Saxophone Forum


by holleyd72
(6 posts)
11 years ago

Elkhart Restoration

We are looking to restore an Elkhart sax that my husband inherrited. We'd love to have it looking in top notch for display and possibly for one of us to learn to play in the future. We have NO experience with Saxaphones so we don't know where to start.

What should we look for in a quality person to handle the restoration?

At this point we have no idea what needs to be done to help preserve and maintain this instrument. It appears to our untrained eyes to be in good shape. It certainly has beautiful ingravings and needs to be polished or buffed or whatever it is that is done to instruments of this type.

There is wear on the pads that feel a little like felt on the underside of each "paddle" (sorry have no idea what these are called).

What should be done? What should not be done?

Any help or dirrection is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
     Holley

PS: Also see my thread on the Vintage board as well.                        

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  1. by Saxquest
    (420 posts)

    11 years ago

    Re: Elkhart Restoration

    The first step would be to have a repair appraisal done by a local shop if there is one near you. Most likely, it will need a pad job if it hasn't been played in some time. Most good shops will do a student level pad job for $450-$550. It may need other repairs if there is damage present or past damage repairs. This can usually only be seen by inspection.

    Unless, you just have money to throw away, don't get sucked into someone telling you that you need a professional overhaul on this saxophone. A professional overhaul involves a lot more than a student pad job and includes precision key fitting, precise tone hole leveling, and custom regulations. A professional overhaul can run anywhere from $750-$950 depending on the work done and materials used.

    You sax is simply not worth that much money. Quite honestly, the key mechanisms are rather antiquated so even with precise fitting, it will still only feel as good as the mechanisms will allow, which on this horn will not be all that great anyway. If you put a basic $500ish student pad job into it, you can expect to get about $500ish back out of it if you decide to sell it. 

    If you don't have a local shop you feel comfortable with feel free to give us a call at Saxquest (314) 664-1234. Other national shops to consider include Tenor Madness and PM Woodwinds. 

    Cheers,
         Mark Overton
         www.saxquest.com

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    1. by holleyd72
      (6 posts)

      11 years ago

      Re: Elkhart Restoration

      Thank you for the info! 

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