[Cannos]

I bought a new TWO1 late last year and it's already showing a fair amount of wear on the thumb rest and hook (see pictures). I certainly expect wear to happen but figured it would take longer than the 4-5 months I've played the horn since getting it. It's mostly a cosmetic issue so not that big a deal. But I wanted to see if others experienced similar wear in this amount of time, and if it seemed normal.

 

[datsaxman]

Mine is the UL model, so no shiny lacquer to show the wear.

You touch there all the time, it will happen.

 

[Cannos]

Yeah definitely expected the wear, especially in that location, just not in a few months.

 

[milandro]

why not?

any way , it it really bothers you it is extremely easy to take it off and laquer it, this is one of the reason why, in the olden days, these parts were almost universally made of some plastic.

 

[Cannos]

Why didn't I expect it to wear in a few months? Because this type of lacquer wear on my other horns took years, not months. However my others horns have plastic thumb rests, and the neck and palm/octave keys showed wear first, and these parts aren't touched as often as thumb rests.

So I take it this is a normal amount of time for these parts to wear then. Thanks, was just curious and making sure I didn't have subpar lacquering.

 

[SHOZZA]

I think a lot of the causes can be the acidity of your skin. I've had a T901 for six years, and no wear yet! My wife on the other hand ( excuse the pun) has very acidic hands. If she was playing it there would be wear all over it.

 

[Cannos]

Yup that makes sense. I have enough wear on my other saxes that I must have somewhat acidic hands. So yeah was definitely expecting it in time. Mostly a cosmetic thing so no big deal, and I was just curious how quickly other people saw this.

6 years and no wear is impressive! That's probably a super power.

 

[wanderso]

showing a fair amount of wear on the thumb rest and hook

Yes, my T-WO20 played a few hours a day since December has much larger patches of missing lacquer in both locations, and some green corrosion to boot on the thumb hook.

Mine does not yet but I have seen pics of otherwise-new-appearing Yanys also with missing lacquer along the octave touch next to the thumb rest.

So, yeah, in my experience it did get my attention but I suppose in a way I was proud that it documented my hours working on the horn. And have others have said, easy enough to clean up and relacquer periodically. Otherwise, my horn has stayed pristine.

 

[Cannos]

Thanks wanderso, good to know your timing and confirming I wasn't seeing something unusual.

 

[saxoclese]

A thin mouthpiece patch cut to shape would protect those areas from further wear and can be reapplied as needed. A thicker rubberized patch might also make the RH thumb hook more comfortable.

 

[Dr G]

A thin mouthpiece patch cut to shape would protect those areas from further wear and can be reapplied as needed. A thicker rubberized patch might also make the RH thumb hook more comfortable.

You could also keep the horn in its case in the back of a closet to avoid any further wear. :twisted: :bluewink:

For comfort, I like to use a patch of moleskin. I don't worry about wear.

Enjoy your horn.

P.S. I have experienced similar wear on touch points of Yanagisawa saxes - SC-992 (two of 'em) sops in my case. It is what it is - great horns.

 

[adamk]

A thin mouthpiece patch cut to shape would protect those areas from further wear and can be reapplied as needed. A thicker rubberized patch might also make the RH thumb hook more comfortable.

+1
nail polish?

 

[turf3]

why not?

any way , it it really bothers you it is extremely easy to take it off and laquer it, this is one of the reason why, in the olden days, these parts were almost universally made of some plastic.

"Olden days"??? Maybe for young-uns like you. For me, the olden days all those parts were brass.

OP, you need to relax. If you get this concerned about a little lacquer wear on the points of constant contact, what are you going to do when a drunk pours a beer down the bell, or when you drop the thing and put a big dent in the bow? It's a mass produced assembly of sheet metal and stamped parts, not the Mona Lisa. It'll get wear, scratches, dents. Take a hot shower and relax.

 

[Cannos]

Seems like I've given the wrong impression that I'm really bothered by this. I was always expecting wear, just curious about the speed of it. Kinda sorry I asked now.

 

[Dr G]

Seems like I've given the wrong impression that I'm really bothered by this. I was always expecting wear, just curious about the speed of it. Kinda sorry I asked now.

Sorry if you take offense at the responses. FWIW, my Selmer Ref 36 wore similarly on the palm keys. My Borganis not so much, but that's because they have heavy silver plate on the mechanism.

 

[saxoclese]

One of the advantages to silver plated finishes is how easy it is to do good looking touch up on areas of wear with a silver brush plating set up. It is much easier to do a good job than trying to do touch up on lacquered finishes. I really like the equipment and solutions from Gold Plating Services. I wasted time and money on the "rinky-dink" Plug-N-Plate Caswell kits for years with poor and inconsistent results. If you are going to be doing a lot of touch up, getting the proper tools and supplies is a good investment.

 

[milandro]

"Olden days"??? Maybe for young-uns like you. For me, the olden days all those parts were brass.

well, they started using plastic in the '60 , which is fairly old.

My Super 20 (1970) has lacquered nickel silver on the thumb and lacquer is gone.

OP, it may have taken few months but the type of lacquer and its thickness may be varying these days, since all the talking about how lacquer would reduce vibrations (it doesn't).

By the way, I have seen vintage horns with a patch by the place where the tip of the thumb would rest, apparently some people have been able to wear through the metal (we spoke about it in the past too) let alone the lacquer.

Rampone & Cazzani had an outstanding solution fusing the virtues of plastic to metal

this was their Thumbrest in the '60 and '70 (still olden days, in my book) you see the extended plastic patch and the nickel plated metal hook ( worn out and wearing nickel plate is a tough job) , great protection.

Rampone & Cazzani, by he way makes metal thumb hooks coated with thick plastic dip these days

 

[wanderso]

just curious

T-WO20 after eight months, for comparison.
You can almost see two layers of lacquer wear (or whatever coating material; some say a polyurethane is used nowadays).
Your post was interesting me as owner of a modern Yany. They are a saxophone-only well-established small production company and made several innovations for the 9xx --> WOx transition... did they also change their lacquer material/thickness? Not very easy to ask them directly.
I also enjoy comparison and contrast with modern Selmer and Yamaha--design, materials, mechanism, etc.--attempting to understand their philosophy as manufacturers of musical tools.
Like you I don't care one bit that the wear is happening but can still be curious about it. To me it is a harmless badge of many hours with the horn, and the contrasting absence of any other mark also shows I take outstanding care of my valued instrument.

 

[swperry1]

When I see saxes with little/ no wear at the common spots I just figure they aren’t played very often.

 

[leycroft]

You possobily need to eat a more alkaline diet .