Saxophone Adjustment Materials

by
Matt Stohrer 

Everybody knows about pads, everyone has an opinion on resonators or whether plating makes you sound better, and you can google your way through most of a simple DIY saxophone overhaul or at least with enough time spent begin to understand why your horn does what it does- but there is a hole in the saxophone repair body of knowledge when it comes to detailed information about adjustment materials.  The adjustment materials are the corks and felts, the synthetic felt and leather and teflon and ultrasuede and synthetic cork and shrink tubing and sorbothane and the dozens of other materials repairmen use on your saxophone to make it work.  Adjustment materials are what make keys work together with precision, what allows you to play an instrument with more keys than you have fingers.  Adjustment materials are also what control the heights of the keys and therefore influence intonation and response, and also keep the complicated metal machinery of a saxophone operating smoothly in silence.   These materials are not just an afterthought- in fact they are integral to having your saxophone feel good under the fingers, seal well over a long period of time, have smooth and even action, and keep the keywork studio-quiet.  

But hardly anybody talks about them in detail!  Sure, the general concepts are talked about.  ”Put a piece of material here to make key X depress key Y”.  But the body of knowledge is light on specific technique, materials, and philosopy.

Well, let’s fix that right up.

So here is my theory of saxophone adjustment materials- let’s call it Adjusting Saxophones Smartly or uh, wait let’s not do that after all.  How about the Stohrer Method?  Works for me.

I am sure I am not the first to use these methods or even speak about them to others- just the first I can find to do all I do it all in one place and write it down.  Its long, geeky, of interest to only a small subset of people, but I’d like to think also educational and informative to those who are interested and possibly even well thought-out.

And anyways, the Stohrer Method is really just a set of ideas to help you develop your own particular method.

Let us begin.

Please note: It is entirely possible to achieve excellent results using different materials than I use for examples here.  It is also entirely possible to do a horrible job using the exact same materials I use.  I have my method, and it is what I know, so it is what I will teach.  

Also please note: If your mechanism is not perfect, this article will be purely academic to you.  You will be forced to use squishy materials to make up for slop in the keys.  

Note this too: None of this stuff is new, or rocket science.  It’s all there in the horn sitting on your bench.  As I am fond of saying: the horn will tell you what to do if you just listen.  

The Job of Adjustment Materials

Adjustment materials have two main jobs: the transmission of force and the absorption of force.   An example of transmission of force is the stack adjustments that make the upper and lower stack keys operate in sync with the C# and F# keys (sometimes called the bar keys) respectively- depress key X and key Y moves in perfect sync.  An example of absorption of force is the material on the key feet of a stack key- they control the height of the key when open with their thickness and they stop and silence the key when the player releases pressure on the key and the key foot springs back and rests against the body.  Many materials transmit and absorb, in differing ratios depending on the particular situation- for example the tiny pieces of adjustment material on the octave bar rocker of a Mark VI that must keep the octave mechanism tight yet silent, or the materials you use on the side keys when they are actuated by a separate arm like on a Conn 10M.   Even stack key adjustments, while the main job is transmission, must absorb just enough energy so they are quiet- after all, noise is energy, and if we want silence, that energy must be absorbed or even better kept from transmitting in the first place.

The particular mix of force transmission and absorption is what gives your overhaul balance- quiet yet firm, snappy yet supple.   The material chosen, the shapes made, and even the adhesive used will be determined by the exact and specific set of circumstances present in each unique situation.  If you are doing your adjustment materials correctly, no two horns you ever overhaul will be exactly alike.

The Job Determines The Material

The materials you have at your disposal have different attributes.  Know these attributes and their behavior under different conditions and over time and you can select your material to fit the exact situation at hand.  If you are using the same materials in the same thickness in the same way in certain spots on every horn, it is probably because you were taught that is how to do it.  And sure it works fine if you’ve spent years making it work, but try instead to imagine each horn you see is the first one you’ve ever seen and you have to figure it out yourself- leave your stereotypes at the door and let your knowledge of the materials and the situation guide you.  What works best?  What is a reasonable decision you could defend if someone asked you why you made it?  The habit of actually intelligently selecting your materials based on the exact horn in your hands is one that will serve you well.

I mainly use a selection of the following:

1. Synthetic Felt.  This is firm but quiet.  Not firm enough for precise transmission of force (unless you were going nuts to make the quietest horn ever, and then you would be sacrificing some feeling of snappyness for absolute silence) but sandable and very good for absorption with minimal compression over a long period of time.  My favorite for key feet.  Can be loud if the mechanism is not tight.

