Let's Overhaul A Saxophone Together, Part 2: Inspection & Disassembly

Saxophone repairman Matt Stohrer of www.StohrerMusic.com gets started with the unedited, real-time overhaul of a vintage saxophone by inspecting and disassembling a Pierret Super Artiste Alto saxophone.
If you haven't, you should watch the introduction/disclaimer for this series: • Let's Overhaul a Saxop...
If you like my content and would like to see more, you can support me on Patreon or by "buying me a coffee"!
Patreon: / mattstohrer
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[@sica9]

Super cool video!!!

[@StohrerMusic]

Hopefully the fisheye has been improved, as well as the movement minimized. Looks like I could still stand to aim it downwards just a bit more, and be sensitive of bringing things so close to my face that they go off-camera.

[@wcakgilleran]

Way better! Thanks Matt!

[@Mac28531]

Thank you Matt!

[@croissantman5510]

Love the altoids lol😂, also I love that you don’t just do stuff without explaining it, thanks for talking us through your thought process 😊

[@joshuaadam5514]

Really enjoying this. Thank you so much for creating it.

[@liamring]

What a cool sax! Excited for the next part

[@AndrewDAngeloCCpod]

Loving this series of videos man! Thank you for doing them.

[@kevinmanning7947]

Great video Matt. Looking forward to the rest of the overhaul.

[@nathansimons9881]

That tradeoff curve is pretty well-known in other fields - it's called the Pareto principle, generally taken as "for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences, come from 20% of causes", or "the last 20% of the work takes 80% of the time."

[@hdibart]

Really interesting and a great service,thanks.

[@johnbergmann2896]

Your previous claimed the videos would be boring. This was anything but. I look forward to the rest!

[@HelioCoelhoJunior]

amazing videos, congrats !

[@bobblues1158]

Beautiful!!

[@twoowls5570]

Really great information and your narration is perfect, makes viewing more enjoyable and interesting. Regards Jimp

[@JacksonParodi]

great video, looking forward to more

[@chriscrosby5628]

Thanks so much for your videos! I have played clarinet since I was ten years old, and picked up saxophone a little later down the road. I have learned a lot from you, and appreciate your precision and attention to detail. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and love of the instrument!

[@otavioquartier1473]

Bravo !!!! Congratulations from Brazil

[@mlindberg12345]

Really enjoying your channel. Just came across it because someone gave me a 1931 conn trans alto. 245xxx. I’m learning a great deal for an old dude.

[@Ihateutubecontextandsensorshit]

*EXCELLENT CONTENT* I just picked up a beucher stencil a couple of weeks ago and have been studying the restoration process for the purpose of determining whether or not I would undertake the restoration process myself. It looks like an exciting challenge so far. Looking forward to the next video.

[@smoothvelvetsinger]

Very interesting, not at all boring👍

[@donearnhardt6336]

I love it!

[@erickantoniolozanosanchez3313]

this is so fun to watch, please do more videos and more sax overhauls

[@StohrerMusic]

I have over 100 other videos already published. This series, which as of this writing is not complete, will eventually be completed. It is however, a significant time investment and it will not be done anytime soon.

[@jazldazl9193]

Happy 2023! Excellent show... hope the one on regulation is as instructional as I have two one hundred year old Buescher sops(curved and straight) that would love some love. Thanks

[@rosscoep1450]

Good choice in coffee 😉

[@johnkotches8320]

Thanks for pronouncing Pierret for us :-) This looks like an amalgam of classic american horns... The micro-tuner-ish neck is reminiscent of Conn, the actual octave key and G# look Buescher. I look forward to the end result...

[@dominicaube]

Glad you picked the Pierret for this series! I just bought a Pierret last week! A tenor, "Concerto model with Virtuor". From what I gathered, the serial numbers don't really help date Pierret saxes. We have a general idea of what years each models were made. The serial number would have started over when they launched a new model.

[@kevincosta9228]

Excellent! As for the non parallel rods, my model has a single, upside down "L" post for the upper end, so the distance between the two is fixed. Centerline to centerline of the two holes is 8.2 mm.

[@markhuttner1203]

Great vid Matt. One thing you did not mention is the use of round pliers (why) and to be careful not to crush the screwdriver slot on the rods during extraction

[@StohrerMusic]

Excellent point! I did indeed forget. I use round pliers to avoid marring the rod. I will try to mention this later on if I can, but I am getting the feeling that the comments below each video (assuming folks watch the rest of them) will be good for mopping up what I forgot and answering questions about things I didn't explain clearly.

[@michaelwendell7771]

I felt myself flexing when you were wrestling that one key...😅

[@twntube]

Kind of blew my mind when you bent the lower-stack keys more open - I’m not a tech, and I just assumed you always had to be way more deliberate and use special tools or something. I think I learned a half-hour’s worth conceptually from that half-minute by itself. That’s why this is a great idea, stuff you take for granted & just do, others are going to be like “gee whiz!!”

