Note from Matt: Shortly after I posted the JJ Babbitt stuff, I got an email from Paul Coats (formerly of SaxRax, also Runyon, SOTW columnist, and generally a saxophone guy going way back) where he laid out an enormous volume of interesting information from his days at Runyon mouthpieces. Steve Goodson had linked him to …
In the early 1920s, Conn made saxophone pads with a lead foil interior backing to the pad skin. Some of them were marked “Conn-Foil” on the pad, some were not. Some were white with or without a center stitch (no resonator), some were tan with no stitch and no resonator. When handling an original pads …
The open source saxophone project ended up being mostly me doing it (although I had some fantastic help with the pivot screw stuff) and it seemed dumb and felt like extra work maintaining two different websites. So I have added everything that was once on the Open Source Saxophone Project to this website, under Sax …
Originally written in 2014. I still use basically this same toolset as my take-home tools, but I need to update this article. Even though I work in a workshop about 50 feet from my front door, sometimes I work from a backup bench in my house- in inclement weather, or perhaps I …
If you are a frequent visitor to this site or follow me on Facebook or YouTube, you may already know about the Open Source Saxophone Project, my other website dedicated to technical information about the saxophone and saxophone repair. But then again, a surprising number of people who found me via YouTube or Facebook still …
Repair Procedures- New Saxophone Setup (Note: When I briefly sold new saxophones, this was standard for every new saxophone I sold and was included in the price, but if you have a new saxophone you have bought elsewhere you can have me perform this service on your horn. Contact me for a rough estimate based …
A saxophone should be clear about its origin. Note: this article rant is directed at new or inexperienced players who haven’t been around the saxophone scene very long. It is also just like, my opinion, man. One of the repeating questions I get from new saxophone consumers is a variation on …
I strive in my job to be invisible. I figure these instruments will be around for 200-300 years, the guys who designed them were smarter than me, and when in proper operating condition they work extremely well. I try to make them to where the designer could look at it all these years on …