2.  Wool Felt.  This is the softest material I use but it is still much firmer than any other wool felt I have ever seen.  Very good for key feet where more silencing is desired, like a side C key or the octave mechanism.  So dense and firm it is sandable – use 220 grit and quickly pass a torch over it when finished to clean up the fuzz.

3. Tech cork.  This is perfect for transmission of force.  Precut in fairly precise thicknesses.  Too thin and it is noisy, too thick and it is gummy.  Stay in the .5-.8 range for most stack adjustments.  Sand with 600 grit when necessary- takes a while, but gives a good finish without lumps.  Can also be used for absorption of force if cut correctly, but tends to have a fine line between feeling gummy and being too loud.  I sometimes use this on palm keys where a lot of force needs to be absorbed.  Would be overkill on stack key feet.

4. Super thin laminated cork.  Ferree’s Tools sells the really thin stuff, Musicmedic has some slightly thicker stuff.  This is good for lining key arm post cradles like on the G, and can come in handy in a lot of other situations like punching out a tiny disc to bond to the bottom of a key foot to reduce bounce (more on this later).  Get some and soon you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.  The super thin stuff from Ferree’s is best.  Needs a very sharp razor to cut it cleanly.

5. Teflon sheet.  I use the super thin stuff and bond it to whatever needs to slide across another surface.  Use the thinnest if your material is firm enough, use a slightly thicker grade if you need to keep your adjustment material from forming an impression.  Too thick and it will be noisy.  You should use this on your G#/bis adjustments (use a hole punch to punch out a small disc and bond it to the adjustment material) and anything else that slides.  When laminating this to anything (tech cork, super thin cork, synth felt), bond first, cut second.

6. Regular old high-quality natural cork.  Can be used to good advantage in certain situations.  Beware its compression over time.  Hardly ever the best choice for transmission of force.  I precompress using a rolling pin or parallel pliers if I need to- like when I use this for the itty bitty pieces of material on the octave rocker arm of a Mark VI, or for the side Bb and C keys on a Conn 10M where you usually must choose between having a material that squishes a little bit or having play in the linkage.

Again, this is just what I use.  I think its a great selection of materials that will do almost everything (especially if you get a little crazy and bond stuff together, like maybe a super thin piece of synthetic felt to some tech cork for a super firm silencer on the bottom of your G# touchpiece), but what determines how well your job is done is 1) your ability to understand what the horn needs and 2) your understanding of your materials.  So choose your own materials.  Use what you like and understand well and your job will be a good one.

Adhesives Matter Too

For adhesives, I use a gel super glue (Loctite 454 gel) and contact cement.  These two adhesives have different properties which must be taken into consideration!  The gel super glue dries glass-hard and is best for transmission of force but can also be used for absorption of force if the adjustment material has the job well in hand.  The contact cement dries a bit softer (gummy is the word, really) and can be used to add just a tiny bit of absorption of force to a particular setup- especially handy when the absorption material is on the thin or hard side of acceptable.  You must use contact cement on wool felt- super glue will not adhere well and will also seep into the fibers and make the felt hard, which is exactly the opposite of why we use felt.

Shapes Are Like, A Huge Deal

Using the same material and changing only the shape, I can make an adjustment material loud or soft, firm or squishy, slick or gummy.  I can make a hard, loud felt and I can make a soft, gummy tech-cork.  I can stop a key  bounce without touching the spring tension and I can make a thin absorption material do the job of a much thicker one and avoid bending keys on a PC (play condition- less than an overhaul).  Shapes, people.  They are important.

This is simple physics- control the contact surface area, you control how much force is applied per unit of surface area of the adjustment material. Use a large surface area on a soft material or a small surface area on a firm material and end up with the same exact feel.  To illustrate this concept, point your finger and jam it into a wall as hard as you possibly can.  Now take that same exact force, but use your face.  OK, maybe use the palm of your hand instead, and don’t do it as hard as you possibly can- but do you see what I mean?  Same force, different distribution of that force, different results.

So imagine a key foot with a flat, rectangular piece of adjustment material that contacts the body fully and flatly all at once.  The key will stop almost immediately, and the force will be absorbed over a very short period of time.  Sometimes this is excellent, but sometimes this causes key noise or bounce.