[@saxoferm]

Reminds me of a couesnon

[@yawa7612]

Looks like a Pierret. They’re very similar to Buescher in terms of manufacturing. I’ve never played one, but it looks to be in good shape and I’m sure their similarities will show in quality. Hopefully it fixes well.

[@saxhubdotjazz]

First like! Thank you Matt!

[@geoffroypeyssonneaux8035]

Part 2 nicely done, I've a question, the long screw for the right hand, if the rust is too tough even hiting with the torch and oiling what is the next step ? most of the time when the case comes, I use some W40 and hiting and it work but probably there is another way ? Geoffroy Peyssonneaux Atelier Gex

[@hannesrossler5480]

You're the Kenji Lopez of sax repair. I love it. Thanks for making these.

[@woodrowcarter5367]

I have an old Bushra 400 baritone sax that is pushed in right where the thumb rest is what is the best way to work on this?

[@Creative.Username]

I get a pair of pliers to bend a paper clip into a spring hook😊

[@jsax42]

Could you state again the order in which you disassemble a saxophone? Thank you for this content. Finding apprenticeships or a tech willing to take on an apprentice after COVID in my area are slim.

[@carlfredrik_balsrod]

Do you have a video showing how to fix keys that slide up and down the rod when assembled? I have some issues with my baritone. Do you bend the posts closer together? Seems that they are too far apart allowing the keys to slide slightly along the rod.

[@janoschd.9922]

That was nice! Looking forward for more :) Also like that you chose the Pierret. I did not see it clear enough (you said it was damaged), but the slotted thread on the neck "tuner" is normal in Pierret.

[@StohrerMusic]

A friend of mine who has a Pierret and also assumed their slotted "tuner" was damaged saw mine and sent photos. I'm not sure I would have believed it otherwise! Seems to be an odd choice. Any idea why it is like that? I can only assume it is a cheap but effective way to allow the user to squeeze down and bend it a little bit to make it so it doesn't slide around.

[@janoschd.9922]

@@StohrerMusic Yes, that was my best idea as well: A cheap way to tighten/loosen the threading to keep the spacer in the desired position

[@StohrerMusic]

@@janoschd.9922 Very interesting! Thank you.

[@vblessed44]

What kind of screwdrivers are those?

[@davidwood351]

Love your presentation. I have an alto and tenor Super Artiste by Pierret. Great tone on the alto, the tenor=so-so....are you monetized? You surely deserve to be compensated for what you do. Best of things to you.

[@StohrerMusic]

I am, although I keep the ads as minimal as youtube will let me (skippable, etc) and I make about $1000 a year from my youtube channel. For me though, its about spreading the love and knowledge, such as it is. I hope that it helps people enjoy the instrument more, feel more confident about going to the repair shop, that it then creates the chance for repairers to then take the time to do more thorough work in service of the saxophone, and that it saves a few saxophones from the junk pile. I am lucky to get to do this job, and I hope whenever I am done, I leave the craft the better for me being in it.

[@jonomaphone]

Any reason you don’t use a rod board/block to keep track of your rods and screws as they come off?

[@StohrerMusic]

I've got one. Typically though the rods really only fit one way, and even if there is a couple of rods that would fit in the same spot (side or palm keys for example) since I'm doing key fitting as a part of this overhaul, the end result is going to be the same. I don't think my way is right, and it might be lazy, but I don't think it's wrong. But it is probably not the best for someone just starting out, in that case I might recommend a rod board.

[@bigsanharmonica180]

Absolutely thrilling...!I have exactly the same problem with a stuck rod on a tenor A.Douchet.The rod head is out,so I can screw anymore.What can I do ...?

[@StohrerMusic]

Post or ribbed construction? Which rod?

[@bigsanharmonica180]

@@StohrerMusic Ribbed.Rod of D,E F

[@StohrerMusic]

​@@bigsanharmonica180 Worst case scenario! If the head is completely stripped and its a stack screw and its ribbed construction, your option as far as I know all include temporary damage that you must fix later. 1. saw partially through the post and saw a new slot in the screw. remove screw. fix post. often the last part (fix post) is left off, which drives me crazy. 2. carefully saw through rib (but not body!) to functionally turn top post into a single post, unsolder it, pull it off the rod, then remove the rod with a gripping tool. fix everything resolder post- and your rib now has a slit in it. 3. bend threaded post away from key, use thinnest saw blade possible to cut through rod, bend rod to slide low D off, use gripping tool to remove rod from bottom. This is sometimes not possible depending on low D foot configuration. 4. (I have no experience with this one) dissolve the rod by immersing that part of the horn in boiling alum solution. this will dissolve anything that is ferrous (like springs), and boiling temperatures will remove lacquer. 5. Drill into the rod, and use a tiny screw extractor. I have heard of this working but not experienced it myself. There may be more options, but these are the ones I am aware of.

