Boston Sax Shop Repairs

Yesterday we had the pleasure of helping out the great Ron Holloway! He is on tour with Government Mule and he brought in his Rampone tenor for a checkup. Looking forward to the next time, and hopefully more stories.

Always a thrill to work with the legends, especially when they are personal favorites! There aren’t many we love more than the the one and only Joe Lovano! Trued up his Selmer Super last week and had the pleasure of hearing him on it Monday night with the Fringe and Tuesday night with the Berklee Strings. A great hang at BSS followed by two nights of amazing music… it doesn’t get better than that! 🎷🙏

Amazing early (58k) VI alto on the bench for an overhaul and then off to the showroom 🤩🎷Keep an eye on the website, this beauty won’t last long!

Chris Cheek Tenor Restoration PART 3:

(We have the privilege of working with some incredible musicians here at BSS. These opportunities are made even more special when it’s with someone that you’ve come up listening to and has had a big musical influence. This was the case last month when the amazing Chris Cheek entrusted us with the mechanical restoration of his tenor. Chris has been one of my favorite players since the first time I heard his album “Vine” in college, so I was was super excited to get to work with him. His tenor had a ton of miles on it, and needed some serious “rebuilding”. In addition to considerable key wear, multiple un-savable rods, a loose receiver collar, and multiple holes worn through key cups, it also needed all new pearls and pearl holders. It was a big job that was a lot of fun to do, both for challenges it presented, and in knowing who it was for. Chris was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was very interested and engaged in the process, and had some special requests regarding the setup that were fun to work on together. I was ecstatic when he expressed his satisfaction with the work, and in knowing that I could play a small part in his music making. What a thrill!)

Here in PART 3 you can see the end result, and a little before & after, of what was one of the bigger rebuilds we’ve done this year. Please check out PARTS 1 & 2 if you haven’t already! It was a real pleasure doing this work for Chris, and we’re honored that he entrusted us with this restoration 🙏 Be sure to check in next week for an update on Chris’s bari restoration!

Chris Cheek Tenor Restoration PART 2:

(Part 1: We have the privilege of working with some incredible musicians here at BSS. These opportunities are made even more special when it’s with someone that you’ve come up listening to and has had a big musical influence. This was the case last month when the amazing Chris Cheek entrusted us with the mechanical restoration of his tenor. Chris has been one of my favorite players since the first time I heard his album “Vine” in college, so I was was super excited to get to work with him. His tenor had a ton of miles on it, and needed some serious “rebuilding”. In addition to considerable key wear, multiple un-savable rods, a loose receiver collar, and multiple holes worn through key cups, it also needed all new pearls and pearl holders. It was a big job that was a lot of fun to do, both for challenges it presented, and in knowing who it was for. Chris was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was very interested and engaged in the process, and had some special requests regarding the setup that were fun to work on together. I was ecstatic when he expressed his satisfaction with the work, and in knowing that I could play a small part in his music making. What a thrill! And the icing on the cake… his bari is next up on the docket!)

Here in PART 2 you can see the new pearls & holders installed, and the holes in the F and E key cups patched. Stay tuned for PART 3 to see the finished product! If you missed the before shots, you can find them in PART 1.

Chris Cheek Tenor Restoration PART 1:

We have the privilege of working with some incredible musicians here at BSS. These opportunities are made even more special when it’s with someone that you’ve come up listening to and has had a big musical influence. This was the case last month when the amazing Chris Cheek entrusted us with the mechanical restoration of his tenor. Chris has been one of my favorite players since the first time I heard his album “Vine” in college, so I was was super excited to get to work with him. His tenor had a ton of miles on it, and needed some serious “rebuilding”. In addition to considerable key wear, multiple un-savable rods, a loose receiver collar, and multiple holes worn through key cups, it also needed all new pearls and pearl holders. It was a big job that was a lot of fun to do, both for challenges it presented, and in knowing who it was for. Chris was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was very interested and engaged in the process, and had some special requests regarding the setup that were fun to work on together. I was ecstatic when he expressed his satisfaction with the work, and in knowing that I could play a small part in his music making. What a thrill! And the icing on the cake… his bari is next up on the docket!

