mentioned in the beginning, the neck had gotten bent. It was a pretty severe bend and dented too with the octave key posts popped off. I think the horn had probably been dropped and landed on the neck. While this is probably what saved the gold finish all these years (since it couldn't be played), it was a fairly challenging repair.

To do the repair, I had to completely disassemble the neck. That means everything was de-soldered and removed. The straightening process and re-soldering destroyed most of the original gold finish of course, so I replated it.

This first photo shows it before the re-plate. It is a mix of some remnants of the old gold and silver underplate, and bare brass.

Here is the result after plating. I used Caswell's 24K FastGold. The color came out just slightly darker (more gold - less yellow) than the original, but it is still a close match.

 

[lkylady]

OK, I see you are the master in Conn resurection.
I have an extremely neglected 16M shooting star tenor that needs some TLC pronto. What's your fee?
I know my sax may not be worth much, but it has tremendous sentimental value and I would looove to play it again.
Gracias....

 

[Chu-Jerry]

OK, I see you are the master in Conn resurection.
I have an extremely neglected 16M shooting star tenor that needs some TLC pronto. What's your fee?
I know my sax may not be worth much, but it has tremendous sentimental value and I would looove to play it again.
Gracias....

Hi lkylady! I just now noticed your question, sorry to take so long to answer. I won't be able to fix any more customer horns for the forseeable future because I just got a full time job plus fall semester classes started and I have a full schedule. I probably won't even have enough time to work on any more of my own horns that need it, for quite a while.

The good news (for me) is that I finally found a job after being unemployed for 19 months. Now I can quit selling everything I own!

 

[Sax Magic]

Congrats on the new job! Are you teaching at an area college or university? Are you teaching music classes of any kind, or are you taking classes?

I don't mean to pry, just interested in your comments on the new job. I am a retired music teacher of 31 years experience in everything from kindergarten through university.

Sax Magic

 

[Chu-Jerry]

Congrats on the new job! Are you teaching at an area college or university? Are you teaching music classes of any kind, or are you taking classes?...

Hi Sax Magic. No, it's not a teaching job; I meant that I'm taking a full class load. It's for a boring computer science degree, and I got a job as a software engineer. But it pays the bills.

By the way, the Conn alto has been sold and is in the hands of Fedex. Despite my best packing efforts, I always worry about my babies during shipment.

 

[Jonathan C.]

So who's the lucky person who bought it? Can you tell us?

 

[Chu-Jerry]

So who's the lucky person who bought it? Can you tell us?

No. That would not be appropriate.

 

[Seasax]

what fingering for G did you find worked well,
i sometimes have problems with G on very old horns

 

[Chu-Jerry]

what fingering for G did you find worked well,
i sometimes have problems with G on very old horns

Front high-F (top key only), lower F key, and octave key. Make sure that the bis-Bb key is automaticly closing properly when the lower F is closed - this adjustment often goes out unnoticed.

 

[ZephyrSax]

Wow, that is fantastic! That gives me hope that this old Cigar Cutter I'm testing may have some beauty in it yet!

EDIT: So you did all of the cleaning work yourself, in the regime you outlined for us? No commercial chemical dips of any kind? And, do you think this would work as well on silver? Thanks!

 

[abadcliche]

I love seeing old horns brought back from the dead, made better than new, and put in a players hands. As much as I love collecting them, I love seeing a player enjoy them even more. Great work, Jerry.

 

[Chu-Jerry]

...EDIT: So you did all of the cleaning work yourself, in the regime you outlined for us? No commercial chemical dips of any kind? And, do you think this would work as well on silver? Thanks!

I have used chemcals on occasion with gold plated parts that have a lot of 'pitting' type of corrosion. The chemicals can get down into the pits and dissolve the corrosion out much better than I can do mechanically, without undue harm to the plating. But for this horn no chemicals were necessary (for cleaning). I did, of course, use chemcals for the neck re-plating.

I generally use the same process as described earlier on silver plated instruments too. I never use silver chemical dips because I find them unnecessarily harsh for the inadequate job they do. If you leave it in too long it can begin to strip the plating. A chemical dip can remove a lot of the tarnish, but not all of it. Then the instrument will still need the full cleaning and polish regimen afterwards to get the finish I expect, so to me it's not worthwhile. Silver dips are for silverware.