[dshook]

I have been playing a nice '46 late-RTH 10M I picked up off ebay. I feel like the horn could respond better than it does, it is wearing some old brown leather pads and plastic resos. The pads look fine (no tears or anything) but I imagine they have been on there a while. Also, the pearls are heavily worn, this thing has been played. My local tech also noticed a bend down the length of the body tube, although he said that everything seems to be sealing, and just to get it adressed when the time comes around for a repad.

I have been playing it for about a year since then, and I don't want to repad before it's time and waste lifespan on my current setup...how do you know when it's time to cough up the dough and really get a horn worked over?

 

[littlemanbighorn]

Once the pads start getting hard they won't seal as well. Take the horn to Massullo Music and have Sandro have a look at it. It may not need an overhaul but it may need a few new pads. Either way it could likely use a tweak or two.

 

[abadcliche]

There probably won't come a day when you pick up the horn and it is absolutely unplayable when it was playable the day before. In other words, the horn will continue to have a slow decline in playability- your decision is how far you want to go. A horn that has been properly repadded by a good tech is a joy to play, and you may wonder how you ever got along playing a horn for such a long time that was only playing half as good as it could play.

 

[kryz]

I just recieved an old Conn Bass after a total rebuilt.
Its like a new horn.
I knew the neckjoint(?) was leaking, and also a couple of pads are liking. Also the action was hard and noisy.
But he resoldered 7(Seven!) toneholes, which were leaking right on the body. I practiced and played with it (even in public!) and never cared about, now I can't image how I ever could have got tones out of it.
Like a new horn..

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Sometimes hard pads will play well for many years. That is because they still seal. And that is becasue they were kept in excellent adjustment during the years that they hardened.

 

[dshook]

Would a bent body tube affect anything about how the horn plays if all the pads are still sealing?

Also, how do I tell if the pads have hardened?

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

No, not in my experience.

If it is bent a little and pads are all sealing right, and all linkages are working right, then leave well alone, until you need a complete repad. For one reason or another, the sax has probably been adjusted to accommodate the bend.

Consider how much other parts of your sax are bent!!

Sometimes you can tell, because when you press them they feel like wood... and some of those ones still seal.

The pads have hardened unacceptably when a technician tries to get them to seal and the exercise becomes one of futility. Rather difficult just by sight or prodding.

How much 'give' is necessary in the pads depends on how precise the pivots are, the degree of flex in the linkages, the squishiness of the linkage silencing materials, the tension in the key-closing springs, whether the key is closed directly by a finger, and the levelness of the tone holes. Quite a complicated package of factors. It's an individual thing for each instrument, and indeed each key.