[@StohrerMusic]

Also if that stack has the g# on top instead of the f#, you can push the top post away, cut the rod, slide the g# off (bending the rod) and then try to remove the rod with a gripping tool. If the f# is at the top, doing it this way is not really an option.

[@tommacarthur1026]

Matt, when you bent the D, E, and F keys to open them up, isn’t likely that just the pad cup bent up? If so, would you end up bending it back when leveling the pad cups?

[@StohrerMusic]

Done correctly, almost never. The hinge tube will twist first, or the key foot will bend first. The key cup and spine, particularly if the force is spread out, is a stronger part of the system. Of course you could bend it poorly, torquing it with pliers or something, or grabbing one edge, and then probably the key cup itself would bend as well. But with proper technique, not really. Also typically during an overhaul you find later on that these key cups are not flat anyhow, and not in the way that they would be un-flat if the kind of key bending shown in the video caused the issue. Almost always, unless dealing with an original pads horn, the key cups are bent the other way from a wedge being put in the back and squeezed shut, from someone trying to use pads that were too thick. Key cups will bend downward much easier than they bend upward. There are certain keys, like on Conns in particular, where the key arm and the key foot are the same very thick piece of brass, and they will not bend as easily and will typically need to be mounted in a machinist vise with the hinge rod inserted and carefully manipulated in order to bend in the way desired. In fact, if you were to try and bend say a upper stack B key on a Conn New Wonder II alto in the way shown in this video, you would probably end up with a bent rod or even a dent in the body tube instead!

[@AkuRaja]

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[@Phrizby]

in the case of a bent body, would you bang it back straight with all the keys out or would you wait until reassembly so the rods straighten along with the body?

[@StohrerMusic]

Depends! Sometimes you have no choice because the horn won't come apart because the upper stack is a banana. Sometimes you don't notice it until you've got the horn apart and clean. When I first started out, I tried to do it with the keys on because I was afraid it would move differently if I did it with the keys off. These days, other than the octave mechanism, I can do it either way and I don't seem to find any difference. The adjustment and key fitting and post alignment work that needs to be done afterwards seems to be about the same. But if you're trying to minimize the chance of needing to do anything else and get away with less time invested because you aren't doing an overhaul at the same time, keys on is probably a slightly better chance of getting lucky.

[@Phrizby]

@@StohrerMusic thanks for the quick and detailed reply! youve been an awesome teacher! inspired by your videos, i bought a buescher for dirt cheap because it hasnt been played in 20+ years & im super excited about the challenge of bringing it back to life! watching your videos gave me some crucial knowledge and confidence needed to begin. Thank you for sharing your skills with the world!

[@apistosig4173]

Q: IF - after days of using penetrating solutions, applications of heat and freezing agents the hinge rod still won't let go of the hinge tube whats the next step? The B & Bb hinge rod is fused to one of the hinge tubes and just wont budge. I've had my screwdriver blade twist with the torsional forces I have applied. I'm thinking I need to cut the rod.

[@StohrerMusic]

When you are done trying everything else, yes. Push posts away, super thin blade, cut rod doing as little damage to key and post as possible.

[@apistosig4173]

@@StohrerMusic I kinda' knew this would be your response but I was foolishly hoping for a more desialble outcome. FYI - I have purchased the saw and blades. Wish me luck!

[@StohrerMusic]

@@apistosig4173 Good luck!

[@adenoidhinkel34]

Do you pay hourly or for results?

[@StohrerMusic]

Hourly if there's results

[@goodboyringo9716]

If someone gave me all these parts and said ..... "Can you put my sax together " I would say " are you nuts " or ..oh , do you have 5 mins ?

[@gfghjfgfghfj]

First time I've seen a sax without resonators on the pads. I know that there are folks who overhype resonator size and materials (along with kangaroo hide, it seems), but are you at all tempted to add resonators? I mean, there's historic preservation to consider, and the possible intonation impact of decreasing the volume in the tone holes, but resonators are the prevailing design, and they do tend to help keep the leather taut. Plus, they could modestly impact timbre. I sense that you're more of a player than a strict museum docent, so what are your thoughts? And yes, I did watch your recent video on resonators, which is where I learned some of the considerations. 😉

[@StohrerMusic]

I will add resonators. Like you might already know since you watched my resonator video, I don't think it's going to make a huge difference to the sound, but I like the way it looks and it will help hold the leather taut, and everything else being equal it will turn up the volume/response a little bit.

[@marieesguerra6641]

What oil do you use? Is it just key oil?

[@StohrerMusic]

Penetrating oil, specifically PB blaster but there are many choices.

[@phooesnax]

Try Kroil. Penetrating oil.

Hi, the camera on your head makes me dizzy and I had to stop watching the video. I'm sorry because it's super interesting. Lot of good information. Thanks