How easy/difficult is it to repair this dent in the curve ?

It’s a simple job for techs with experience in removing dents. I once had a dent lIke this on a shinny new tenor, only bigger in diameter. My tech took it out in no time and it looked like the dent had never been there.

It doesn’t sound like you tech is the right person to work on this. I’d look for the next closest band instruments repair shop.

it’s important to check whether the rest of the horn is ok. A dent like this indicates the horn being dropped and that usually put lots of things out of alignment. But if this is an old damage maybe the latter issues were already resolved. A good tech will be able to diagnose.

EDIT: @soulsax my bad, I didn't realize post #18 was referring to the guard bend in picture in post #17, not the OP’s. I agree with what's said in posts #22,23 below. repairing a dent under the bowguard is a much more involving job. If you don’t mind not having an original part on your horn I’d remove and throw away your bent bowguard, straighten the bow and install either a salvaged or a new replacement guard. Still a bigger job than the OPs simple dent.

saxoclese said:

That would take less than a minute to roll out with a large steel ball and a "rare earth" dent magnet. There are more and more techs who are using these---especially those who work on low brass.

Magnetic Dent Removal System. It can also be "pushed out" with a traditional dent rod and ball or barrel in a short amount of time because of the easy access through the bell.

Click to expand...

This is the dent I was referring to that can be accessed using a steel ball and an appropriately sized magnet. Other smaller dents and "dings" close to the bow guard would require a different approach. Although I have had some success using a small strong cylindrical magnet above small dents and tapping it with a plastic hammer which gives a type of "rebound effect".

there are two dents being discussed here, the first looks like the one you posted @saxoclese








this second is an entirely different one

The first picture immediately above is from the OP. That one's probably a little trickier to get a smooth result as its small size and depth mean there's been some stretching of the material. You can easily see from the pattern of lacquer loss above it that there's been other previous dent work in the same general area. Someone was very very clumsy in handling this horn. I've known some hamfisted klutzes like that, like the guy I sometimes play with who constantly bangs his vintage Martin guitar down on the floor and against the metal legs of his chair.

The second picture is probably easier to get a smooth result as its more gentle contour means less stretching of the material. However, it'll be necessary to unsolder the guard strip. There's no lacquer left there anyway, so that's no biggie. That horn looks like it's had a lot of dent work down there as well.

It should be noted that neither of these dents will have ANY effect on the performance of the instrument and that removing them is purely an aesthetic decision.

It's hard to be sure about dents from photos since the best way to see them is to move the sax in relation to the light source... so can't say for sure but to me it looks like the first one is simpler.

With the first dent, considering the lacquer (or rather lack of it) in the area, it's almost always possible to remove to be completely unnoticeable, or maybe barely noticeable that something was there if you know to look for it. With lacquer, it usually compresses and stretches back with the dent and then removing the dent, and there's nothing you can do about it (other than relacquering), so you get lacquer fuzz that is visible in an area with regular good lacquer. How much it does this depends on the size/shape of the dent, type of lacquer, etc. In this case there's barely any lacquer left there and it's very scratched anyway which helps it all blend.

The second dent with the guard, yes it's possible to remove the guard, repair the dent on the body and the guard and resolder the guard. In that case, even with excellent soldering skills, you'll likely need to do a bit of cleaning, which could mean polishing the area and make it more visible, at least for a while (very shiny area vs. the worn area around it)... if you care about that. Most of the time it's also possible to use rebounding without unsoldering the guard. Depending on how resistant the body and guard are, usually get to around 90% of the other repair, but it's much simpler, quicker and cheaper. When I get these, by far most choose the latter option, knowing it won't affect the way it plays.