Saxophone Repair Topic: Repairing Some Typical Long Term Damage on an old Selmer Tenor, Part 5

Do not try this at home.
Saxophone repairman Matt Stohrer of www.StohrerMusi... continues in his quixotic quest to inform and assist in this latest feature length video, which has been broken up into 5 parts. In part 5, we finally hit the finish line. Is anybody there? Hello? The bell to body brace is put back together, the bow dents come out, the neck dents are fixed, the bent keys and braces are straightened, and the horn is put back together, now in good physical shape and ready for a standard overhaul.

[@StohrerMusic]

Wow, way more people watched this series than I expected. Thank you for watching, and thank you for commenting. Made my day. I'm so glad to help.

[@DavideRomeoMusician]

You are amazing man! Thank you for sharing your great art with us :D

[@Cantbuyathrill]

Matt's one of the few of a dying breed.

[@StohrerMusic]

There are actually quite a few younger (I’m 40) repairers these days that give me reason to be optimistic. Definitely a better future seems on the way for this business than when I first started. If my videos helped make that happen in even the smallest way, I feel like I pretty much did what I came here to do. But I like talking so I’ll still make more videos either way, heh!

[@richardcasey7521]

Matt, I watched all the way to the end and truly admired your work. I also repair horns professionally and learned a few new techniques. Thanks!

[@andrewdangelo4263]

My name is Andrew D'Angelo and I watched all the way to the end. Love you Matt!

[@leonardopalma3730]

I am one of those people who watched all 5 videos all the way to the end haha. I really want to get into saxophone repair and want to learn as much as I can.

[@lisaferrara8120]

Watched to the end, and I found this series fascinating!

[@chrisconlon7970]

Watching you bend that bell is nerve racking even for me. !!

[@EddieHaskelll]

The coolest thing is how so many pro repair techs share tips and techniques with each other (e.g., the white out trick).

[@rrregis]

Thanks for doing this! I think anyone who has ever disassembled their horn would enjoy watching this. And having the Thinkpad in the background is a nice touch!

[@StohrerMusic]

I resisted for a long time but just acquired another (a T420), and now I want a third. I love old ThinkPads.

[@Statist0815]

I love watching how you repair saxes. Everyone who got addicted to these instruments have to.

[@jayolson3510]

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Thanks for sharing Matt!

[@SkylersRants]

I really enjoy watching skilled craftsmen work. It makes me inspired to try stuff. Then I remember that I’m not a skilled craftsman!

[@ilovedbroccolionce]

I watched until the end...I am an enthusiast !

[@book3100]

I'm just a guy that likes to know how my instrument works. I like doing minor stuff myself. And I like watching somebody that knows what their doing.

[@sunghoyun7970]

Good to see a decent sax coming back to life.

[@jrgreiner]

Parts 1-5 consumed. Waiting for parts 6-infinity. ;-) As always Matt.......GREAT stuff and thanks SO much for sharing your knowledge and expertise!

[@kimbrown4998]

I just watched the whole thing...I'm a middle and high school alto saxophone player who is going to attempt to clean, re-pad and cork, etc my bundy saxophone....thanks for your videos!

[@thomaskessler4585]

Hi Matt, I’m new to saxophones and I’m owner of two altos, one is a very nice Yamaha AS-100 (not YAS...) and a very old and dented King Keilwerth from the ´30th (ready for an overhaul). I love to watch to your magic hands how you change this poor, old instruments from nearly crap into little treasures! Please keep going on making this important videos I love them. Thanks for sharing your skills and all your time in your videos. Thomas from Germany

[@Lucia-kk4kn]

keilwerth new kings are excellent horn,,,,i think Mr Sthorer used a N.King from the 30's as his main horn

[@joshbolin3195]

I couldn't help but watch to the end. I just bought a Jupiter Alto 767 just to work on to try and get better as a tech. It has most of the issues that you have on just this one series. The C pitch alto/tenor that I have is showing to need a bit of love now as well. Keep 'em coming Matt. I appreciate it.

[@keithkreindler]

Incredible journey you took us on, Matt. Your and work is impressive, and I thank you for sharing your knowledge. It's always a fascinating watch.

[@aaroncowley2203]

I watched it all the way through. Lol. I'm just fascinated with this stuff and want to do it so badly. I seem to have the same thinking process as you do with fixing ideas and how to go about the challenges that cone up. I also have many of the same tools and tricks in my shop as you do. Maybe there is room for another repair artist in this industry for me.

[@phooesnax]

Matt: the sax chiropractor:-0)

[@HB-ve4wi]

I watched the whole thing, amazed by your craftsmanship. Well done, as always!

[@joedown962]

Yes I watched it from the beginning to the end and found it very informative!! I'm a former trumpet player and I learned to repair all my horns by myself and actually I'm finally very good at it....now I'm back to saxophone after some decades of interruption and I plan to repair my saxes by myself as well....so don't be surprised if I tell you I will watch ALL your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience! It's pretty rare...

