[baritone]

Hi I wonder what the charge of an overhaul, including repad and setup.

unlikely any spring needs to be looked into.

I contact my usual repairman and the quoted rate is quite :x

please feel free to quote rates in any currency (commonly used )

and it will be my pleasure if anyone can suggest me some contacts that competent in the sax.

another thing I want to ask is that, I received a sax which the mpc has been on the neck cork for probably ages...so it is sticking hard onto it, what can I do to mend this without cutting my mpc into pieces...I think the neck (grafton) is not so solid comparing to brass sax necks.

what an I supposed to do? I thought to soak it in oil for another ages time...but what kind of oil? Oliver oil?

thx very much

 

[JerryJamz2]

I personally can not comment or suggest as I have yet to see one in my 29 years of repair, however as these are very rare collectibles. At any cost you should be most concerned that the repairs will be done properly. Is the tech you inquired upon aware of what this instrument is? Many don't. I believe that all professional technicians here will back me up in saying that quoting a repair (whether a Grafton, or a Bundy) is only done upon visual inspection. Especially in this instance. Do your homework and be very careful upon your choice. Price does NOT determine value.

 

[baritone]

Thx Jerry, I did some research and two of my UK trusted repairer get some fairly high rate, beyond the high end of an alto overhaul.

I guess I shall play it safe. What about the sticking mpc?

regards
Peter

 

[JerryJamz2]

Please inquire upon your tech as anything I could offer would only be speculation at best. We are all dependent upon our skills, experience, and tooling at hand. Let us know how it turns out. I'd LOVE to see/play a Grafton in my lifetime.

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

The cost, and finding someone competent to work on the peculiarities of this particular saxophone, are the major reasons why I restored and overhauled the Grafton gifted to me myself.

I was also able to discover and utilize a commercial grade liquid welding cement that fully bonds any cracks and broken areas of the acrylic used to manufacture these as well. It doesn't just glue the areas, it chemically welds them back together, making the bond stronger than the surrounding plastic. I'm confident that a similar product was used to weld the body/bow/bell on the original horns.

Since so many techs charge an absolute fortune to repairs these, sans the knowledge of this little secret, I will give the product name via PM request rather than broadcast it.

I can safely say, that after doing much repair and major reconstructive surgery on my Grafton, let alone the horror of repadding (those who have worked on them know what I mean!), I DO realize why techs charge what they do.

 

[griff136]

re the stuck mouthpiece - I had this problem on a customers sax a few weeks ago. I managed to free it by carefully using lighter fluid on the exposed cork which "broke down" the contact adhesive after a few applications (over a couple of hours) the cork came off with the mouthpiece.

www.dg-music.co.uk

 

[gary]

Depending on where you are in the UK, you might be able to make a trip to Deventer, NL. I played a Grafton at Saxofoonwinkel that was pristine. I don't know if they did the work on it or not, but it might be worth giving them a call.

 

[Russ]

Baritone,

If I'm thinking along your lines, your normal tech has worked on Grafton's before and knows what he is doing. The other person I'd call (whom has also worked on Grafton's) is Steve Howard. I'd trump up the extra cash just for the comfort of knowing it was being done right.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

I have worked on a couple. They are an absolute nightmare to work on.

From what I recall:

Major problem 1: instead of needle springs, there are little coil springs wrapped around the pivot tubes. When a key is taken off, there is a very high likelihood of these springs flying to the nether regions of the workshop, never to be seen again. It is an understatement to say that dis/reassembly without losing springs is quite a challenge.

Major problem 2. The linkage of stack keys can only be adjusted by turning adjusting screws. However these screws are positioned such that a key needs to be taken off the instrument in order to turn the screw by any normal sort of means.

Problem 3: The impact that problem 1 has on problem 2!

Problem 4: Many adjustments are most conveniently made by slightly bending keys. This is not worth the risk when the keys are mounted on brittle plastic.

Problem 5: An alternative for adjusting pad alignment over tone holes is to heat keys to soften the glue, and adjust the pad in the key cup. It is high risk to use any heating device near this plastic.

There are many more problems specific to this instrument. Compared with other instruments, I would expect a repad to take at least twice as long, and quite likely several times as long. As a technician, I would be happy to never see one again.

 

[baritone]

re the stuck mouthpiece - I had this problem on a customers sax a few weeks ago. I managed to free it by carefully using lighter fluid on the exposed cork which "broke down" the contact adhesive after a few applications (over a couple of hours) the cork came off with the mouthpiece.

www.dg-music.co.uk

ah, I will give it a go later on today...

 

[baritone]

I have worked on a couple. They are an absolute nightmare to work on.

From what I recall:

Major problem 1: instead of needle springs, there are little coil springs wrapped around the pivot tubes. When a key is taken off, there is a very high likelihood of these springs flying to the nether regions of the workshop, never to be seen again. It is an understatement to say that dis/reassembly without losing springs is quite a challenge.

