Re: Tips on cleaning up a Conn New Wonder II
In order to effectively clean a sax, you need to disassemble it. What I did with my first "project", a New Wonder Series I alto, was I disassembled the horn. I took all the screws and rods and put them back in the posts they came out of. I polished up the keys with silver polish. The Brasso stuff is good, or Wright's silver cream I actually prefer. If you're replacing the pads, no worries...otherwise, be careful not to get the polish on the pads!
For the body, get an old toothbrush, a small paintbrush (to get in around the keyguards and tight places), a pair of rubber gloves and a small butter dish. Get some Tarn-X, and dump a little in the butter dish. Dip the toothbrush in the butter dish and brush the tarnish away. It'll come off pretty easy. Use the small paint brush to get in around the keyguards and tight places. Rinse the horn body with water to neutralize the acid in the Tarn-X. Don't leave the Tarn-X on very long, because it is an acid and could hurt the silver, although I have used this several times and have never had a problem. After rinsing the horn, Get a rag and some Wright's silver cream and hand polish the silver. You will be amazed! It'll look like new! Reassemble the horn, making sure all the keys and mechanisms line up properly. You may need a small pair of pliers, or a spring too to reattach the springs.
After all keys are reassembled, replace any corks/felts and use a leak light to check to make sure the pads are closing properly and adjust as necessary.
If any of this seems too difficult, you could have a tech disassemble the body and replace pads, etc, and just pick up the body, clean it and bring it back. A little pointer! (no pun intended) Those needle springs are very sharp and hurt like a bitch when you poke your finger on them! So be careful when cleaning the body.
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