More Leaks... DAMNIT

Besides the damn sinus virus, another thing dat really bugs me is none other than excessive leaks on the saxophone. I see red. Apparently the supposed 99% leak free horn was subjected to professional scrutiny today and lo and behold, it has since dropped to a 60% leak free horn. bloody hell...

I had the epoxy baffle trimmed today. right now the surface is alot more smoother than before and it's also lowered very slightly. again, it's like receivin a whole new mouthpiece again. i have to readapt to the thing. dat means another week more of long tone exercises. geez, i shouldnt have touched the baffle since i was well on my way to adapting to it but on the plus side, it's now alot smoother.

After lesson, Boon Chye and i drove down to Accent Music at Jurong Kechil. The guy had a silver Selmer Series II sax to fix. Apparently, he was having a pretty tough time gettin the Altissimo A to speak. Problem wasnt solve there but the tech Danny told him dat it might be a leak in the neck and dat was hard to tell. So he suggested trying out similar necks of his student's Series II models to see if it really was the neck dat was the cause of the problem.

Anyway, the guys at the shop requested to see my sax and so i obliged :) they were very impressed by the finish and the engraving on the bell. they said the engraving was pretty intricate and detailed and covered a good portion of the sax. *GRINZ* yes, i am very flattered~ i'm very very happy with my choice of saxophone. i think so far, there are only about 2 or so such saxes. the first one was also bought by a student. i got the 2nd model~

so, Danny checked my sax, and the guy is a pretty young chap. but dun underestimate him. he's damn good. with the bare naked eye, he spotted the following problems:

1. Free play on the B key.
2. Free play on the low Bb key.
3. Uncentered pads.
4. Leaks on B and A keys.
5. Leaks on F# F E D keys.
6. Leaks on low C# and low B keys.

Dat's like 8 leaks. i'm like, hell.. this sax is giving me alot more problems than should be. I've taken the sax down to Yamaha for like 4-5 times??? like wtf man, i think it's because it is on warranty dat is why the guy is not doing a thorough job. fuck man, i really dun wanna be nasty but hey all i ask for is a sax dat does not have freakin leaks like it does now!! IS DAT TOO DAMN MUCH TO REQUEST FOR??? bloody hell, this time round, i'm gonna make sure EACH AND EVERY single pad is leakless and is where it's supposed to be. no such thing as a pad dat is not centered properly.

fuck man, it's not as if i bought a thousand dollar sax of which i'd have no case to argue for but i paid like 4 times more to get a saxophone dat is the top of the line custom model and i expect a top of the line quality in the keywork to accompany such a sax. i might be fussy but hey, it is my right to demand a totally leak free sax. it's not as if i'm askin for a divine piece of work.

i'm not happy with shoddy workmanship. and also it's to Yamaha's undoing if they cant produce a good piece of repair work. If it really is not going anywhere, i will demand dat they exchange the sax for another one. i dun care man. i'm one particularly fussy quality freak and i want to see quality. this sax is gonna be with me for life and i'm gonna play great things on this sax. this sax has got to be in tip top condition, nothing less.

if they refuse to replace the sax after all the trips of going down and back and down again, i'm just gonna pay 60 bucks and let Danny finish the job once and for all. i think dat guy has the right attitude where saxes are concerned.