I guess so...and a not-so-reliable tech in my town isn't helping... :o(

Ok so maybe a *good* tech repairing a neck wouldn't be too expensive...I called mine and explained and he said $200...and I thought I might as well buy a new neck... But then I talked to a guy over at Horn Improvement and he said he can patch it + make a brace for it for $75 (Plus shipping...but a neck shouldn't be too expensive...I think...) Off to the tech it goes...

Repairing a crack depends on many things. if the crack is a relatively "fresh" crack where many repairman haven't patched and buff on the area to "clean it up", I would probably strip the neck down to the tube. that is, take off all soft soldered parts and remove the solder and lacquer. I would then dedent the tube, clean the crack. slightly V out the crack with files and rifflers, then silver solder the crack shut. I would then re assemble buff and lacquer. I could do this in about anhour so $100 bucks would be pretty good pay. Making a brace would be extra. I hate patches so i avoid them unless i can't, like in the case of an area of a horn that is too thin or rotted.

Count, The guys at Horn Improvement do fantastic work. Jeff and I went to school together years ago, and I was one of his first customers when he was getting into the repair field (when we were at CSULB, he used to take my horn after Wind Symphony on Thursday afternoon, and have it back to me by Saxophone Ensemble on Friday morning) . . . many of the major session cats here in LA are going to him now (especially now that Rhueben Allen is busy with Hollywood Winds, and Oleg Garbuzov is busy with his line of products). Personally, I don't trust my horn to anyone else . . . www.hornimprovement.com

Haha, thanks Saxman! Horn Improvement seems like a great company to deal with, very cheap too haha. I don't know if I've ever read anything negative about them...I just gotta wait till I have the money to fix it.

got a new neck for my tenor on ebay from classicsupplier.com around 150.00

So I finally got it back from Horn Improvment! Man they did a killer job on it. The solder is barely noticeable, he made a cool looking brace and I also think he put lacquer back on the neck (stripped before I got it but I think it looks cooler w/ lacquer haha.) I'm a happy man now :)