well i've looked around on the forum for info on this and everything i've found has been about the altos but i'm having this problem on a tenor. anyone else had this problem? if so how to you fix it? ............
In my experience as an 11 year + player of Series 3s, with the tenor, enlarging the first octave hole had no effect on this problem (whereas it did with the alto).
I have discussed the effects of enlarging octave holes with an Oboe designer and his general opinion was that the size of the hole has more bearing on clarity and focus of sound rather than specifically stability. His advice was to proceed very slowly and carefully and I can second the info that if you go too far you will diffuse the focus of the notes covered by that octave hole.
It was entirely up to me to re-learn the voicing of the notes in question - G2, G#2 - on my S3 tenor. I simply did some repeated long-tone practice on these notes, especially at low volumes, and learnt to play them correctly. It was a surprise to me as a professional of over 35 years that this could happen - being experienced on other tenors did not guarantee immediate control over a different horn, I still had to learn it.
The S3s are a 'concept' horn according to my contact at Selmer in Paris and have been designed to produce a very particular sound and blend of sound within a quartet. In my experience there are certain anomalies that show up with certain players including grumbling G2 and G# 2, warbling low notes, pitch problems etc etc etc. All of these have been discussed rather to death on this forum and have been variously, and I think sometimes rather unhelpfully dogmatically commented upon by some. However the truth remains that all these issues with the Series 3 horns are generally fixed by some careful re-evaluation of breath, embouchure and voicing and only in rare circumstances are they truly to do with faulty construction. Remember that these instruments were designed for (French) classical players who tend to focus their air in a more concise and refined way than some others.
Tom, this issue is obviously really bugging you as you have posted about this in a couple of threads.The best advice is to
take your tenor to a tech, check the octave holes out, make sure it is working correctly. If all is well technically then your choices are simple, either accept that this is an area of your horn that you will have to practice to re-learn or move on. IMHO the S3 tenor is a fantastic instrument. Very best of luck.