[@Koptokaf]

Hi Matt I like how you said that one shouldn't feel wierd for expecting a technician to handle a repair of this scale. I have felt very apprehensive about having my horn straightened out. One thing nags at me still; How much would a repair like this cost? If you can't say outright, can you ballpark it for me? Loved the series. Super informative. You spout some serious know-how so casually it makes me think you don't realise to what extent you hare helping people understand the mechanical aspect of sax repair. Good job.

[@StohrerMusic]

I think I charged somewhere around $500 for all the work I did in this entire series. A lot of the less interesting and time consuming parts (like where I took something from 90% done to 100% done) were done off camera.

[@Koptokaf]

@@StohrerMusic Interesting. I would have thought the repair would be more costly than an overhaul. Or a change of pads, even. Where i live the cost of a service plus new pads and allignment is around $1200. Is this the case here? Would an overhaul be more costly than the repair?

[@Koptokaf]

Excuse me! 600 dollars, not 1200. My conversion skills are lacking.

[@davidcox8961]

I watched the whole darn thing.

[@apistosig4173]

Hey Matt - yes I watched it all and as usual found this inspiring. As result I have developed a far greater admiration for my technician. I do adore vintage instruments and just love seeing them reborn, something you're so fabulous at achieving. I have been tempted to have some of my saxes re-birthed by some of the worlds finest but such concepts are unrealistic. Unfortunately I have a couple that will never be reborn such is the extent of former abuse and neglect. A Gebruder Monnig 'Exquisito' tenor comes to mind here where in the absence of appropriate rods, cut-off nails have been inserted into the posts, the surplus ground off with a grinding tool which has also shaved off more than a little from the post sides afterwich the nail ends were peened to prevent escape. Barely a tone hole round, botched soldering which can only be described as abysmal, butchered rods etc etc and no key cups circular. Veritable proof that Frankenstein was once an aspiring saxophone technician before the realisation that stolen body parts were less complex and more forgiving. So...watching someone who cares as you do to ensure the instrument is as good as it can be is little other than a delight. Greetings from Melbourne.

[@axestogrind1369]

Absolutely fantastic series!

[@stevekeller4814]

I watched the whole thing and am better for it! I hope you get to overhaul it.

[@PhinAI]

Watched, intrigued, and subscribed. Thank you!

[@benhostetler268]

Awesome stuff

[@bradleywalgren3537]

Hey! I would suggest looking up the process of annealing, it will help you prevent the neck dent rod from braking from the stress of bending. You could probably even use the torch you use for sauldering!

[@Trevayne4]

Great video fascinating

[@andrewcrosby419]

Wow! Awesome work. Very informative and interesting

[@voodoo7953]

Great work , Excellent video

[@steviecuz2396]

Thank you for an informative and interesting tutorial,

[@Cantbuyathrill]

Nothing like coming up with one's own mnemonic to quick recall the difference between difficultly similar words: I ran over a silly conE when negotiating a rather difficult part of a driving course. But my instructor was able to fix it with some silicoN.

[@alessandronascimento2444]

Top demais parabéns

[@T.H.W.O.T.H]

Who am I? I'm just a regular sax nerd! 😏

[@phooesnax]

Thank you for the series! If the owner decides to proceed can we continue? I watched the whole thing. Ready for next episode:-0) Jim

[@StohrerMusic]

holy cow!

[@phooesnax]

Matt Stohrer if you unscramble the user ID I think you will understand

[@SchwuppsLP]

Wow, great stuff! Thanks for your content. I actually have the a light leaking problem on my low Bb key. It's leaking on the upper right side of the hole as you look at it from the front. Pushing it to the side, as you would do when it leaks on the right side doesn't do the job. I would love some helping suggestions.

[@TT-uw1os]

You are genius

[@chrisconlon7970]

I prefer a "Wick" for mopping up solder ... no scratches.

[@sokanadenramasawmy2143]

could you make a video on how to clean damage laquer on metal

[@fotoferry]

Nice work. Unfortunately you didn't show the dent removal on the bow. (what a rhyme:-) Would really have liked to see how you did that without unsoldering that 'bow-rib'. Anyway. Very informative and interesting.

[@StohrerMusic]

I did it by rebounding and will make a standalone video about that process on another horn sometime in the near future.

[@jonathankammer9078]

Damn! Lol. ;) it’s me watching all the way, that’s who! Matt, what’s your opinion about light annealing (like, to the heat point where sharpie marks disappear type of annealing) to prep metal for dent work? How do you reshape neck dent rods for various shapes of neck? Just lock it in the vise and bend? How much for is needed, and any special tools? When you bought your magnetic ball for dent work, did you have to buy those packs of 50 or are those sizes available individually?

[@nicoma72]

Hi Matt, I bought a SBA tenor from Saxquest a few years back, which had been overhauled before I bought it. I realised later that this instrument had been bent (the main tube at about where G# is) and later bent back straight. However, the tube is a bit oval, not the orinibal round it's supposed to be. Do you think I should get it repaired so it's round again or it's not doing any harm the way it is now? Thanks for your reply!

[@user-ng7hh6lp5n]

you are so cool~

[@StohrerMusic]

lol thank you ♥️

[@99snubby]

don't your have some kind of little metal shrinking hammer to fix bulges? i like the mechanical aspect of how the instruments work and how your repair them.