Been out of the business for 30 years and bought a brand new Selmer USA. The G flat key stuck. Talked w/ a repair shop who said to run a dollar bill under the pad and that will free it. Told it was normal and you may have to do this once in awhile. Talked w/ various people who said keys will stick and they make a type of paper for this. Advise. THXXXXXXXX
G flat key
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I think you might mean the G sharp key sticking, a common problem with the Selmer design. Don't clean it with a dollar bill, use pad cleaning tissue. Dollars have sharp edges from their printing processes. Also take it to a technician. Lots of techs have lots of different ways of dealing with this problem.
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Yamaha makes a product called "Powder Paper" that helps with sticky pads in some cases. On some difficult pads I clean the pad and tone hole with a Q-tip dipped in naptha (lighter fluid). (Sometimes you have to squeeze the end of the Q-tip flat with a pair of pliers to get to the back of the pad.) Then I use the powder paper or Charlie G's "Gig Dust". If these techniques fail, then I replace the pad with a brand that doesn't stick and resurface the tonehole with a fine grit sandpaper.
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Gig Dust
I'd reccommend buying yourself some Gig Dust.
Works very well, IMO better than the lighter fluid, pad doping and Yamaha Pad Powder options.
www.gigdust.com
I use it with the crudpatches as well.
BPSAX
I'd reccommend buying yourself some Gig Dust.
Works very well, IMO better than the lighter fluid, pad doping and Yamaha Pad Powder options.
www.gigdust.com
I use it with the crudpatches as well.
BPSAX
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I tend to leave in a piece of blotting paper for a short while. Once I am sure it is dry I then remove the blotting paper. If I forget, I make sure i unstick the pad before playing.
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Don't do this while smoking.Russ said:
Newspaper works as it leaves a light deposit of ink on the pad-should last for weeks-the stuff like "pad dust" etc tends to cause clogging (moisture+hot breath+dust=goo)..
That or paraffin..so I guess lighter fluid is similar...I gave up smoking and science passed me by!
That or paraffin..so I guess lighter fluid is similar...I gave up smoking and science passed me by!
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277 Posts
Another vote for the late Charlie A's Gig Dust. www.gigdust.com
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I'd bet every tech would tell you that gigdust and similar stuff just makes extra work for them.....use a liquid solvent like lighter fluid which leaves no residue..... and dry-out your sax as much as poss after use 
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heres a good tip, open the g sharp key the close it, and ur good to go.
if its real bad, press it a few times.
if its real bad, press it a few times.
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A piece of Bounce fabric softener works... tried it out of curiosity. Even better, is to put it in the accessory compartment of your sax case and it makes the case smell better.
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It also works to but a sheet in the old cases to get rid of that "vintage smell".
This is a common problem on saxes, a good sign that you have been putting in some time on the horn. Emilio Lyons shared a trick with me he picked up from Rollins: place a soft cushion under the C# pad (i.e the 3rd one down on the bell) after you finish playing. Doing this keeps the G# key slightly off the tone hole and thus wont get sticky when it dries.. I have been doing this for 2 years, have not had a sticky pad since.
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I have to make a vote against GigDust. I think it's good stuff for immediate problems. But, over time I've seen players who have used it incorrectly, and it either:
A. Gets in the action and gunks things up there
B. Builds up on/around the pad over time and wears the pad out faster.
I think it can be used and applied properly, just be careful with it.
A. Gets in the action and gunks things up there
B. Builds up on/around the pad over time and wears the pad out faster.
I think it can be used and applied properly, just be careful with it.
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