A simple solution is to cut the adjustment material into a V shape, so that the point of the V (which can vary in degree of pointiness) is contacting the body.  It can contact all at once or in one spot before another.  Depending on your adjustment materials firmness and the degree of pointiness, more force will be applied to a smaller surface area and the adjustment material will deform slightly before the key comes to rest.  So now you have just rapidly slowed the key in a very short distance rather than stopped it instantly- the adjustment material equivalent of  an airbag, and your ticket out of key bounce and noise.  Experimenting with shapes will yield interesting results (not all useful, but all informative because even the bad ones will teach you something to look out for) and leave you with a deep bag of tricks at your disposal.

Imagine what the following configurations will do to the action of a upper or lower stack key foot as the player releases pressure on the key, the key opens and the tension of the spring brings the key foot to rest and the key foot comes to rest on the body of the saxophone:

Each one is different, each one is useful in a particular situation, and these are just a few of the possibilities!  These photos are designed to get you thinking in a certain way.  The utility of being able to adjust the shape for your specific purposes cannot be overstated.

Speaking of shapes, you ARE mounting your G#/bis adjustment screws in your bench motor and doming the adjustment material in there, right?  If you don’t dome the material on an adjustment screw like those, you run the risk of having the surface contacting the key change every time you turn the screw, making the adjustment inexact and difficult to predict.

A rule of thumb: never make a piece of adjustment material taller than it is wide, if you can help it.  There are certain horns and certain areas where this is difficult, but whenever you can, make your adjustment material wider than it is tall.  This rule almost all by itself will save you many headaches and keep everything firm and stable.

The Direction of Force

This seems like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this improperly done.  Pay attention to the direction of the force!  It is not straight up-and-down, and depending on the height of the posts and the distance the key foot is from the fulcrum the exact arc and angle through which the adjustment material moves will be different.

Depending on your key and its relationship to everything around it, only one thickness and/or shape of adjustment material will contact perfectly flat.  Anything else will hit at an angle where a small portion contacts first (small surface area, remember from up above what that does?), and will need to be shaped to fit perfectly where it belongs.  Fail to do this, and you will get any number of problems from squishy to sticky feeling to loud.

A rule of thumb: your force transmission materials must contact fully and flatly in almost all cases.  Keep an eye on those old Conn upper stack bar keys!  You may even start to notice how many key feet tend to be not perfectly square and parallel and start touching them up to make your job (and everyone else who follows you working on the same horn) easier and better.

The Memory of Materials

Some materials will compress over time, some will not.  This is called memory.  Materials that will not compress have memory- that is, they remember their original shape and always attempt to go back to it.  Materials that compress forget their original shape over time and become a new shape.  Forgetful materials like natural cork are useful in certain occasions- like when there is not much pressure put on the material, or when there is a large surface area that will not compress very much past a preplanned point even over a long period of time if not abused or occasions where we want compression (think neck corks), or some of the other examples I have listed earlier.

Forgetful or spongy materials like natural cork or that spongy synthetic cork stuff are also useful to make up for sloppy work in force transmission adjustments: just put a cork slightly too thick for what is needed and let time and the energy of the player (or clamps) do the rest of the job- it will feel spongy under the fingers, but it will make the player work hard enough to squeeze the leaks shut.  Take a look at most new horns, for instance.  Think their manufacturing tolerances are so close that they can use the same thickness of cork on all their stack adjustments?  Think again, champ.  They seat the pads, install pre-cut corks and clamp it so it compresses during shipping to be the thickness it needs to be by the time you open it up.  Only problem is it doesn’t, and it isn’t.  It is close, sure, but its not right.  But taking the time to make each adjustment material perfectly costs too much for the manufacturer in most cases, which is why you are reading this article on my website and not somewhere else.

The ideal situation is one where the metal is not stressed (metal also has memory, and if the metal is bent into a new position, it will migrate back  towards its original position over a period of time and to a degree that is dependent on the character of the metal), the adjustment materials transmitting force have memory, are firm, and are shaped correctly and chosen of an appropriate thickness to be as quiet as possible.  I do not often use forgetful materials (and even then only in places where their forgetfulness is not an issue and once I have attempted to pre-stress the material), and unless you are compensating for bad padwork or a sloppy mechanism, there is not often reason to.

The argument can be made that using natural cork on key feet is perfectly fine- but ask yourself this: if it was easier to use a material with memory in its place, would you switch?  In other words, are you using cork because it is best or because it is most convenient?

No Two Horns Are Alike

Uniqueness is what separates craftsmanship from manufacturing.  If you begin to think about your adjustment materials like I am explaining in this long-winded article, you will find that each horn you overhaul has had a unique life starting with the day it’s keys were cut from brass stock at the factory, and as such has unique needs.  You will work with the situation at hand rather than against it by following a  preset procedure.  You understand the concepts and you know your materials, and you are able to write a unique prescription for awesomeness for each individual horn and each player’s desires.