Here in PART 1 you can see some before shots showing the worn pearls, the unsoldered collar and the wear in the key cups. Stay tuned for the after shots coming in PART 2 & PART 3!

Chris Cheek Tenor Restoration PART 1:

We have the privilege of working with some incredible musicians here at BSS. These opportunities are made even more special when it’s with someone that you’ve come up listening to and has had a big musical influence. This was the case last month when the amazing Chris Cheek entrusted us with the mechanical restoration of his tenor. Chris has been one of my favorite players since the first time I heard his album “Vine” in college, so I was was super excited to get to work with him. His tenor had a ton of miles on it, and needed some serious “rebuilding”. In addition to considerable key wear, multiple un-savable rods, a loose receiver collar, and multiple holes worn through key cups, it also needed all new pearls and pearl holders. It was a big job that was a lot of fun to do, both for challenges it presented, and in knowing who it was for. Chris was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was very interested and engaged in the process, and had some special requests regarding the setup that were fun to work on together. I was ecstatic when he expressed his satisfaction with the work, and in knowing that I could play a small part in his music making. What a thrill! And the icing on the cake… his bari is next up on the docket!

Here in PART 1 you can see some before shots showing the worn pearls, the unsoldered collar and the wear in the key cups. Stay tuned for the after shots coming in PART 2 & PART 3!
-Frank

Long time no see, Instagram!!! Sorry to be so out of touch for so long 🙇‍♂️ it’s been crazy, crazy busy here at BSS! Happy to be back, and looking forward to getting back in a groove with the sharing 🎷

Despite our radio silence, Jamie and I have been documenting our projects and have a healthy backlog of bench shots and video that we’ll start rolling out on a regular basis!

In the meantime, here are a few sneak peaks of what’s to come 😎

-Frank

Rare bird on the bench the other day! A silver King Super 20 Bari, this one took a spill off a stand; we straightened it out and put it back on the road 👍

The dreaded “technician dent”. It is exactly what it sounds like… a dent put in by a tech while attempting a repair. Honestly, we’ve all done it, it happens. Sometimes you miss your mark, sometimes you go too far, and sometimes you accidentally ding a horn while you’re working on it. Nobody’s perfect. What’s not ok, is abandoning the job halfway and leaving that damage behind, as can be seen here. This Mark VI alto fell and sustained damage to the posts that secure the low Eb & C keys. Both posts were dented into the bore. Someone tried to push up the posts with a dent ball that was neither the correct size or shape, and also missed the mark, leaving behind several inside-out dents and lines. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) they quit before repairing the original damage, or their own. These can be difficult dents to correct. The scars will always be there, but at least the tube is no longer dented, and the posts are in their correct position and in alignment. 👍

Wishing our fearless leader a very happy birthday today! 🎉🎂 From all of us, a very sincere thank you for building such an amazing business and making it such an awesome place to work! They say it never works when you mix friendship and business, but we’ve proven them wrong ❤️ The BSS family is a special one, thanks to you. Cheers to the best in the business 🥂 (we clearly don’t take enough photos, as I came up empty in my search for an embarrassing picture 😒 instead everyone can enjoy this throwback to 2017 of us splitting up a resonator order 🤣 my my, how the shop has changed!)

Here’s that 118k I eluded to in the last post 🤤 Unfortunately, this one isn’t for sale, but I just had to share it with you anyways. It goes home next week, playing as beautiful as it looks 😍 It got our full mechanical overhaul with a very traditional setup. Much like cooking, when the ingredients are this good, you just have to get out of the way and let them speak for themselves. So mint! They’re still out there! ✨🎷✨