[Henry D]

I recently acquired another VI alto- 210XXX. It was, no surprise, described as superb by the seller (off E-Bay). In examining it closely I realized that a very good patch had been applied to the neck where a pickup had been installed. Professionally done and probably of no real import though pretty damned annoying as the neck was described as "perfect, I mean perfect. Never damaged in any way." It was not visible from the exterior so the seller may well have overlooked it in good faith. This caused me to really look closer and I noted that the upper post for the Bb palm key is open on the right hand side exposing the threads in the steel shaft- the side of the post is flatted by grinding to the point where it goes right into the threaded hollow in the top of the post. The lower post is also flatted on the right side for clearance though the threads aren't exposed. Is this a standard feature of the design for these posts? Everything is lined up correctly and theres no evidence of any post refixing, ETC. I've never come across it before but I've no where's near the broad experience of the techs out here. There seems no particular harm in this- no play and no reason for anything to develop even over a period of hard use for decades but I'm curious. Thanks for any help.

 

[JerryJamz2]

I venture you mean the Eb palm key? Yes. The posts are faced as they are in the close proximity of having the D and F palm keys hit the post ball when opened. As far as the threads of one screw being visable and the other one not, there are a lot of possiblities including have the 3 palm key rod screws mixed up and put back in the wrong keys, or one was lost and it was replaced with a shorter rod for some reason. This is a common find when repairing saxophones.

 

[Henry D]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Actually I do mean the side Bb palm key. Specifically the two and a half inch hinge tube/ rod assembly immediately under the lower end of the stack Bb closing lever rod and immediately behind the side C palm key brass rod/ pivot screw assembly. Its this latter that its been "flatted" to clear. (Looks exactly as though a dremel cut off wheel had very neatly and professionally sliced off a third of the post head parallel to the run of the rod making the post head sort of a "C" with the threads being visible in the opening of the "C". There's enough meat left on the post head that I don't see it flexing loose or any such issue. Old work and sufficiently neat and finished that it could easily be from the factory which is why I asked) I've worked on quite a few altos and many tenors but since most of the horns I work on are mine my exposure to Selmer Alto VI's is limited to this and one other. You've sort of answered the question though; the appearance is sufficiently unusual that it would jump out at a repairman who worked on a lot of instruments and be remembered as a sax specific oddity. Not so for a user since its a "buried" post.

I'm a little put out at the "we only sell/do quality work" dealer who sold me the sax as pristine with both the neck pickup patch and this done on it. Plays very well but ay carumba- just not as described in terms of condition. Between me and the dealer though- I don't see the internet as a place to air such disputes except in truly exceptional cases..

 

[JerryJamz2]

Actually I do mean the side Bb palm key.

Ahh. This is an instance where terminology and nomenclature is important. Just for clarification, when people refer to a key as a "palm" key, they are typically talking about the high D, D# and F keys. There is no true Bb palm "key". Your left hand palm activates the entire "key", on a palm key. Whereas on the side Bb, the part that your hand "activates/touches" is known as the lever. The actual Bb side "key" is the one that holds the pad and is activated by the lever. And in reality, it is not your "palm" that activates the side Bb lever, it is actually the area on your hand between the RH index finger and your thumb. Some techs define this area as your thumb "crotch". (I wonder what you would call that, technically?) Sorry for the lengthy explanation, just want to make sure in cases like this that we're all talking the same lingo.

As far as the dealer who sold you the instrument, perhaps they did not have a keen eye or enough repair knowledge to realize what that spot was, and how it might affect the value of the instrument. Here again, is a typical case where terminology is everything. Everyone's definition of pristine, excellent, good, fair etc. is subjective and this is one of the grey areas which both buyers and sellers of anything usually disagree. Even if we were to use a rating scale from 1 to 10, my 9 and someone else's 9 are argueably not on the same level.

 

[Henry D]

AHA! I thought of claiming that I'd lost my fingers on my right hand and actually used the stumps and palm for the lower stack but figured a sincere thanks for clearing up the nomenclature was more apropo. "The Whatchamacallit" is good terminology when accompanied by a picture but even a thousand words come up short when flat out wrong terminology is used.

 

[JerryJamz2]

"The Whatchamacallit" is good terminology when accompanied by a picture but even a thousand words come up short when flat out wrong terminology is used.

Have you coined that phrase, and, can I borrow it?

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

I don't completely follow the description of this issue, so I may have the situation wrong. Anyway....

A possibility is that a hinge rod was rusted. The technician wrecked the slot in the hinge rod while trying to remove it. So he cut another slot, across both the end of the rod AND of course, the post which was still around the rod. I've seen that often enough... never done it myself.

Then, after removing the rod, he tidied up the end of it, but it was shorter, so to make all the damage less less obvious, he mutilated the post to remove the slot, and match the shortened rod.

 

[Henry D]

Interesting theory; the rod is full length now ( the slot runs parallel to the rod travel) but it could easily have been replaced. The seller asserts that he's had other Selmer VI's of the era come in with exactly the same cut and that it may well have come that way from the factory. No apparent effect upon durability, cosmetics (the whole is concealed behind mechanism) and since I'm not an investor resale is no real issue. The seller is coughing up another VI alto neck so I'm a happy camper.