Saxophone Forum


by SteveE
(2 posts)
19 years ago

Buescher snap-in pads and a gurgley low D

I've got a (mostly) great Aristocrat tenor. It plays great top to bottom until you hit low D. If you play a staccato series of low D's, it sounds very rough compared with C & E next to it which sound flawless. If you hold low D out, it has intermittent gurgles or breaks in the sound. I took it to a look tech who told me that he could "tuck the pad" and it would be fine for awhile, but because of the snap-in pads on the Buescher it will be a frequent problem. He did tuck the pad and I thought it was ok initially, but when I got it home, the problem returned within 15-30 minutes of playing. Can anyone help?

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  1. by johnsonfromwisconsin
    (767 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: Buescher snap-in pads and a gurgley low D

    "Tucking" the pad sounds like he attempted to seal the leak by reshaping the pad to change the thickness of felt where the leak was occuring. I'm an amature technician and have done this when I'm too lazy to do a proper pad adjustment. It might indeed have worked until the pad went back to it's old shape. I can tell that your tech is not very keen on servicing Buescher saxophones. I can't for the life of me understand why one would think it's a problem with snap-in pads in particular. Snap-ins are pads and in function are no different from other pads. All pads get old and leak or have their keys come out of alignment and leak, the snap-ins are nothing terrible in this regard. The problem with snap-ins is the fact that a normal technician won't have them in stock and may have to drill a normal pad without a resonator to accomodate the stud, or he will snip or grind the stud off (which severely depriciates the vintage value of the horn). Snap-ins were designed so that adhesive backing wouldn't have to be used when installing a pad, but a number of technicians will use shims and shellac or glue anyway to aid in alignment of the snap-in pads. Your Aristocrat has one or more leaks in it. I'm guessing it's in the G# cup. Take your horn to a technician and ask him if he's worked on Vintage Bueschers in a way that didn't involve the removal of the snaps. If yes, you're quite lucky! If no, ask him to seal the leaks normally but not to remove the snaps. If pads need to be replaced ask him if he would be willing to go to www.musicmedic.com for the proper replacements. If not, ask him to give you the cup measurements so you could order the replacements (in case he doesn't want the hassle). I would order three pads for each one he said needed replacing, one the exact measurement the technician gave, one 1 mm larger, and another 1mm smaller just to make sure he has the proper fit.

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    1. by Dave Dix
      (421 posts)

      19 years ago

      Re: Buescher snap-in pads and a gurgley low D

      Well said!!! buescher snaps are a brilliant idea . The fault in your sax is a pad leak period all saxophones get this whether its a buescher snap,conn reso or a selmer style plastic reso style. When is a tech not a tech ? When he cant do a buescher (or cant be bothered ) Dave

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