[Jimmy G]

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I have a Julius Keilwerth ST90 tenor and the neck octave key causes a strange "breathy" sound for everything from high A and up. It's worst on the A and not so bad on the higher notes, it sounds like a leak but I've tested all the pads, and that's not it. I know it's the octave key because I do not get the breathy sound when I play the higher octave by lipping up, and all notes using the G octave key are great. I've been working my way through a number of hypotheses and have come to the conclusion that I really don't have a flippin' clue what's going on here. Is this a known issue to anyone, or should I just take it to the tech?

 

[Saxophilist]

My Yamaha has the same problem, but only on the A. I hope someone can tell us how to fix it without taking it to a tech.

 

[Sexy sax man]

Is there a chance that your octave riser isn't rising up high enough do to a bend in the riser?

 

[ARC454]

I remember reading somewhere here on SOTW that they fixed this by placing a piece of pantyhose material over the octave pip on the neck. First try it with a rubber band; if that works, you can (if I remember correctly) glue it in place.

 

[Saxophilist]

I remember reading somewhere here on SOTW that they fixed this by placing a piece of pantyhose material over the octave pip on the neck. First try it with a rubber band; if that works, you can (if I remember correctly) glue it in place.

I've tried this before. It worked great for a few minutes, but then every note started sounding fuzzy.

 

[swperry1]

I don't know a lot about this, but if the opening isn't enough it will make a sound like that. You could also have a sympathetic vibration going on...This would come from two hard surfaces (usually metal on metal) vibrating together at just the right frequencies. If adjusting to open the vent doesn't do the trick, play the note that is the worst (A) while someone else places pressure on spots around the horn. Apparently spots like where the rods pass through their holders are prone to this because the rods can be slightly bent so they make contact with the posts. Mine was due to the material used on the neck octave lever to lift the pad. It was too hard. My tech changed it to a softer material, and I haven't heard the buzz since.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

It sounds to me as if the neck vent has an obstruction, or the octave mechanism is not functioning correctly. And that mechanism is complicated. there are many things that can go wrong. Diagnosis is difficult in a forum but an experienced tech would diagnose it in seconds when they saw it.

If this mechanism is similar, then the post may help if you are mechanically minded:
http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulleti...y-operation-failure......&p=312749#post312749

 

[playatsax]

I did the panty hose thing on my Zephyr. Both octave keys hissed like a snake. Once I did the fix, they've been fine, and so far they've been on about 3 years. Check out this link from Music Medic.

http://www.musicmedic.com/info/articles/num_46.html

 

[DreaderShredder]

I have a similar problem with my tenor neck vent not opening far enough and it looks to me like there is too much cork on the octave key where it meets the body of the sax, i'm no expert but its maybe worth a look.

 

[Dr G]

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I have a Julius Keilwerth ST90 tenor and the neck octave key causes a strange "breathy" sound for everything from high A and up. It's worst on the A and not so bad on the higher notes, it sounds like a leak but I've tested all the pads, and that's not it. I know it's the octave key because I do not get the breathy sound when I play the higher octave by lipping up, and all notes using the G octave key are great. I've been working my way through a number of hypotheses and have come to the conclusion that I really don't have a flippin' clue what's going on here. Is this a known issue to anyone, or should I just take it to the tech?

Have you tried removing the key and running a pipe cleaner through the pip?