oiling the Sax?

[john]

Good for you! Rock on an upwards…
As for oiling the moving parts I’ve never done it once in 30 years of playing. The repair guys may do it I don’t know for sure though, even so, they don’t get a hold of my sax very often anyway so I wouldn’t worry about it after only 7 months.

[Michael]

Hey Sxpoe, I’ve wondered about lubricating moving parts on the Sax myself as the Alto I have right now, which is a Vito Student model; the one I used for Take Five, has a problem with the side palm keys–as well as the high bis key that we would use for playing like an Altissimo G–is sticking big time and I literally have to wiggle these keys a lot before a practice session. After a few minutes they do loosen up enough for me to play but it happens while in the middle of playing something one of these keys gets stuck and it’s pretty annoying. I store the Sax in it’s case, take it out in a day or so for next practice session and they’re stuck again. Not sure what’s going on here, but the good news is I’ll have the Alto Sax situation taken care of soon, but I’ve wondered about the same thing myself that you’re talking about here.

[john]

Thanks guys. You might be asking yourself,
well if i have sax lessons, why not ask my teacher?
Instead of asking questions on the forums.

Well time is money. I only have 1 half hour lesson a week.
The half hour flies by, i’d rather spend it playing, being taught
& criticised constructively.

So to all you learners, use Johnny’s forums they are
a blessing in disguise, make full use of them & ask lots if questions.

You’re very lucky to have Johnny’s help & the benefit of other members sharing their
experiences.

[john]

forgot to add – see that donate button?
Use it!
I use it a little, not often enough.
I do it to show my appreciation for all the
time Johnny puts into this web site!
If it buys him a Pizzza, or that extra reed!
them i’m happy for him!
What goes round , comes round!
Come on make him proud of us!
and lets all have fun!!
fun is contagious!

[Frank Basamania]

I oil my sax about every 3 months. It helps prevent wear and corrosion, your action will react more quickly and you will have a more quiet action. I use plain old 75W-90 Syntheic gear oil, like you would use for a manual transmission. Even though you buy that stuff call Key Oil, most of the time it too thin and just runs out all over. I use a sewing needle and dip it in a cap of oil (there is just a drop hanging from it) and just touch all the joints, let it seep in then soak up any excess with a Q-tip. Doing it this way prevents you from over oiling. I went too long between oiling and my octave key mechanism was noisy, I think I got use to it and didn’t even notice untill I oiled it and the noise went away. I’m sure if you oil you will notice a difference.
Don’t forget the rollers and the tilting table mechanism.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Frank – i originally posted the oiling question when i was sxpoe, but reregistered as saxpoet.
My sax is clunky noisy , so i will give that a try out!

[Author]

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