Most often when you see nickel keywork on a lacquered body, you think student intstrument.  But it was not always so- indeed the nickel (or sometimes plated silver) keywork against lacquer was a premium option in the first half of the 20th century and it was only later that it was co-opted (most likely for nickel’s durability) for student instruments such as the original Bundy, the King Cleveland, and so forth (though now days these instruments are more like intermediate horns compared to what a modern student instrument is).

So it takes a saxophone of true beauty to make us see past this stereotype and re-assess what we think we feel about this particular finish combination, and the Martin Handcraft Committee II is just such a horn.  Beautiful and refined lines on this saxophone, enhanced with stylistic engraving and art-deco keyguards, are complemented by the dark honey-brown color of the aged nitrocellulose lacquer.

I overhauled this instrument with domed metal resonators with moderate coverage, and I was very surprised by what came out of it. I expected bold, brash, and brassy but got smooth, dark, and classy.  I was prepared for a night out at a burlesque club but I got a walk in a snowy wood. It has a beautiful, controlled sound- it makes me want to play bittersweet songs of longing or even classical. Intonation is very good and ergonomics are just fine for me.

- The Mark VI and Reference horns are 66/34 alloy brass (note: common trade name for this alloy is “yellow brass”)
- The S80 is 70/30 alloy brass (note: common trade name for this alloy is “cartridge brass”)
- The S80II and Reference horns share body tubes and bows, but have different necks and bells
- The S80III differs from the S80II in neck and upper body taper (as well as some tonehole placement), bell and bow are the same
- The Jubilee horns have toneholes that are .2mm taller (about .007 inches, or the thickness of an 3×5 index card)
- The bells on most horns (except special editions and baritone/bass) are not hand hammered anymore because the workers kept getting wrist injuries
- Toneholes are made by mounting the body on a mandrel and cutting the hole by CNC machine, but the toneholes are pulled with a mechanical device controlled by a worker
- The body and neck seams used to be brazed, now they are welded
- The necks are straight cones, filled with ice and bent by hand  (I would have expected hydroforming! I was surprised to hear this, and I am kind of blown away it is just a straight cone)
- They may eventually move to machine engraving, and a few S80 horns are already in circulation that have early experiments with machine engraving
- Until the 1970s, none of the knowledge on how to build was written down- it was all in the heads of the workers, and passed on from one generation to the next
- The R&D department is already working on the next Selmer model- and the eventual goal is to have one model of saxophone across the board (like back in the day)
- The R&D department is working on an acoustic reference blueprint of “the Selmer sound”- a waveform they can strive for when designing new horns
- The R&D department has the top technicians in the company and can prototype a new instrument in about 15 days

I also spoke to him afterwards and showed him my original H&A Selmer Bb curved soprano spring set from 1922 (the first year of Selmer saxophone production) which he greatly enjoyed seeing (called it “a treasure”!) and even got the Jerome Selmer seal of approval on an overhaul I had just completed on a beautiful & original 44xxx Selmer Super (Balanced) Action alto, which he is holding in the picture below.

This is the second time I have had the fortune to meet and talk to Jerome Selmer, and as always I was impressed with his patience, kindness, depth of knowledge, and his generosity with his time.

Serial number is 178xxx, dating it to 1951.

For more Martin history, see here, here, and here.

You don’t often see these horns in such good shape, and after an overhaul, this tenor should be a powerful player with a rich, fat sound and slick keywork.

Once the overhaul is complete, I will take new pictures and replace the ones here- remember these pictures are pre-overhaul!  In the meantime, feel free to ask questions or reserve this horn if you are interested.  If you catch me before I do the overhaul, you can have your pick of resonators.

Repair-wise, the design of the horn presented no special challenges- if you can repair a Leblanc or a Conn well (which is unfortunately not as common as it should be), you are fully capable of overhauling one of these.  If you only do modern horns and Selmers, be prepared to spend a little extra time figuring out what the builders of this instrument meant for you to do!  Construction is single post, rolled toneholes, large and very slightly concave pearls.  Front F, non-automatic G# (G# is not activated by the rest of the pinky table), left hand bell keys.   The original pads (see pictures below) seem to have been very similar to a Conn Res-O-Pad, except with a large rivet in the center instead of a flat washer resonator/rivet combination.  I overhauled this with regular pads and flat metal resonators and I am very pleased with the results.

