Comments for Inhorn Band Instrument Repair

Comment on Video Tours of Instrument Factories by Gerald

Gerald — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:44:27 +0000

Back in 1976 I purchase a Selmer Bari and have carried it all across the US for many years. This has been a bullet proof horn with very little work having been done to the horn in 35 years of use. While visit Karl’s shop to have some quick work performed on a tenor I mentioned that the horn was in the truck outside. After showing it to Karl, he suggested that the horn could use some TLC. The truth is that a lot of the corks were either gone or flat making for a noisy horn when playing it, click, click, click. The horn was left with Karl for few days and now it plays in a way that I do not remember the horn every playing, silky smooth is the word but with serious punch when needed.
When you find a good repair man, stick with him. Thanks again for returning this horn back to its original condition if not better.

Comment on Barely a Baritone Saxophone by Dan Gelok

Dan Gelok — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:57:55 +0000

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. I’m probably going with the laugh.

Comment on OBOE by inhorn

inhorn — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:48:48 +0000

Hope the new shiny one worked out for you! Oboes are delicate instruments, one piece of the puzzle out of alignment and the whole thing gets wonky.

Comment on OBOE by ourange

ourange — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:04:06 +0000

That poor oboe . My teacher gave me a loaner (mine badly needed repair. I got it cheap from a woman who never played anymore. A Lorelei oboe, beautiful. But needed repair) which was in horrid condition. It was worse than my current one. It’s keys were sticky (and I’ve never experienced that before. So when they acted like it was no big deal, I was very confused), it wouldn’t play lower than 1st space F, and eventually wouldn’t play at all.
She seemed shocked and immediately let me borrow a newer, shinier one :3.

Comment on How to Destroy a Saxophone Neck 101 by anon

anon — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:51:22 +0000

Oh…you probably know this, but you should be able to buy a replacement neck. It may or may not play like the original. IMO the necks are going downhill on the new Refs. The only players who can really unlock them are strong players with iron chops who can pressure the horns with a ton of air and superhuman support (maybe the top 2-3% of top professional saxophonists. Most other players would sound better on something else, imo.

Comment on How to Destroy a Saxophone Neck 101 by anon

anon — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:47:12 +0000

It can be made to look new. The hard part is getting it to play correctly, and well. I once had a silver Super 20 neck that had been run over by a car, or something. It was absolutely flat, with a wrinkle in it. I farmed the work of making it look like a Super 20 neck again to a man with initials MV, who was specializing in extreme brass rescues at the time. He returned it to me looking like a Super 20 neck — appropriate curvature, and general shape, and in round, but it played phenomenally badly. Not long afterward, I got two earlier Super 20 tenors and took measurements at 5 spots from both necks — these were of the exterior, but at the time I did not have a method of measuring the interior bore. Using these measurements, I altered the repaired neck to match at those 5 points (not an exact science, getting the points correctly matched) and then completed the taper and relationships by feel and eye. When I was done, the repaired Super 20 neck was better than the other two in every category. Had it not been for a split in the metal where the wrinkle had been — this split occurred during the farmed out work — it would have come out looking every bit like new. This was easier because the neck was silver. For that neck, you would need to completely dissemble (remove braces, etc., all the obvious things), but it would be returnable to something very close to new with careful reworking; the labor just probably would not be worth the cost.

I will leave this anonymous so that it will stand as informational, and not appear self-promotional.

Good luck.

Comment on Progressing to the padding by Pad work on the Mark VI Alto begins « Inhorn Band Instrument Repair

Pad work on the Mark VI Alto begins « Inhorn Band Instrument Repair — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:49:54 +0000

[...] Starting the pad work on the Selmer Mk VI alto. [...]

Comment on Mark VI Mechanical Overhaul by Documented Selmer saxophone rebuild. « Inhorn Band Instrument Repair

Documented Selmer saxophone rebuild. « Inhorn Band Instrument Repair — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:19:25 +0000

[...] a Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone. If you have ever been curious about the complete job, tune in Here for more [...]

Comment on How to Destroy a Saxophone Neck 101 by inhorn

inhorn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:56:19 +0000

Not exactly sure, that came in from a sub-contractor. I can guess that the receiver was lodged in the body, and rather than using finesse the owner grabbed it and tried to manhandle it out. Real shame too, because those reference models are near works of art.

Comment on How to Destroy a Saxophone Neck 101 by Neal - Sax Station

Neal - Sax Station — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:49:27 +0000

So what happened to the neck?