Stephen Howard

@delightfulrepas Hi Jean, I've all but given up on Twitter - it's just now what it used to be. Have looked at the alternatives but haven't been that inspired. Maybe I'll come back one day :) Hope all is fabby with you!

@TheSaxDoctor Thought of you this morning and thought I'd check on you since you haven't turned up in my timeline for a long time (didn't know it had been quite *this* long!). Have you gone over to another platform? I'm strictly Twitter (I refuse to call it X).

Hmmm...certainly got my work cut out for me on this horn. Onwards and upwards...

On the bench today - a Keilwerth SX90R alto. In for the usual tonehole tweakery. Nice horns, but the black nickel finish is a sod to light and photograph!

I found a 'Gotcha!' You can't remove the low B key without first removing the low C# lever...the low Bb's lower pillar gets in the way, and there's not enough space to squeeze the Bb through the gap. I've seen this before on another horn, I'm sure. Quite a tell-tale feature...

Another 'interesting' horn on the bench - a Saxgourmet tenor. The use far-eastern fare, with a few tweaks and a bit of bling...and what looks to be quite a problem with flux (acid) bleed...

Time for another review - and this time it's something a little bit unusual. It's a modern Chinese C Melody...with a Conn Microtuner fitted. That's different! shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/…

Nifty little job earlier in the week. A Conn 10M with a cracked crook receiver. The slot combined with the crack means that there's barely 5mm of tube left for the crook to seal against...and the joint always wears at the bottom first. Leaky, leaky, notes not peaky. Not anymore!

On the bench today - a rather tatty-looking Yamaha 62 alto. Got a few bars under its belt, and on at least its second set of pads. Time for its third.

Fun job on the bench today - the Superglue Weltklang bari. Poor old thing's held together with superglue...but has made it to almost ten years in this state before it all got a bit too much. Time for some proper solder!

@ellen_hawley @delightfulrepas Yep, the old prescriptive/proscriptive thang.

@TheSaxDoctor @delightfulrepas Depends on whether you're using the spoken language or the approved-of language. :)

Fabulous post for all of us language pedants!

@Globoglobitos Thank you! Glad you liked it - and especially glad that one of my reviews helped you choose a horn!

@TheSaxDoctor Thank you for another review Mr. Howard. It's always great to hear your thoughts on a horn (back in 2012 your reviews led to to buy my first 'pro' horn a yani alto)

Just up on the site - a review of the new (2024) TJ Evo alto. Full of surprises, this little beastie... shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/…

@delightfulrepas Works for me, innit!

@TheSaxDoctor Can't say. I *try* to "loosen up" and not overthink *every* single thing! 🤣

@CultureOfOne I offer 3 tiers - basic (get going), midrange (decent service), top tier (all the bells and whistles). Most folks choose the top tier. 'Underhauls' are popular - mechanical rebuilds, a few pads, no cosmetics.

@TheSaxDoctor I considered offering two tiers - "make it functional for now," or "do it right," with pricetags commensurate with the effort required - but I realized most of the people who bring me saxes to repair would opt for the lower tier every time.

Working on the YAS-62 that's been 'repaired'. Now I knew the pad job was bad, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I don't think any new shellac has been put in the cup...it just what was left after the old pad was removed. Just dreadful.

@CultureOfOne There's virtually no coverage at all, on any of the pads. And they're fake pads. I never learn - instead of saying "I can make it good" I really ought to say "I'll have to start over, sorry".

@TheSaxDoctor It looks like the earlier pad might have been put in with Micro liquid pad shellac or similar, based on the coverage. Unless the pad cups and tone holes are perfectly level, that stuff was useless at the best of times, and beyond pointless to reuse on subsequent pads.

@RachaelComposes Had a peek...just signed up. Will probably migrate over at some point - I get the feeling this place is dying on its arse.

Made the switch and I'm now over on blue sky. Same handle :)

@CultureOfOne Yes it is, in combination with raising the low points. There's still often a need to carry out some light dressing though. shwoodwind.co.uk/HandyHints/lev…

@TheSaxDoctor I don't get to work with rolled tone holes very often. Is it possible to tap down the high point to level it rather than filing it?

Getting down to the nitty-gritty on this SX90R - and I can see I've got my work cut out for me. Some of the toneholes are showing half a millimetre gaps. That's almost 20 times the size of a gap that constitutes a leak (0.0245mm - or 1 thou).