“Winnenden” is what these models are commonly called due to the engraving; however Winnenden was simply the town in West Germany (these are Kohlert’s first post-WWII horns) where Kohlert had fled from Czechoslovakia to rebuild after being “nationalized” and forced to work for Amati.

The story is that Kohlert at this time had a converted military barracks and several home workshops spread out throughout the town, and different portions of the work would be done in different locations.

For more information on Kohlert history, see here: http://www.saxpics.com/?v=man&manID=11

and here: http://www.saxpics.com/?v=mod&modID=91

As is often the case with good saxophone repair, the answer lies deeper and the knowledge required is greater than you might think.

Here was my reply:

“The difference in necessary spring tension for a mechanism with bad adjustment materials and lost motion to a mechanism that is perfectly tight, perfectly fit, slick and free is enormous. Start there, work your way backwards to the springs.

You will need to disassemble the left hand pinky table to start so you can get to the G# pad by itself. Make sure it is sealing perfectly and absolutely free with no binding or sticking of the pad. Adjust the spring so it is strong enough to quickly lift the G# pad. No more.

Then check your adjustment material where the G# key and the G# pad meet- should be firm and slick and not compress over time. Teflon helps. The slicker it is, the less differential you will need between the G# pad spring and the G# key spring. Too firm can be noisy though.

Then install the G# key and get the springs engaged (G# pad spring acts AGAINST the G# key spring). Then adjust your G# key spring so that is it just strong enough to easily/quickly close the G# from an open position. The action should be smooth and quick. Do it very slowly open and closed several times with your finger on the G# spatula and feel for any bumps, slowdowns, etc. It should be totally smooth all the way through. If it isn’t, check your springs, your keys, and your adjustment materials. Fix what’s wrong before moving any farther.

Now reinstall your C#. Make sure it is sealing perfectly with the key fit tight and perfect and absolutely free with no binding in the key or sticking of the pad- you may need to remove the G# pinky key to do this if you can’t hold it out of the way easily.

Then engage the C# spring and slowly move the C# through its range of motion and check that the spring isn’t binding in the cradle. Resistance should be smooth and fairly constant. Any clicks or gummy feelings check the spring direction and how it sits in the cradle. Fix what is wrong.

Then make sure the adjustment between the C# and G is PERFECT. Any lost motion here will do two things: 1) make it feel like garbage and 2) allow the C# to vibrate open unless you overtension the C# spring. Watch how it works and select your materials wisely.

Ok now that that is perfect, detension the C#, reinstall your B and Bb, and play a low Bb subtone. Does the C# vibrate open? Strengthen the spring a tiny bit. Repeat. When it stops vibrating open you have the weakest the tension can be.

If you’ve done all this correctly, you’ve isolated every variable involved in the operation of the low C# and checked and perfected it.

10M pinky tables can feel great when done right, but it starts way deeper than the spring tensions.”

These go for  about $200 new- save 80 bucks and get yourself this one used!

This is a Keilwerth New King Series II alto saxophone- one of only about 500 ever produced, and the only Keilwerth horns ever to have soldered and beveled toneholes (like a Martin).   Not much is known about these saxophones, except that they were produced only for a very short time after Keilwerth moved from Czechoslovakia to Germany after World War II.  Rumor has it these are exceptional instruments, and they rarely show up for sale, and even rarer still in good condition.  

For more info, see here: http://saxpics.com/?v=mod&modID=75

This saxophone is in very good original condition, with nearly 100% of its original matte silver plate intact.  The only flaw is the G key arm has been resoldered- something I plan on redoing when this horn gets its scheduled overhaul.  

I am somewhat of a Keilwerth aficianado, and I am sorely tempted to keep this horn for myself.  I’ve got so many other altos, though…

Once the overhaul is complete, I will add more pictures here.  In the meantime, feel free to ask questions or reserve this horn if you are interested.

The Yamaha “Purple Logo” saxophones represent a fantastic value in saxophones: modern ergonomics and intonation, warm and full vintage-y tone, and prices lower than either a new horn or most vintage saxophones.  It is a combination that is hard to beat, and people who have played one will tell you its a horn that is undervalued.

This tenor was built in the 1980s, and has held up very well.  Physically it is straight with no dents, lacquer has scratches but is fully intact.  This saxophone is presently undergoing a full repad where it will get disassembled, cleaned, toneholes checked and perfected, and all new pads with flat seamless metal resonators in it for a fat and warm sound.

Comes in its original Yamaha case in good condition.

Once the overhaul is complete, I will add more pictures here.  In the meantime, feel free to ask questions or reserve this horn if you are interested.