MiBo Saxophones
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King 615 Tenor Saxophone

This saxophone came in for a playing condition repair. It will get new pads eventually but, for now I was asked to just put everything in adjustment so that it can play. It required the replacement of a few pads that were too warped to guide back into place and a partial freshening in the palm keys and low E-flat. The job became a bit more complex when the pearl holder snapped off during adjustment and when, despite near perfect pad covering, the middle/low E and D would play very stuffy.

For the broken key: I removed the pearl from the broken key touch and soft soldered it back on. It’s strength is good for normal playing (and even dropping), but not for bending, a harder solder may have been a stronger fix, but the soft solder is no less long-term as long as the player isn’t twisting and yanking on the key touch.

For the tuning/stuffy issues: this required the following of Curt Altarac’s Balanced Venting Method and reading some additional theory on saxophone tone production to be sure of how much improvement I could make. Using Curt’s method, I was able to quickly cure the stuffiness in the E and improve things in the D by opening low C as far as I could. The D is not completely curable however, it lives in a sweet spot of design compromise on the saxophone, which is best solved by playing with the low C# (for Low D) or with palm D engaged.

King 615 Tenor Saxophone
Balanced Venting Method
King 615 Tenor Saxophone
Locking hex nuts on this tenor sax
King 615 Tenor Saxophone
Balanced venting method for tuning

King 615 Tenor Saxophone
Two saxophone setups
King 615 Tenor Saxophone
A key resoldered and reinstalled
King 615 Tenor Saxophone
A key resoldered, shaped and ready for pearl


Conn C Melody Lacquered Amado Water Key
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