[mpjbiker]

Hi all the tip of my spring has snapped off (i.e the tip furthest from the post which sits in the groove). Is this an unusual size and shape spring? It looks like a thick piece of wire, with no discernible taper, not blue, but possibly stainless? The post end is not flush with the post, but sticks out a good quarter inch. It always has done so I don't think it has simply moved in the post. Am I or my tech going to struggle to locate one? It seems to be the worst part of the design, as in addition to the G#key, it also has to work against the trill mechanism. I rarely use the trill key-anyone removed it to enable a snappier spring to be fitted to the G#?
Cheers!

 

[1saxman]

I would push the spring more thru the post so it would be long enough to catch the spring perch. They make a pliers for this - don't try to tap it thru - you could knock the post of the horn. This is probably already a replacement spring that was poorly done. Are you sure the tip broke off, or did the spring just back out of the post over time? If it doesn't fit the post tight, you'll have to have it replaced. Without tools and/or knowing what you're doing, you had better take it to someone who does.
For now, just try to push it farther into the post by hand or use a flat screwdriver to push on the end while you brace the post. You might be able to get it good enough to play.

 

[milandro]

stainless steel was, possibly, a replacement, you can replace with a regular blue needle spring

 

[turf3]

If the other springs are pointed blue steel then this one is a replacement. It's extremely unlikely that the tip has broken off, since the stress there is near zero and the stress at the post is highest. That's why when springs do break, they break at the post. What's probably happened is that the spring was insufficiently seated and has worked its way out of the post as you described. The end of the spring will have been flattened and widened before installation, to give it a press fit into the post. The thing to do is to press it back into place as 1saxman states. Also completely correct that you don't want to hit it with a hammer. The bigger risk than knocking the post off altogether is that you'll move it and then the keywork will bind. The best way to press the spring back into place is with a pair of those slotted pliers he mentions. Unless you have good mechanical skills I wouldn't recommend alternative kludge methods like I used till I got a pair of the slotted pliers.

You'll need to do this chop chop so the spring doesn't wallow out the hole in the post.

As to the trill key, it has zero effect on the springs, it's not even sprung, it just sits there without any spring action on it at all. It is true the G# key touch spring operates in opposition to the spring that lifts the G# pad. That's the way it's designed, every saxophone since the very early 1900s has been made this way. It's called the "articulated G#" and it is what permits you to close the G# pad by closing any RH key while leaving the keytouch depressed. (Unfortunately it's also what allows the G# pad to stick.)

You can take off the trill key if you want but it won't affect anything about the behavior of the horn except that you'll lose that alternative fingering that no one uses anyway. You just need to re-seat, or get re-seated, that spring.

 

[mpjbiker]

Thanks for replies-I have managed to push the spring through the post and hook it back on, but the tension has gone from the spring, and it sometimes won't close the pad, so it'll need replacing anyway. The other springs are all blue tapered-this one is not tapered at all. Is this a known weak spot on old Conns?

 

[turf3]

I'm guessing the spring has rotated when it was loose in the post. If it appears now to be tight in the post, you bend the spring (in a curve, not a single kink) to give it tension. This is totally not model-specific and is just one of the typical mechanical issues that can occur on old saxophones. At some point the original blue steel spring was replaced with this stainless steel one, which is not uncommon. If you're not qualified to yank the mechanism off there to get access to the spring and bend it properly, or if it won't stay in the proper orientation in the post without flipping around (that would mean the post is wallowed out) then you need a pro to do it. It's not a very big deal to replace one spring, even if some work needs to be done to correct an oversize hole in the post. I am agnostic on the importance of tapered blue springs vs. straight stainless ones. On a Pan American, I'd just go with what makes it work properly.

 

[lostcircuits]

Exactly what turf3 said, the one thing you might want to try is to push the spring back out, typically the back-end is flattened and rotate it 180 degrees rather than trying to bend it opposite of where it is now. A small set of needle nose pliers can be used to grab the spring and then you tap the pliers until it disengages from the post, rotate it and pull it back in. You may have to tap either the back end of the spring or else the pliers to secure it. The main functional difference between blue and stainless steel springs is that the first kind rusts

 

[milandro]

Thanks for replies-I have managed to push the spring through the post and hook it back on, but the tension has gone from the spring, and it sometimes won't close the pad, so it'll need replacing anyway. The other springs are all blue tapered-this one is not tapered at all. Is this a known weak spot on old Conns?

No, not at all.

Replace or have it replaced with a blue needle spring