Major problem 2. The linkage of stack keys can only be adjusted by turning adjusting screws. However these screws are positioned such that a key needs to be taken off the instrument in order to turn the screw by any normal sort of means.

Problem 3: The impact that problem 1 has on problem 2!

Problem 4: Many adjustments are most conveniently made by slightly bending keys. This is not worth the risk when the keys are mounted on brittle plastic.

Problem 5: An alternative for adjusting pad alignment over tone holes is to heat keys to soften the glue, and adjust the pad in the key cup. It is high risk to use any heating device near this plastic.

There are many more problems specific to this instrument. Compared with other instruments, I would expect a repad to take at least twice as long, and quite likely several times as long. As a technician, I would be happy to never see one again.

yes the sax design is very complicated and seems all the problems adds to the problem 2. Thx for the great sharing. Sounds it is really the matter of doubling the amount of time (is money)

:? Poor grafton owner~~~~

just emailed Steve

 

[Gandalfe]

Depending on where you are in the UK, you might be able to make a trip to Deventer, NL. I played a Grafton at Saxofoonwinkel that was pristine. I don't know if they did the work on it or not, but it might be worth giving them a call.

So how'd it play?

I purchased a fairly decent, but cracked Grafton sax from eBay a couple of months ago. I knew going in it was gonna be expensive to repair and make playable. But I never got the chance because by time the instrument reached me, the plastic was smashed into a thousand pieces! It must have traveled through very cold weather and bend dropped really hard, maybe a number of times by the Post Office.

The Post Office gave the seller (and he credited me) back my money, but that wasn't the point really. I'll probably never get another chance to purchase a Grafton.

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Don't worry Gandalfe,

They are a neat thing to have, primarily for the novelty of it, but there isn't anything extraordinary about the horn's sound or playability that propels it above all others.

 

[gary]

Don't worry Gandalfe, They are a neat thing to have, primarily for the novelty of it, but there isn't anything extraordinary about the horn's sound or playability that propels it above all others.

Agreed but I was surprised at how good it did sound. I was expecting something a bit bizarre -actually I didn't want to play it but the repair man insisted- and it played really well. I wasn't in the market to buy it so I didn't give it great scrutiny. Although it wasn't extraordinary, neither was it anything unusual.

 

[JerryJamz2]

For anyone who might be interested in seeing what one of these looks like and its history, please click on this link I provided from Steve Goodson's website www.saxgourmet.com.

http://www.saxgourmet.com/grafton.htm

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Agreed but I was surprised at how good it did sound. I was expecting something a bit bizarre -actually I didn't want to play it but the repair man insisted- and it played really well. I wasn't in the market to buy it so I didn't give it great scrutiny. Although it wasn't extraordinary, neither was it anything unusual.

That about hits the nail on the head. After playing one, everyone is struck by just how much it sounds like a saxophone, is spite of it's acrylic plastic composition. Lending much credence to the argument that material and cosmetic finish have less to do with the horn or mouthpiece's sound than the internal dimensions and resulting acoustics.

The keywork takes a bit of time to get used to, but is actually quite responsive and easy on the fingers. The only real drawbacks are the durability and adjustment/repair issues inherent with this horn. I think a lot of the plastics and other materials and manufacturing processes available today could solve these flaws ably.

 

[Bennyg]

That about hits the nail on the head. After playing one, everyone is struck by just how much it sounds like a saxophone, is spite of it's acrylic plastic composition. Lending much credence to the argument that material and cosmetic finish have less to do with the horn or mouthpiece's sound than the internal dimensions and resulting acoustics.

...

I agree. Years ago I sat beside a high-school student who showed up with the first metal clarinet I had ever seen. I was surprised when he blew it and out came the typical clarinet sound. I think I was expecting it to sound like a flute.

 

[smogsucka]

The cost, and finding someone competent to work on the peculiarities of this particular saxophone, are the major reasons why I restored and overhauled the Grafton gifted to me myself.

I was also able to discover and utilize a commercial grade liquid welding cement that fully bonds any cracks and broken areas of the acrylic used to manufacture these as well. It doesn't just glue the areas, it chemically welds them back together, making the bond stronger than the surrounding plastic. I'm confident that a similar product was used to weld the body/bow/bell on the original horns.

Since so many techs charge an absolute fortune to repairs these, sans the knowledge of this little secret, I will give the product name via PM request rather than broadcast it.

I can safely say, that after doing much repair and major reconstructive surgery on my Grafton, let alone the horror of repadding (those who have worked on them know what I mean!), I DO realize why techs charge what they do.

Hi Mike,could you please give me the name of the cement used to repair a grafton.
Also any tips on re-padding,(apart from,dont do it)
Regards---john.