[Budget Explosion]

Answer: it's the cane reed 90% of the time (for me.)

I'm an insecure sax player and every once in a while, I can barely get the sax to play...quick, I run to SOTW/ebay/Craigslist on the computer and start searching for a new horn or mouthpiece...or I run to the repair shop. It's very embarrassing.

90+% of the time, the problem is that my favorite cane reed has crapped out...but I somehow overlooked that possibility, again.

Does this happen to you?

 

[jgreiner]

Sell your horns NOW and take up knitting. ;-)

Sure it happens. However, I rotate between 4 reeds, so when one decides to go south on me, I have 3 others waiting to get beat up.

 

[Jazz Is All]

The only thing that makes my horn not play right when for some reason something is stuck in the bell by accident that shouldn't be there. My horns sit in their stands next to my big desk with the keyboard and all my reeds etc. Sometimes stuff falls off, like for example a rubber squeeze ball I use to excercise my wrist to avoid carpal tunnel. It feel in the tenor bell without me knowing it. When I went to play I couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong. Thought I had a leak up top and was checking everything out. Then when I turned it upside down to look at the bow the damn thing fell out. Duh!!

 

[Alain Gen]

Answer: it's the cane reed 90% of the time (for me.)

I'm an insecure sax player and every once in a while, I can barely get the sax to play...quick, I run to SOTW/ebay/Craigslist on the computer and start searching for a new horn or mouthpiece...or I run to the repair shop. It's very embarrassing.

90+% of the time, the problem is that my favorite cane reed has crapped out...but I somehow overlooked that possibility, again.

Does this happen to you?

Stick a post-it to your computer with the question "isn't it the reed?"...

 

[Jazz Is All]

The things that have happened to me on gigs are of the "if anything can go wrong it will now" variety.

playing my sop at a blues jam....a mellow jam....suddenly all I get is a loud squawk. I freak and look at my horn, well down the fromt of the sop and don't see anything amiss. Blow again....another clam....I quickly move to the back of the stage and squat down out of view. What the hell could it be? I'm looking all over the horn and then I look at the back of the body tube. Well on my Conn Chu straight sop there is no strap hook but I had improvised one by taking a piece of nylon cord and attaching it to the round thumb hook ring and to that I had clipped in the my strap hook. I'm looking at it and then see that the damn nylon cord had a loose end that had somehow gotten stuck under the stupid Eb trill key pad and was keeping it open. Man did I feel dumb cause it had never happened before ever but chose an important jam to do it.

Similar things have happened with my TT alto. I have had a lower stack needle spring suddenly pop out from under it's catch and there I am mid descending arpeggio when suddenly it's a loud awful duck fart. It's happened to me at home once and at a gig, so knew what it is and just popped it back in right away. This kind of thing is all that usually happens to me although a dead reed here and there does happen. I just chuck them on the floor and put in a different one.

 

[lostcircuits]

OMG, endless possibilities ... sure, the reed is one of the worst offenders but a piece of paper napkin stuck under the C# cup to keep it open during a break in between sets (and which also keeps the G# key open), the cord of my wireless clip-on working itself into the keywork and in the process of untangling it dislocating one of the springs.

Then there is that thing about forgetting to re-tighten the neck tenon screw after getting back up on stage (after loosening it to turn it for the break) and all of a sudden the horn sounds like crap.

And of course, the mother of all, when in the middle of a solo the reed splits down the middle (only happened once to me but what a trip). I even had a spare MPC with reed in my case but it had dried out and the "quick change" ended up with the reed falling out (luckily into my mouth). Almost comical, the "alright I'm back" followed by three notes followed by @$&%&#*#

 

[AddictedToSax]

I had an instance where I couldn't get a sound out of my tenor and it was just after I had changed the reed. I messed with the reed with no luck. Took the reed off and put another one on, still no luck. Then I took a look at the horn and found a piece of the plastic wrapper for the new reed had fallen and gotten wedged under one of the pads and was making it so it wouldn't seal. I pulled the plastic wrapper out and all was fine with the world.

I also left a post-it stuck in the G# key when I put the horn away and forgot take it out before playing the next day. Same effect as described with the plastic wedged under a pad. A lot of squawking and ummmph sounds.

 

[Keith Ridenhour]

To answer your question. Yes this has happened to me. I've had a couple of gigs where every reed in my case of 10 wouldn't play. So I got the weekest one to respond by changing postition on the piece and made it through the gig. You always check to see if the reed buzzes easily on the piece . If not that needs to be fixed before you worry about he horn. K

 

[Budget Explosion]

Stick a post-it to your computer with the question "isn't it the reed?"...

This is great! I'm using it! Thanks!

 

[LostConn]

90+% of the time, the problem is that my favorite cane reed has crapped out...but I somehow overlooked that possibility, again.

Get a synthetic reed and confirm that it plays OK for you. If you prefer cane, just keep it in the case as a tester. When you experience a problem with your regular setup, do a play test with the synth reed; if it works, you know the problem is not the horn or the mouthpiece.

 

[joebas]

In my case it was the key leaves. I forgot to take them out.

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

In my case it was the key leaves. I forgot to take them out.

Well they are key "leaves", not key "take them outs".

 

[whaler]

Blew a little piece of lime into the mouthpiece from a Corona I had on the bandstand. I guess it was sitting right at the tip. I had to do that thing where you take the mouthpiece off and blow through the shank to get it out.
No more Coronas or Blue Moons on the bandstand

 

[area51recording]

One day, morning after a gig, my tenor was acting MEGA strange, especially in the low end. I changed reeds, mouthpieces, and generally going nuts and getting ready to call my repair guy when I looked in the bell. Apparently the night before someone had dropped a $20 bill in the bell while my horn was on the stand after we got done playing, and I hadn't noticed....

 

[nvilletele]

For me, it's the last of the options presented: I just forgot how to play. (Happens frequently)

 

[Ner Sax]

I always try to use the KISS rule. Before checking out pads or leaks, I always go to the reed first and make sure it is seated on the table correctly. If that's fine, I check pads and everything else (just to make sure one hasn't fallen out). If it still isn't playing well, I'll swap reeds last.