Might anyone be interested in following a (101-year-old) BASS saxophone restoration thread?

[bloke]

The bass saxophone is a (c. 10' long) A-flat tuba with a bunch of plugged up leaks and a synthetic lip.

[bloke]

I suspect I'm going to need a cattle prod in order to encourage me to get on with this instrument restoration job... Christmas gig cooties haven't really helped, as far as TCB is concerned.

[Tom C]

As an extra incentive, imagine playing the trio of National Emblem March on that thing! All those A flats in a row...

[arpthark]

Where on the bass saxophone do you attach the cattle prod?

[tofu]

As an extra incentive, imagine playing the trio of National Emblem March on that thing! All those A flats in a row...

I seem to remember seeing a while back one of those South Philly Mummers string bands doing National Emblem out on the street - perhaps the Quaker City String Band - those groups rely on like 5 or 6 bass saxes and 5 or so string basses for the bottom end. Those bass saxes can really punch out a lot of amazing sound. Every time I see a guy marching with a string bass strapped to himself it makes me think marching with a sousaphone is a picnic in comparison.

[bloke]

I just upgraded a new "case" to a new "ROAD" case...

bloke "nope...There's NO SUCH THING as a 'flight case', and NO ONE will EVER convince me that there is."


This is before I dusted off the filings from cutting the screws down flush:


I've always liked these, so I bought one.


I added an ADDITIONAL THIRTY (30) edge brackets to the few which were factory installed.
There were previously NONE along either bottom edge, so that used up 14 of the added ones.


I couldn't evenly space the additional edge brackets along the tops, because of the way the factory installed those they they included, but I DID mirror them side-to-side.

[MiBrassFS]

Nice!

[York-aholic]

Looks pretty sharp!

Now people are going to expect you to be able to play!

[bloke]

Looks pretty sharp!

Now people are going to expect you to be able to play!

I think I could goof my way through a chromatic scale and even with a good sound, but once this thing has some lacquer and some new pads on it, it's going to be time for me to start working on scales and arpeggios. I'm going to try to find a mouthpiece with a #2 Sellmansberger rim, so I don't have to change my embouchure.

[Tom C]

The concert "C" in the mid range can be a very squirrely note on a bass sax. It is sometimes necessary to use the side vent key (obviously, the "real" sax players refer to this note as "D.") At any rate, as you get the horn in great shape, don't assume you missed anything if that note is uncertain without the vent key.

[bloke]

The concert "C" in the mid range can be a very squirrely note on a bass sax. It is sometimes necessary to use the side vent key (obviously, the "real" sax players refer to this note as "D.") At any rate, as you get the horn in great shape, don't assume you missed anything if that note is uncertain without the vent key.

Old Conns and/or Bueschers are the only ones (LOL just one of either them is plenty) that I've ever hoped to own, and I know that they come with even more quirks than the modern ones.

It's already going to be easier to play than some of these, because I built a replacement neck for the original that's somewhere between 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 inches shorter than the factory neck. By the way, I did not destroy the factory neck in making the replacement. I have both.
Some players of these have no trouble playing mostly in tune with the factory necks, but just as many others experience a great deal of difficulty. (I suspect a discrepancy in the length of the down tube - the one with no tone holes - going to the bow just before the neck receiver, but I don't know.) Even with these century old horrible pads, I feel very confident that this shorter neck fixed THE MAIN problem with this particular instrument, but I'm not foolish enough to believe that it fixed every problem... and what you said was absolutely heard, and don't misinterpret me as talking past you: I appreciate the heads up very much.

a general remark:
Even though it's jaw-dropping to watch some of these players perform these soprano saxophone novelty pieces with their jazz bands on bass saxophones, I'm not fooling myself into thinking that I'll ever have that much saxophone technique, but if I can just get to where I can play good 1920s characteristic two-beat bass lines with grace notes as was done during that period, I'll be tickled with myself. Also, I wouldn't be above handing it off to a colleague - who does have some tremendous saxophone playing ability - and allowing them to solo on the instrument when we are playing the same jobs. Hearing it played by a saxophone artist would be nearly as gratifying as being able to play all that I hope to be able to play myself.

[Tom C]

I will be very interested in how the replacement neck works. My horn is stenciled Wurlitzer but was made by Conn in the 1920s. Great horn except for a couple of touchy notes right in the middle, especially concert C. It is oddly similar to the low C on the older generation of F tubas.

[bloke]

OK...
I have "stuff" to do, but - if this thing just sits in the house - I'll croak before it's gig-worthy.

Yeah...The CASE is ready and I built a correct-length NECK for it (for even A=440 intonation), but the MAIN INSTRUMENT needs to get a move on.

...so (tired of looking at a badly ovaled bow located JUST UNDERNEATH the neck receiver, I dragged this thing out to the shop to (at least) address that issue.

Something obviously happened in the past to cause this. It's obvious that someone "repaired" it but they didn't respect the geometry (again: subsequently being left ovaled).

Today, I removed the (garbage - obviously-replaced - rotten - inappropriately-3-piece) brace, dropped a tenor sax tenon (male) neck expansion tool into this bass saxophone's (female) neck receiver (barely fit) and (with the cross brace removed) bent the bow inward until the bottom measured (within two or three thousandths of an inch or so, and sorta proud of that) 1.100 inches - all the way around.

Looking through a whole bunch of blokcrap, I found (seen in picture) this nice one-piece brace that features appropriated-sized flanges, and (also) is the correct width (for this correct geometry).

In the meantime, I replaced the 6-32 ligature screw (serving as the tension screw, as the 8-32 threads in the receiver were just enough messed up to no longer accept an 8-32 screw) with a nice bass-saxophone-appropriately-bulky 8-32 screw (yes, after repairing the female threads in the receiver). I also put a couple of concave grinds in the head of this old-fashioned tension screw to prevent the head from bumping against the receiver. I like it...well, I like "enough".

Just for fun (not pictured), I also adjusted the octave mechanism so as to properly function (one opens as the other closes). It's actually fascinating to watch those HUGE parts (and with the two octave vents at least a FOOT apart) function just as they should (yeah, even though it's all gotta come apart to be polished and lacquered).