"A" tone hole sluggish with octave key

1430 Views 10 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Cepages, Sep 12, 2011

Cepages

Discussion Starter · Sep 10, 2011

When I lift my LH 3rd finger the valve for the "A" tone hole opens sluggishly like there is some form of friction. Without the octave key - it is smooth and no feel (and sound) of friction. I took apart the octave mechanism and the only thing I could find that was maybe the culprit was the plastic sleeve that is on the tiny rod that ties the two rods together. The plactic sleeve seems worn. Probably a poor explanation but all my saxes have that or similar sleeve on the octave mech.

Any ideas or thoughts? I put it back together and it is still the same. I oiled the usual joints in the octave system.....

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Stephen Howard

· #6 · Sep 11, 2011

You say you dismantled the octave key mech - when you removed the octave key rod screw (and just to be clear, this is the rod on which the crook pin, the body octave key and the touchpiece link are mounted), did you push the rod through the individual pieces and check for binding...by pushing the rod all the way through and by rotating it?

A quick and dirty test for a bent octave key rod screw is to give the screw a couple of turns while keeping an eye on the mechanism. If you see the mechanism rise and fall as the screw is turned back and forth, it means the rod screw is bent.

Regards,

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Stephen Howard

· #10 · Sep 11, 2011

A worn sleeve usually only leads to a bit of noise and some free play in the mechanism - unless it's broken up and has jammed the mech.
If everything else checks out as per above then it might boil down to a spring imbalance, with the G key spring being a tad too weak.

Regards,

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