A "big-name" repairman on youtube said that you should not use a stick because the fibers come off and can cause leaks. True?
The stick you put in to absorb moisture
lutemann
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Padsavers all the way! Best place for them is left in the bore while the sax is in it's case. Never had any problems with them and I wouldn't use them if they caused the harm people think they do.
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I think so. You'll tip any water out of the bell after playing and then use the padsaver in several goes to remove the majority of condensation from the bore, then leave it in the bore until you next take it out of the case. They're designed to be left in the bore, so that's the best place for them.
You can still use the pullthrough for the crook, or get a necksaver. On baris you can use a necksaver in the top U-tube to keep that clean - I've done that with my bari since new back in 1990 and it's still clean in there.
Using nothing at all is only going to cause more trouble than using something to keep your sax clean. The people that object to padsavers are usually people that don't clean their saxes at all (and are usually the ones that object to the cost of a service too).
You can still use the pullthrough for the crook, or get a necksaver. On baris you can use a necksaver in the top U-tube to keep that clean - I've done that with my bari since new back in 1990 and it's still clean in there.
Using nothing at all is only going to cause more trouble than using something to keep your sax clean. The people that object to padsavers are usually people that don't clean their saxes at all (and are usually the ones that object to the cost of a service too).
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It is not that this thread (together with how and if to swab horn body and neck) hasn't come up before.
Anyway Stephen's test is a classic and I doubt that anybody else has conducted a study on the matter.
There are many brands and HW are by far the best , I have had other brands too and there is one very common type (unmarked) where the " hair" is very hard and bristly (not the case with HW) (it invariably has some colour scheme involving white) this one leaves lots of lint behind, even after being washed several times. I have another one, Chinese, not as soft as the HW but equally non-shedding any lint.
I use padsavers when I go out to play. Under those circumstances ( where and when stages are always very crammed and you put your case down on the floor somewhere and have to clear the space rather quickly after playing ) there is simply no time and no space for an accurate swabbing so, a quick insertion of the savers (I use pad saver, neck saver and mouthpiece saver) helps absorbing moisture. Ideally when I go home I open the case and let it dry but I have noticed no adverse effect even if I let them in overnight or even longer.
One can, swab when at home and I have a number of pull-throughs.
Anyway Stephen's test is a classic and I doubt that anybody else has conducted a study on the matter.
There are many brands and HW are by far the best , I have had other brands too and there is one very common type (unmarked) where the " hair" is very hard and bristly (not the case with HW) (it invariably has some colour scheme involving white) this one leaves lots of lint behind, even after being washed several times. I have another one, Chinese, not as soft as the HW but equally non-shedding any lint.
I use padsavers when I go out to play. Under those circumstances ( where and when stages are always very crammed and you put your case down on the floor somewhere and have to clear the space rather quickly after playing ) there is simply no time and no space for an accurate swabbing so, a quick insertion of the savers (I use pad saver, neck saver and mouthpiece saver) helps absorbing moisture. Ideally when I go home I open the case and let it dry but I have noticed no adverse effect even if I let them in overnight or even longer.
One can, swab when at home and I have a number of pull-throughs.
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Despite what they say these days about not using them, I have been using a pad saver with my YTS-61 since I bought it over 32 years ago. I still use it but do try to open the case after I get home from a gig or rehearsal so it can dry out. I have never seen any fibers or had any leaks caused by it, and my 61 is in pretty good shape. My last re-padding was about 8 years ago and they are still in decent shape. I don't really believe the negative hype, but maybe I got a good one.
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When I took up sax a few years ago, and before I knew of this forum, I gave some thought to the pool of spit in the bow when I finished practice. It does reduce over time, and I believe I'm not alone in that I produced a lot more spit in the bow of the sax in my early/ier days.
When finished with the sax for the day/practice session, I empty the bow and use a shove it, although I don't think that it achieves much being predominantly composed of a fleece like material, then remove the neck, invert it in the tube, and put the stand in front of a small pedestal fan that is pointed at the bell. This forces air through the sax in reverse, and up and out through the inverted neck. Within a short time the inside of the instrument and pads are completely dry.
Some may say the procedure is tedious, but it takes about 30 seconds more than using a shove it just once.
If I'm at a lesson, or been messing around with the guys trying to make music somewhere other than at home, I leave the shove it in and then do the fan thing on my return.
I found the incidence of sticky pads (G# and C# particularly) was eliminated when I started using this method.
When finished with the sax for the day/practice session, I empty the bow and use a shove it, although I don't think that it achieves much being predominantly composed of a fleece like material, then remove the neck, invert it in the tube, and put the stand in front of a small pedestal fan that is pointed at the bell. This forces air through the sax in reverse, and up and out through the inverted neck. Within a short time the inside of the instrument and pads are completely dry.
Some may say the procedure is tedious, but it takes about 30 seconds more than using a shove it just once.
If I'm at a lesson, or been messing around with the guys trying to make music somewhere other than at home, I leave the shove it in and then do the fan thing on my return.
I found the incidence of sticky pads (G# and C# particularly) was eliminated when I started using this method.
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F4UCorsair interesting method. Not sure what you are doing when you mention inverted neck. If the fan is focing air through the bell up through the neck tenon and if the neck is attached as normal the air would still flow through the mouthpiece. If you invert it do you mean you place the mouthpiece end of the nect in the neck tenon? Seems odd and that it wouldn't work well at all since there would be air gaps at the tenon and the neck wouldn't dry as quickly.
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