I have a tenor sax that seems to have a problem with the neck ring that engages the octave key. When you align the neck square to the body of the sax the octave key is engaged and the pad on the neck is up-anotherwards, when the neck is square to the bell of the body the octave is not in the middle of the ring, but to the side and is thus engaged. I am able play the tenor by just placing the neck at an angle to the body which moves the octave key to the middle of the ring. The octave key seems fine to me. The problem seems to be that ring has been bent out of shape and is not symmetical-one side of the ring is closer to the crook of the neck on one side than it is on the other. What is involving in getting this kind of issue fixed. Thanks
Neck ring problem
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What make of sax is it?
Not all saxes have the shift lever on the body placed so it lies central when the crook is lined up with the body or lining up with the sling ring or the thumbs. Selmer SBAs have the shift lever off towards the left (as you're playing) and the crook key is mounted between different height pillars so it moves in a slightly diagonal plane instead of straight up and down, so the loop of the crook key will often have to be bent to allow it to function properly even if it looks out of shape or off-centre.
Set the crook on the playing position and bend the crook key accordingly so it works for you, still allowing for a small amount of clearance between the end of the shift lever and the inside of the crook key loop (around 0.3 to 0.5mm).
Not all saxes have the shift lever on the body placed so it lies central when the crook is lined up with the body or lining up with the sling ring or the thumbs. Selmer SBAs have the shift lever off towards the left (as you're playing) and the crook key is mounted between different height pillars so it moves in a slightly diagonal plane instead of straight up and down, so the loop of the crook key will often have to be bent to allow it to function properly even if it looks out of shape or off-centre.
Set the crook on the playing position and bend the crook key accordingly so it works for you, still allowing for a small amount of clearance between the end of the shift lever and the inside of the crook key loop (around 0.3 to 0.5mm).
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IMO, if the neck is moved to left or right of central to the linkage arm, then the at-rest gap between the linkage arm and the neck key should remain the same. In most saxes this is not the case. To correct it, the loop of the key needs to be bent such that at rest, it forms a curve that is concentric to the neck tenon. (I have my own specialised tool for improving this state of affairs)
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Gordon could you post a pic of that tool please?
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You're most welcome...
Basically, it is a plier tool sold to the jewelery making trade, presumably for shaping bracelets. It used to look like this - http://www.etsy.com/listing/61883855/bracelet-bending-plier-take-flat-metal
But I modified the jaws to be less bulky so that I would not need to take the key off the neck, and so that it had harder, more robust (but non-damaging) materials on the faces of the plier. (YHOu may notice the tough, red, polymer sheet material from Kraus; the black part is a hard polymer)
Now it is like this:
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