I've never examined a Maxtone, so what I'm offering are guesses, based on the science of sound. If the original horn had pads with "domed" resonators, and the new pads have no resonators, the horn will play out of tune, since the size of the sound chamber has been slightly altered. Do you know anyone else that plays a soprano saxophone? If so, you could ask that person to play yours and give you an opinion as to the intonation. It could be that you learned to accomodate previous problems and will have to relearn the lip work, as Johnson suggested. All soprano saxophones are somewhat more difficult than other saxophones to play in tune, and much is the responsibility of the player. What I've heard of the Maxtone has not been good, but a horn should never play worse when it returns from the repair shop than when it went in. Good luck!

dear johnsonfromwisconsin and Sax Mom, You've both been very helpful to me i should thank you from the buttom of my heart.. I retook the Sax to the repair man and he checked it agian for leaks and he found some as you both suggested. Now i replaced my Selmer S80 C* Mouthpiece with PONZOL (gold plated) and theres a big difference in sound although it is much harder to play.. Have you guys heard of this mouthpiece or do you know anyone who had experiance with it? Thank you..

Aramo, Glad your technician was able to make it right. I would guess the Ponzol has a lot more open facing than the C*, therefore is a lot harder to play. Try it with softer reeds to see what happens.

"If the original horn had pads with "domed" resonators, and the new pads have no resonators, the horn will play out of tune, since the size of the sound chamber has been slightly altered." This is not true. If a competent tech properly addresses the sax's tuning on re-assembly the potential issues are corrected. If the dome vs. no dome made that much difference then dressing the toneholes to level them would also render a sax unplayable. What the dome changes is the effective opening of the tonehole. In general going from domes to flats or no reso usually requires the keys to be lowered slightly. Key word is usually. There are always exceptions.

'" 'If the original horn had pads with "domed" resonators, and the new pads have no resonators, the horn will play out of tune, since the size of the sound chamber has been slightly altered.' " "This is not true. If a competent tech properly addresses the sax's tuning on re-assembly... What the dome changes is the effective opening of the tonehole. In general going from domes to flats or no reso usually requires the keys to be lowered slightly. Key word is usually. There are always exceptions." As you noted, when the repair technician is competant, the horn would be readjusted to make up for the difference when going from domed resonators to no resonators (or flats). However, in this case, the returned horn did not play in tune, and was subsequently found to suffer from some leaks. This being the case, it appears as if the technician did not even play the horn after the repad, or he would have discovered the leaks before returning the horn to the customer. I did not mean to imply that a horn designed with domed resonators could not be made to play in tune without such resonators, just that a simple repad without attention to this detail could be a problem for the intonation of the horn. Thank you for pointing out my omission.

Sax Mom, I guess I missed the point that you were talking in the specific sense. I read it as a general observation and replied as such. I wasn't trying to call you out or anything so, "sorry if I sounded that way". In my shop there's no such thing as a simple repad. Horns simply are not allowed to leave with leaks and/or improper intonation. I feel that when a horn leaves the shop it should play the best it can possibly play and the best it has ever played. Anything short of that and I shouldn't get paid. JMHO

Sax Mom has very valuable input in these forums. What she said makes sense to me. The no simple repad is hilarious because it is followed by simply not allowed to leave. It would have been cute if you said not allowed to leave simple. :)

Yes Sax Mom does has very valuable input in these forums. Unfortunately the same can not be said about certain others who's only agendas seem to be personal attacks and the insighting of anger and hatred. The fact that these forums allow everyone to express their opinions is a good thing. Unfortunately, there's no way to filter out the immature nonsense posts. Sax Mom, I do look foward to further debates with you. Rational discussion is quite enjoyable!

Why, that's a wonderful thing to read upon my return from vacation. Thank you (both)!