Tricks for a SUPER PREMIUM pad job!

Our shop does about fifty saxophone overhauls in a typical year, serving clients from all over the world. Granted, my clientele may be a bit different from the typical repair shop (we do no student or school work) but we have found a few things “above and beyond” the typical overhaul procedure that you may find useful and can apply to your shop. Of course, when we overhaul a saxophone, we do far more than just replace the pads, and I’ll save my tips on neck modification, octave pip alteration, and other tricks for future articles.


STRAIGHTEN THE KEYS!
I am forever amazed at the number of people who omit this crucial step. Based on the horns we see, and the shims under the pads installed by others, there is apparently a lot of this going on! Take each and every key cup and check it on your bench anvil to be certain it is dead level. If it’s not, place the cup on your jeweler’s anvil and use a small rubber headed hammer to tap gently tap the rib of the key until the cup is perfectly level. At this time, you should also check the rest of the key for straightness and adjust accordingly. Needless to say, all the old adhesive in the cup must be completely removed and any dents in the cup smoothed.

SELECT THE PADS
This is where many techs fall down on the job. It costs only a little more to use the very best, but many shops “cheap out” and save a few pennies. Here are a few key points to remember when you are selecting saxophone pads:
(1) Pad “sets” rarely work. Get out the digital caliper and measure the cups! Then use pads that are a half millimeter larger than your measurement so they fit nice and tightly with just a bit of fluff at the edge.
(2) Never, ever use pads made with pressed felt! Use only pads constructed with woven felt. It is much more stable and has nice square shoulders. If you don’t know the type of felt, ask the vendor.
(3) Never, ever use pads with pre-installed resonators. You must size the resonator just as carefully as you size the pads to the cups. The resonator should cover as much of the leather as possible. Remember, too much is always better than not enough. Exposed leather acts as a sponge and devours the sound of a saxophone.
(4) Be certain that the resonator you select is made from the same material as the saxophone you are padding. If the horn is made of brass, use brass resonators. If it’s copper, use copper, and if it’s plastic, use plastic resonators. A resonator is a mirror, nothing more, and the only way to assure accurate reflection is to use the same material.
(5) Be certain that you don’t select a resonator material that corrodes due to moisture. This rules out steel and aluminum. Also remember that if you use aluminum or steel rivets with other metals the metals will chemically react with each other.
(6) Never, ever use pads that have a silicone based treatment applied as waterproofing. There are much better ways to accomplish this important task that don’t cause pad sticking. I’ll discuss the procedure later in the article.
(7) Look for an extra firm backing. Ordinary cardboard is not satisfactory, as it does not encourage the pad to hold its shape.
(8) Carefully consider the characteristics of the leather: sheep skin is commonly used, but has durability problems. Goat skin is quite durable, but tends to be grainy and hard. Kangaroo leather is soft, supple, extremely strong and durable, and does not stick. Kangraoo is the obvious choice, to my way of thinking. Nothing else makes much sense to me.



WATERPROOFING THE PAD AND PREPARING THE LEATHER
After the resonators are installed, but before the adhesive is applied, you must get all the wrinkles out of the leather. It really should be as tight as a drumhead, and there’s simply no excuse for leaving any slack. To accomplish this essential task, we apply a very, very light spritz of water with a spray gun to the pad, and then smooth the surface with a heated pad iron. We use round pad irons that we got from Ferree Tool for this job, as they have a cut out in the center that clears the resonator and the set has multiple sizes. For the occasional bass sax pad too large for the irons in the set, I use an old fashioned pad slick. We heat the pad irons with a bench burner, and you’ll quickly learn that too much heat will scorch your pads if you are not careful, and that not enough heat won’t turn the water to steam and tighten the leather. After the leather is good and tight, we apply a Teflon based pad treatment and rub it into the pores of the leather to make the pad shed moisture and prevent sticking.

CHOOSING THE ADHESIVE AND APPLYING IT
I think that at one time or another I’ve tried just about every possible way to get the pad to stay in the cup, and the more I do this the more convinced I am that shellac is the only choice that makes any sense at all if you want a great feeling, long lasting job. All of the varieties of hot glue I’ve tried are too flexible and lack the solid feel that can only be obtained with shellac. French cement strikes me as difficult to work with. Shellac is easy to use and durable and sets up rock hard. Who could ask for more? We start by mixing flake shellac and alcohol to make up a solution that is about as thick as motor oil. It’s usually a good idea to let it sit overnight to get the best results. We then take our perfectly clean key cups and use a small artist’s paint brush to “paint” a thin layer of shellac on the entire interior, including the rims. Next, we take our pads that have the resonators installed, are treated with waterproofing and ironed and place a generous dab of shellac on the back. We’ve found that the Z Gun system from MusicMedic is perfect for this operation. While the shellac is still warm and soft, we immediately take the pad and rub the back on a granite block. This flattens out the shellac and totally seals the back of the pad. The resulting coat of shellac on the back of the pad should be around a sixteenth of an inch thick. We then warm up each key a bit and insert the pad and press it into place, using the same pad irons to be certain that equal pressure is applied around the entire perimeter. Now that the pads are in place, put the horn together. We do not connect the springs or install silencers at this point.

GETTING THE LEAKS OUT
As we assemble the horn, we place a wooden wedge under each key foot so that all the pads are held somewhat tightly closed. When the horn is all closed down, we place it on a saxophone repair fixture and go over the exterior with a heat gun for about five minutes. This softens the shellac sufficiently to allow it to take hold, and provided you haven’t made the mistake of wedging the keys down too tightly (remember I said to wedge them down somewhat tightly, not as tight as possible) the pads should float right into place. It’s now time for the moment of truth. Remove all the wedges, and orient the horn on the repair fixture in such a manner that gravity alone closes the pads. Of course, this will require rotating the horn to several different positions in order to close every pad via gravity. Now, turn off the lights in your shop and insert your brightest leak light. If the planets are in proper alignment and the gods are smiling, you won’t find many leaks. Remember, the pads should seal with no light showing strictly off the force of gravity. If that’s not the case, you’ll need to heat the individual offending key and adjust the pad. If your keys are straight and aligned, and your tone holes perfectly level, you shouldn’t have to do much individual adjusting. After the horn passes the gravity test, there’s one more step necessary to make sure you have a perfect job: the magnahelic machine. We use a magnahelic from MusicMedic, having tried several others and rejected them. The machine doesn’t lie, and is absolutely the ultimate test. We made some bell-adapters from foam rubber balls to seal up the big end of the horn, and the machine is very easy to use. Be warned that it is unforgiving, but if your standards are the highest in the world, there is really no other way.

SETTING THE SEAT
As a final step, once everything is nice and tight, we place the horn on a repair fixture with the keys tightly wedged shut and insert the hose from a commerical fabric steamer into the bell. The hot steam flows through the horn for about five minutes (no more!) and sets a permanent seat in the pads.


As previously stated, this is the process we use for re-padding in our overhauls. If your shop does mainly student overhauls, I would suggest that you offer an upgrade as an option to your customers. They won’t all pay the extra toll, but you might be surprised how many will want the additional services. Even if you decide not to offer the full package, I hope that some of the techniques described are helpful!