Yes.

 

Yes.

Huh? I was curious about this issue, too. But there are no yes-or-no questions in the original post.

For what it's worth, I asked Lee Kramka (of Lee's Sax Worx) his opinion about this last week, and he thinks you should leave the thing in, but DON'T use just any old brand of whatever those sticks are called; he says some are made of material that doesn't dry fast enough, and some leave lint on the pads. I forget which brand he sells, but he says that brand is good. Sorry about all this vague information, but I just figured I'll buy one when I go to pick up the sax he's working on for me, so I didn't worry too much about the details.

Another FWIW: Marvin Krantz (of St. Louis Woodwind & Brass) thinks you should never leave them in, and they all leave lint on the pads. Maybe we should lock Lee and Marvin in a room for an hour with a couple of foam bats and let them fight it out. Otherwise, this debate will go on and on.

At least the lint is visible to an ordinary mortal eye, and it's easy to tell if the swab is wet or dry. So, in other words, we don't need no stinkin' experts. Oh, one more point Lee talked about: players vary GREATLY in "how wet they play." Sorry, but that concept is grossing me out, so I don't think I want to talk about this anymore. Bye.

 

OK

 

Use a pull-thru instead.Then you dont have to worry about whats the best!!
Dave

 

Padsavers have never caused me any grief all the while I've been using them, but the ones to avoid are the Helin ones which are too thick and can break the solder joint in the lower octave bush.

HW ones are fine, and I've never encountered any of the theoretical problems expressed by people that don't use them think they cause.

 

Saxster68...
I've always used the original, H.R. Product, starting back in 1968 or 69. With the newer ones the material wicks the mosture toward the center of the shaft where it dries. You will often here of "shove-its" shedding and or leaving fuzz, these are the copy brands, the H.R.'s never did.

http://www.hwproducts.com/WoodwindPage.html

In the end you have to do what makes you feel the best.

 

Oops!

Make that H.W. Products, Inc.
Chris has it right!

 

Leaving it in does not draw water from pads. IN fact it is pretty unlikely that a shove-it ever even touches pads, except at the instant when you START pulling it out, and the bristles get dragged to the other direction.

The water on the pads collects (by capillary action) where the tone holes meet the pads. The shove-it does not go there.

Shove-its wipe out the BORE, not the pads. It is likely that they actually push moisture from the bore down the tone holes, TO the pads.

So they probably don't do a lot more than reducing the residual condensation inside the sax. Leaving a wet swab inside a flute or clarinet can make the pads go mouldy. It is advisable not to keep wet things shut up inside the case even. However there is typically more ventilation around the pads in a sax case.

But every technician knows, some players blow moist air, while others blow all manner of dead human tissue and buckets of saliva down their sax. It is positively "reach-worthy" to work on some such instruments. Some mouth linings must be horrible!

So a far more important issue, is mouth/teeth hygiene, and learning NOT to blow anything other than moist air down the instrument!

 

Somebody's actually done experiments to answer the debate about pad savers and pull-throughs. Quite interesting...
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Testing/Padsavers.htm

 

For what is is worth, I slowwwwwly pull a pull through through the bore twice. Slowly so the moisture can soak into it, twice so the bore is relatively dry.

Then I insert pad saver, and rapidly pump it up and down several times so the fibers get into the tone holes and the closed pad surfaces where the pull through does not reach.

Then I leave mine in the sax, but when I push it fully into the sax for the final time, I turn it one direction about two full turns, then back it up the other direction about .25 turn. I can see the fibers back into the open tone holes, and assume it to be doing likewise in the closed ones, placing some fibers in contact with the pad. I never open closed tone holes with the padsaver in the horn, as this seems like a recipe for the pad to grab some fibers and pull them from the pad saver, leading to who knows what horrible tone catastrophy.

I figure the open keys are in the air and will dry themselves.
The bore is relatively dry, any drops in a closed tone hole have either been absorbed into the pad saver, or at worst redistributed to several fibers from the pumping action, so they at least do not sit against a closed pad.

I live in a fairly low humidity area, and this seems to work for me, never have had a stuck pad in my brief 2 year sax history.

 

"Leaving it in does not draw water from pads. IN fact it is pretty unlikely that a shove-it ever even touches pads"

I don't know what brand you use or have used but my H.W. Products, Pad Saver pushes out all around and up against the pads when in place.

 

Best answer to this question (which has been addressed dozens of times on SOTW - subliminal message...use the search function) is to use either a Pad Saver or a pull-thru swab when you finish the gig. When you get home, take the sax out of the case, set it up on a stand and let both the sax and open case air dry.

In addition to doing an effective job at drying the sax and swab, it also reminds you to practice the next day when you see it setting there. My sax talks to me when I see it...it says 'play me or you won't be making us sound any better any time soon'!

 

HWP, Inc. 2006 Product Information / Data CD​

Contents: Video presentation, company logo, product photos, barcode data, catalogue copy.

HWP will send you upon request an interactive video data CD/DVD which shows all their older bore/pad savers from various generations as well as the latest products, alongside with their competitors "copy-cat" versions also. Very interesting comparison on what happens to the fibre/wicking material of all these brands shown being used internally close-up on the video. They also show water absorpration vs. differences in material, the residual left-over fuzz their knock-offs are notoriously know for, as well as how the HW products do a much better job of cleaning the interior tonehole chimneys.

Request it, watch it, and this might help make a more sound decision of whether to purchase this or any type of pad/bore saver.

H.W. Products Inc.
2001 Peralta Street, Suite C
Oakland, CA 94607

Phone: 510-893-7447
Fax: 510-893-7450

E-mail
info@padsaver.com

 

In the movie "Bird", by Clint Eastwood and with Forest Whitaker, there is a scene with Charlie Parker who, right after he played, disassembles neck and mouthpiece and pushes a sax swab into the horn enclosing it all straight in the sax case.

 

In the movie "Bird", by Clint Eastwood and with Forest Whitaker, there is a scene with Charlie Parker who, right after he played, disassembles neck and mouthpiece and pushes a sax swab into the horn enclosing it all straight in the sax case.

Of course, that was a movie. It was Forest Whitaker, not Charlie Parker (who unfortunately passed on well before the movie was made), who pushed that pad saver in there.

Lee Kramka is also my sax tech. Maybe I'll ask him about it next time I see him. For years I've use a silk swab with no problem that I'm aware of.