[DanF]

I have a tenor that I have apart to be repadded but this thing really needs a good flushing to remove scale and 30 years worth of slober. In case it matters it is lacquered with a silver bell (King Super 20). Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Bernards20040]

Take it to a Tech and get it ultrasonicly cleaned.
thats the best way i know off

 

[JerryJamz2]

Take it to a Tech and get it ultrasonicly cleaned.
thats the best way i know off

I agree. Perhaps an article I wrote for my website detailing the options of cleaning brass instruments might be of interest to some. There is also a video link within the article whereas you can see a 2 minute video of the organic matter pouring out of a french horn. The short article is mainly pointed towards the brass family, but this type of cleaning applies to saxophone body parts as well. Sorry for another shameless plug.

http://www.empirewinds.com/articles_ultrasonic.htm

 

[hornfixer]

Take it to a Tech and get it ultrasonicly cleaned.
thats the best way i know off

Most Techs don't have one of those.
What would be the second best?

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Clean the gunge form the neck with a bottle brush, then cork the end and vinegar soak inside the neck to dissolve the mineral deposits.

For the body, keys off, and a good clean with bottle brushes, toilet-type brushes, and detergent or Simple Green, etc. If caked on stuff near the bow or in tone holes remains, dry it well, and attack with a brass brush in a Dremel, through the tone holes. Tone hole edge corrosion? Polish with 1200 grit sand paper.

 

[skyedude]

Great advice Gordon, however I have to ask about a twist in this equation....

I have a Yani 9937 alto which of course is solid silver with a clear lacquer finish. I've had the horn for a couple years now and play it quite a bit. Enough so that some of the clear lacquer is starting to flake off in places. Would cleaning the horn with the detergents and brushes you mention accelerate the loss of the lacquer?

As I mentioned, I play the horn quite a bit, and salivate more than most folks, causing the horn to grunge up quite quickly. I've cleaned it several times already, but am looking for an easier method of cleaning that won't cause any loss of lacquer. I use a Q-tip moistened with a very gentle liquid jewelry cleaner. (This takes a bit of time.) The silver definitely starts losing it's luster more quickly sans the protection of the lacquer, and I want to avoid spending anymore time cleaning than I have to...

Also, I'm very leary about using sandpaper on the toneholes. Is this an more of an issue with the silver?

thanks for your help.

 

[clarnibass]

Skyedude if the lacquer on the Yanagisawa is good quality (and if I remember right it is) cleaning it that way would do nothing to it. I've never had a case where soap or vinegar ruined lacquer actually, on any saxophone. 1200 sandpaper removes so little so it's insignificant, and I am not sure silver will have the type of corrosion brass will. Try a silver polish first, if that doesn't work you can try sandpaper and start with something even less abrasive if you want.

 

[playitfunky]

wow I have never cleaned my alto out in 20 years plus. It is ready for a bit of an overhaul maybe I will look into this.

 

[hansmartini]

Just make sure you don't wash out all the good notes trapped in that grunge.
Hans

 

[skyedude]

Detouring for a moment:

Hans wrote to play it funky,
"Just make sure you don't wash out all the good notes trapped in that grunge."

That may possibly be more of an issue than a joke than Hans intended for you, Playit... If your alto's neck and body of the horn have accumulated enough crud, a complete cleaning of it could possibly change the way it plays just enough to be a less than positive experience when you first play the horn afterwards. From the anecdotal data I have, this is more likely to be from cleaning the neck than the body tube, but, I have heard this from more than one experienced and trusted repair tech over the years.

I hope this isn't the case for you.

 

[skyedude]

clarnibass,

If the lacquer on this horn was yani's gold tinted version, I would be more than inclined to agree with you, I've owned quite a few of them over the years, and found the gold lacquer to be fairly "tough". This clear lacquer is another story altogether. It "bubbles" up, and when scratched lightly with a fingernail, comes off in flakes.... Also the places where the lacquer is 'bubbling' are not the places to be considered high stress points in terms of contact, on the horn. A fair amount of this is around the bell braces, both the circular braces at either end of the bow, as well as the brace from the body near the LH plateau keys and the bell. There is significant degradation of the lacquer at the foot of some of the posts and key guards at the bottom of the horn as well.

Using silver polish to clean up the "dirty" tone holes sounds like a reasonable idea. I would hope that this also helps the pad sticking issues that I have been plagued with on this horn from the beginning.....

 

[clarnibass]

Skyedude, I'm not familair with this lacquer on Yanahgisawa. I only saw one solid silver Yana sax and if I remember right it didn't have any lacquer. I meet the owner often so I will check (though his could be slightly different, he has his name engraved on it and was special made for him or something). I thought that for the same company the lacquer would be the same other than the colour (and I doubt the gold colour makes the lacquer tougher) but who knows? Maybe it sticks better to brass than silver? I don't know.

If you do use silver polish to clean the tarnish, then on the tone holes make sure you wash off all the polish or the pads might even be more sticky!

 

[hansmartini]

If you want to keep it 'original' I have always (on my own horns) taken it apart, cleaned it in the bath tub as explained here (brushes etc.). Clean out the tone holes as explained already. Don't put ANYTHING on the tone holes after light cleaning/sanding/whatever. Dry the horn off very well. Apply Simonize car paste wax (Carnauba- the old yellow can) and polish (not on the tone holes). Assemble with oiling of the parts. Do this once a year. ( you need a box of band aids for all the needle pricks also)
Alternative: Buy an ultrasonic unit for $15,000 or find someone like Jerry, who has one, and pay him to clean it. Then wax as above.
Replace all the washed out cool notes.- probably by practicing a lot.
Hans

 

[playitfunky]

Detouring for a moment:

Hans wrote to play it funky,
"Just make sure you don't wash out all the good notes trapped in that grunge."

That may possibly be more of an issue than a joke than Hans intended for you, Playit... If your alto's neck and body of the horn have accumulated enough crud, a complete cleaning of it could possibly change the way it plays just enough to be a less than positive experience when you first play the horn afterwards. From the anecdotal data I have, this is more likely to be from cleaning the neck than the body tube, but, I have heard this from more than one experienced and trusted repair tech over the years.

I hope this isn't the case for you.

I decided not to do it anyways. Turns out I cultured the cure to cancer in there and the horns been sent to the CDC for research.

 

[ZephyrSax]

I decided not to do it anyways. Turns out I cultured the cure to cancer in there and the horns been sent to the CDC for research.