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Welcome to my Overhaul Page!

 

The science and art, for it is certainly both, of repairing woodwind instruments has always been a subject of interest to me, and recently I've made it more than a passing hobby.  In November, 2018, I decided to build my own workbench.  You should have seen my roommate's face when he walked in from work one day to see it in the living room...priceless.  Since then I've been slowly purchasing special tools and materials as the need arises, teaching myself, with the aid of many a YouTube video and no small amount of indulgence in the form of many phone calls with my guru Bill Singer, how to overhaul saxophones.  To start anyway.   

For those who are not professional musicians, the word "overhaul" when applied to instruments is not too dissimilar from how it is applied to anything else: gut it and redo everything from scratch, hopefully better.  Assuming the body of a horn with its tone holes and keys, aged well without being bent or otherwise corrupted (a big assumption of course, and I am skipping over a whole range of subjects), there are other inherent issues with woodwind instruments revolving mainly around the fact that the materials age.  The metals or woods of which they are made get tarnished and dirty, sometimes even moldy, the leather pads wear out, and the corks dry out or get worn down, sometimes falling off for no apparent reason.  Yet if some wooden violins can stand the test of time as they have, then one would reason these often-metal instruments could last a few hundred years if not for those elements mentioned.  It's not uncommon to find old horns, such as displayed here, that are truly great instruments in ways modern horns cannot seem to match, but in disrepair simply because they are old and perhaps unused, or maybe overused, for many years.  That's where I'm hoping to step in.  

I think it also important to note that in the grand scheme of the "History of Instruments," the saxophone as we know it is fairly new, only just over 100 years old.  Still, it is with no small amount of reverence I approach revitalizing these horns.  I'm simply hoping to shepherd some of these instruments along a life that will hopefully outlast my own. 

It's been a very interesting learning process, and I've relearned other lessons that can always be reiterated: patience, ingenuity problem solving, and the discipline to finish something you start.  All of it in the hopes of not just selling some horns as a sideline, but becoming a more rounded musician; so far it's been a blast and incredibly satisfying.  I've saved some money already on repairs to my own horns, learned even more about my art, and frankly, having a workbench around the house like when is was growing up is freakin' awesome (I've got a number of my father's, and even some of my grandfather's, old tools!).  I hope you all enjoy this page and please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, certainly to buy a horn, or to simply talk about the whole thing.  I'll go on forever :)

 

-Matt 

      

 Conn New Wonder II (1925)

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Price: $2,799.00 **SOLD**

-Serial # 15x,xxx 

-Brushed “Satin” Silver body (aka “Matte”)

-Nickel Silver keys

-Gold inlaid bell

   ***All original from 1925

   ***I’ve worn gloves during all my work since its cleaning/polish, and it has yet to be handled by direct human hands.  

-Original Micro-tuner neck

-Original Conn LOGO (pretty rare) and hand etchings

   ***I can’t say for certain, but its age and number puts it right at the time when the Stenberg brothers, master engravers, were doing their thing at Conn.  

-New Pads with domed metal resonators 

-New Corks and Bumpers

-Springs replaced
-Original key Pearls

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Original Conn Logo, Hand Etchings, and Gold Inlaid Bell.  They just don't make 'em like this any more, and that's a fact.

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New Pads, Corks, and Bumpers.  Shined like jewelry.

A small sample clip of how she sounds.

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Original Case and Octave Protector.  

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MY BENCH:

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A couple good shots of my work bench.  It might look like a lot, but believe me I'm maybe a 1/3 of the way to acquiring all the tools that will enable me to handle all the possible issues that could occur with woodwind instruments.  

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THE PROCESS:

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I am going to try and chronicle it better on future jobs, but here is a few "Before" pictures.  It didn't make a sound, and let's just say left unattended, silver does some interesting things.  

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NEXT UP:

Conn New Wonder II (circa 1927)

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Price: TBA

This horn is another Conn New Wonder II, only a few years younger than the one above.  

Although they are the same horn, only a couple years apart, this does not have the aesthetic beauty of other and therefore might be half the value.  You can see the two side by side (bottom left), and even before any work has been done to either it is obvious which would win in a beauty pageant.  It does however show the promise of having a great sound as these old Conns often do, and will some day very soon be an excellent solid horn for someone at a downright cheap price. 

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