[Dr G]

I love the tone of vintage sops but not the right thumb pain. Don't tell me to "Get over it" - I've a callous in the bone of my right thumb from my early years with a Conn sop. I also don't need to hear about devaluing a classic horn - it's paid for. It would have more value to me if I could play more comfortably for a greater time.

What base/thumb rest would you recommend for a silver plate Buescher?

Sources?

 

[dzve]

Yamaha or selmer, the plate is soldered on & then your choice of a metal or plastic adjustable thumb rest. You would need to have the plate silver-plated.Its not such a big job & the yamaha parts are better in terms of cost.......

 

[Dr G]

Thank you, Dirk.

 

[saxmanjack]

Had that issue with my 6M alto, so several years ago, got one of those rubber thumbrest covers that WWBW sold, cut about half of one side out so it would fit on all the way.

Geez, hope this thread doesn't get closed...

 

[Mikeysaxcat]

Dr. G I think votawtool sells a modern thumbrest kit with the base, screw and plastic thumbhook. I am also thinking about putting a newer modern thumbrest on my buescher true tone alto. I just had it overhauled and it really just has a bigger and cleaner sound than many modern horns. The pinky keywork is a pain sometimes but the sound on stage is phenomenal man. Best wishes.

sent from Mikey's Super Inspire 4G

 

[Chris Peryagh]

I'd suggest getting the Yamaha one due to the large amount of adjustment the thumbhook has - not just swivelling to the left or right like several ones do, they also move up and down into any angle you want. And I'd also suggest getting a metal thumbhook to go with it as they're more solid than the plastic ones which do flex a fair bit - several companies offer them in brass specifically made to fit Yamahas, so take your pick of which one you like the look of best.

Be specific it's a YSS-475/675/875 baseplate when you order it for your soprano as the ones for alto or tenor may not have the correct degree of curvature on the underside where it's soldered to the body due to the larger diameter of the alto and tenor body tubes at that point.

 

[Smokey613]

Dr G ... I have one that I am not going to use. It is yours if you want it. How about $7.00 to cover shipping? It is for a tenor though... so may be too large a radius for the soprano.

 

[griff136]

I'd suggest getting the Yamaha one due to the large amount of adjustment the thumbhook has - not just swivelling to the left or right like several ones do, they also move up and down into any angle you want. And I'd also suggest getting a metal thumbhook to go with it as they're more solid than the plastic ones which do flex a fair bit - several companies offer them in brass specifically made to fit Yamahas, so take your pick of which one you like the look of best.

Be specific it's a YSS-475/675/875 baseplate when you order it for your soprano as the ones for alto or tenor may not have the correct degree of curvature on the underside where it's soldered to the body due to the larger diameter of the alto and tenor body tubes at that point.

Wise words from Chris re being specific about the baseplate. I too would go for the Yamaha set up for the same reasons as Chris has pointed out. You should also be able to order it in Silver plate too.

 

[hellas]

I'm using a large thumb hook from Music Medic on my Selmer Mark VI soprano and it's really very comfortable. Maybe you could check whether it fits Buescher soprano too.

http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/products/part-th100.html

 

[Chris Peryagh]

The RH thumb ring on Conn sopranos isn't the most comfortable thing in the world either as it's very narrow and radiused so it digs in a fair bit. As the weight of sopranos is pretty much all on the right thumb (and slings don't really work so well on straight sopranos), anything that makes things more comfortable for the player are best used as there's no point in struggling on in discomfort.

Old altos and tenors with thin thumb hooks can be made more comfortable by glueing pieces of cork to the body on either side to fill in and flatten things out more and also fitting a thumb hook cushion to broaden the area of contact against the back of your right thumb instead of the pressure being concentrated in the one area.

 

[cvsimson]

Dr. G,
thank you for the thread. I am having the same issue with my King C Sop.

I guess I will try some cover-up rubber solution before a more drastic intervention...

 

[NissanVintageSax]

I'm using a large thumb hook from Music Medic on my Selmer Mark VI soprano and it's really very comfortable. Maybe you could check whether it fits Buescher soprano too.

http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/products/part-th100.html

I'm using the same one on my 1926 Bari. makes playing the old dinosaur so much more enjoyable!

 

[Dr G]

The base plate is the key here - must get the correct one to accomodate the radius of the horn (in silver plate, of course).

 

[dvdberg]

Dr. G,
thank you for the thread. I am having the same issue with my King C Sop.

I guess I will try some cover-up rubber solution before a more drastic intervention...

Get some SUGRU. It allows you to mold the hook to any shape you want.

 

[Jorns Bergenson]

The base plate is the key here - must get the correct one to accomodate the radius of the horn (in silver plate, of course).

I think this will be tough to find. What I did was take an alto base plate that came from Votaw and changed the radius with a rotary tool. The radius was close but not perfect, so I used a mandrel (ok, it was an old baseball bat :shock: ) to smooth out the radius to match the soprano body. Then I soldered it on and spot plated it. Worked a treat. I'll see if I have a picture somewhere.

 

[cvsimson]

Get some SUGRU. It allows you to mold the hook to any shape you want.

I followed your advice and it worked very well. I wasn't familiar with SUGRU, so the tip was really good.
I molded the SUGRU thumb rest bigger than I thought I needed, on purpose. Once it was cured, I started playing and sculpting it to the best curve, angle and size.
Now my thumb rests comfortably while I play, and there is no pain anymore.
I also like the fact that I didn't have to make permanent changes to the sax.

Thank you!