Pan-American Alto

This was a full overhaul, which for this job means that I:

  • Straightened the saxophone body (and re-soldered separated brace from striking the saxophone)
  • Straightened posts
  • Levelled tone holes
  • Cleaned old oil from hinge rods and posts
  • Removed pads and old adhesive
  • Replaced neck cork
  • Installed Sax Gourmet Black Roo Pads with flat metal resonators
  • Installed missing springs
  • Replaced corks and adjustment materials
  • Pad Seating
Wood neck plug
Wood neck plug
Completed job with checklist
Completed job with checklist
Saxophone ready to leave
Saxophone ready to leave

Pearl Rollers
Pearl Rollers
Saxgourmet Roopads
Saxgourmet Roopads
Saxgourmet black roopads
Saxgourmet black roopads

Keycups cleaned and drying
Keycups cleaned and drying
Clean keycups
Clean keycups
Body curve
Body curve

Pan American Conn and trombone
Pan American Conn and trombone
Cracked Tenon filled
Cracked Tenon filled
Leak neck tenon
Leak neck tenon

Disassembled and mild cleaning
Disassembled and mild cleaning

The straightening of the body was new for me and so I practiced on the Kohlert tenor I picked up a few weeks ago since it already has a fair number of issues and also needed a straightening. I separated some tone holes and got a feel for how this tool works quickly, but it behaved differently with this alto – this alto can actually take quite a bit more of a beating than the tenor, so it took some time and ultimately cracked the connection between the reciever collar, making for a fair sized leak that I had to fill in.