My 16 year old grandson worked as an apprentice with me in my saxophone repair shop this summer. His main assignment was to overhaul a "junk" YAS-21 I picked up on Ebay for about $60. It had body damage, missing keys, bent keys, no neck, etc. It was a long process but by the time he finished he had learned basic dent work, body straightening, post straightening, key straightening, key fitting, rod making, key fabricating, silver soldering, soft soldering, tonehole raising, tonehole leveling, spring installation, pad installation, regulation, setting key heights, neck fitting, and neck cork installation. Since he plays clarinet and percussion in his high school bands, I did the last 5% which requires being able to play the instrument and make the fine adjustments to key heights, touchpiece positions, etc.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have picked an easier instrument for him to start on, but he must have my "determination" gene because through all the frustration he stuck with it to the end. The pic below shows how it turned out. It is a really nice playing alto. It has a "brushed finish" and a coating of Renaissance Wax.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have picked an easier instrument for him to start on, but he must have my "determination" gene because through all the frustration he stuck with it to the end. The pic below shows how it turned out. It is a really nice playing alto. It has a "brushed finish" and a coating of Renaissance Wax.