[Jmceachern36]

Question. Is moving a thumb hook on a bari Sax a big deal. I just called 2 repair shops and they acted like it was like performing brain surgery. I feel like is something I could do if I had the right tools. Am I missing something? One guy said he didn't think it was possible because it would weaken the structure of the horn. See pic below. It's been moved already. I want to move it to the right, where my thumb naturally goes.

 

[Dr G]

Question. Is moving a thumb hook on a bari Sax a big deal. I just called 2 repair shops and they acted like it was like performing brain surgery. I feel like is something I could do if I had the right tools. Am I missing something? One guy said he didn't think it was possible because it would weaken the structure of the horn.

Did you ask why he thought that?

P.S. What's under the black tape?

 

[Jmceachern36]

That’s a tooth protector thing. My thumb rubs against that so I put it on as a pad. Just spoke to Osmun. They’ll do it while I wait. 15 minute job. The guy laughed when I told him about the other repair shops.

 

[Jerry K.]

Yeah, piece of cake! Crazy where they locate the thumb rest on those old baris! Unless your King Kong there’s no way you can reach all the keys and keep your thumb on the rest.

 

[jgreiner]

Acetylene torch + flux + solder = done. Make sure they clean up the area where the thumb hook used to be. You'll still see where it was, but if done properly, it shouldn't look bad at all.

 

[turf3]

Yeah, piece of cake! Crazy where they locate the thumb rest on those old baris! Unless your King Kong there's no way you can reach all the keys and keep your thumb on the rest.

Actually, it's already been moved; my guess is that the shiny stripe just above his thumb in the picture is where it originally was. I have never seen a thumb hook as far over to the left as that one.

 

[Dr G]

That's a tooth protector thing. My thumb rubs against that so I put it on as a pad. Just spoke to Osmun. They'll do it while I wait. 15 minute job. The guy laughed when I told him about the other repair shops.

Correct answer!

 

[Jmceachern36]

Mouthpiece patch is what I meant to say. Not tooth protector...

 

[saxoclese]

I typically use a small Blazer ES-1000 butane torch and Tix solder for this type of soft soldering. The biggest challenge is holding the part firmly in the location it is to be soldered. Wire usually works, but not always.

 

[B Flat]

I typically use a small Blazer ES-1000 butane torch and Tix solder for this type of soft soldering. The biggest challenge is holding the part firmly in the location it is to be soldered. Wire usually works, but not always.

When mine was moved the tech asked me to hold it in position with a screwdriver while he did his work.
I imagine a spring clamp of some description would work well also.
Or maybe just gravity if you can get the horn to sit just right.

 

[saxoclese]

When mine was moved the tech asked me to hold it in position with a screwdriver while he did his work.
I imagine a spring clamp of some description would work well also.
Or maybe just gravity if you can get the horn to sit just right.

I used to think that gravity worked. From experience I have found that as the solder is "wicked" to the underside of the part, it pushes the part up so that it no longer sits perfectly flush. Also the thinner the solder between the parts, the stronger the bond. Spring clamps tend to work great when attaching parts to a cylindrical tube such as those found on brass instruments. On tapered tubes such as sax bodies they don't work nearly as well because they tend to slide and shift.

 

[turf3]

As a non-professional I use steel tag wire for this kind of thing. Never had any trouble with parts shifting. I use multiple wraps and twist it pretty tight. Try not to play the torch directly on it because it can get white hot and fall apart. (Multiple wraps mitigate this.)

 

[simso]

Its not hard, the issue typically is with the finish afterwards, the area that is about to be soldered to is typically cleaned and buffed smooth, so it stands out against the rest of the instrument, the old area you need to clean the solder and buff it as well, so it becomes another spot of high shine

Steve

 

[Jmceachern36]

It’s been fixed. I actually bought one of those Chinese replacement thumb hooks from eBay and he put it on. No problem at all. I’ll post a pic later.

 

[saxoclese]

Its not hard, the issue typically is with the finish afterwards, the area that is about to be soldered to is typically cleaned and buffed smooth, so it stands out against the rest of the instrument, the old area you need to clean the solder and buff it as well, so it becomes another spot of high shine

Steve

Point well taken. I have had some success at making the repair blend in with the original finish by "roughing up" the shiny finish using an abrasive cloth and applying a brass patina solution to "age" the brass. On newer saxes I will sometimes leave the area shiny and apply a bit of Jax Gold Finish to take away the bright Yamaha brass look and match the surrounding brass.

 

[JayeLID]

One guy said he didn't think it was possible because it would weaken the structure of the horn.

No.......:|....

he didn't say that.....:dazed:.....

...stop......:compress:....

...pleeeeeeeeeze.....:fftheai:

As noted (by everyone) this is incredibly simple....and yeah you lose some lacq at the area and it will, at first be shiny bare brass...but it will patina rather fast and the hue will darken down...or, as Saxoclese noted above, one can also apply some tint sorta stuff (Jax Gold, patina solution, or even spot lacq) to address this.

If I were cruel, I'd ask for the tech's name who said that.

But I am Kind. So will only suggest you stay far away from that person....

For posterity, as the OP has solved it....this is ....seriously ....a 10-15 minute procedure as noted, and not very hard.