Full Mechanical Rebuilds
Full Mechanical Rebuilds are quite different from the other three categories and start at $3000.
Key fitting. Extensive key fitting is the biggest difference between Full Mechanical Rebuilds and all other repairs and it requires more time on the bench. If you have an old horn, try moving the keys back and forth laterally. There will most likely be large gaps between the keys. There will also be a generous amount of slop between the hinge tube and the hinge rod, allowing for the key to wobble concentrically. And lastly, if you wiggle the key at the very end of the stack while looking closely at the hinge rod in the post, it will certainly have play inside the post. See the picture below to get an idea of that last sentence. You are looking at the rod inside the post on the lower stack of a '69 Mark VI. The post itself has been swedged, as have all the posts in that stack, and there is no flex whatsoever between the rod and the post. When swedging is not sufficient, I will make post bushings, or I will be making a new oversized rod for the stack and reaming the hinge tubes with a striaght shank reamer within .001" of the outside diameter of the new hinge rod. This is the difference between an Overhaul and a Mechanical Rebuild. The Mechanical Rebuild will last for decades. The horn will be in far better mechanical condition than when it left the factory. These are not Factory Specs.
Full Mechanical Rebuilds are quite different from the other three categories and start at $3000.
Key fitting. Extensive key fitting is the biggest difference between Full Mechanical Rebuilds and all other repairs and it requires more time on the bench. If you have an old horn, try moving the keys back and forth laterally. There will most likely be large gaps between the keys. There will also be a generous amount of slop between the hinge tube and the hinge rod, allowing for the key to wobble concentrically. And lastly, if you wiggle the key at the very end of the stack while looking closely at the hinge rod in the post, it will certainly have play inside the post. See the picture below to get an idea of that last sentence. You are looking at the rod inside the post on the lower stack of a '69 Mark VI. The post itself has been swedged, as have all the posts in that stack, and there is no flex whatsoever between the rod and the post. When swedging is not sufficient, I will make post bushings, or I will be making a new oversized rod for the stack and reaming the hinge tubes with a striaght shank reamer within .001" of the outside diameter of the new hinge rod. This is the difference between an Overhaul and a Mechanical Rebuild. The Mechanical Rebuild will last for decades. The horn will be in far better mechanical condition than when it left the factory. These are not Factory Specs.
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The key work on your horn should not move in any of the above described ways. It should be so tight that you can not make the keys move laterally, concentrically, or within the posts. Achieving this level of mechanical accuracy takes a lot of time. And that is the main reason Full Mechanical Rebuilds are so different from all other repairs.
Factory Specs are fine, but when there is play within posts, play between keys, and flex in your hinge tubes, the regular annual preventative maintenance is always more costly. I have seen Full Mechanical Rebuilds come back to the shop after three years out in the field that require only a $100 adjustment. That's about 1 hour of work for three years of playing. The picture to the right is of a solid hinge tube extension made for a Buescher Top Hat and Cane pivot style hinge tube. The extension eliminates both lateral and concentric play. |
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Hinge tube extensions like the one made for that Buescher Top Hat eliminate gaps in the key work that can not be closed with standard swedging procedures. The extensions also allow for completely facing the ends of all your hinge tubes so they meet each other flush. In addition to hinge tube extensions, new oversized hinge tubes might need to be fabricated if old ones are worn out, or mangled from years of improper swedging. In the picture at the right, an .1125" reamer is being used to open the posts so they can accept the nw .112" rod that will be made for the lower stack. All of this is to reduce the play in your key work to zero. There will be no lateral or concentric play in your key work and it will remain that way for decades.
Also, Keywork might need to be modified as in the case with the 1927 Tru Tone Soprano pictured here. The A Octave key clearly did not line up with the A octave pip. Lengthening the key arm centered the pad directly over the pip, ensuring proper coverage for years. This required silver soldering an extension in the key arm. |
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Of course, putting a more acute angle in the key arm, or using a thin piece of cork may have been faster, but the pip would have just barely been covered, resulting in frustrating intermittent playability issues and unnecessary trips to the shop.
In the case at the left, you see a mechanical problem that was left unattended for 88 years. This is exactly the kind of problem that leads people to say, "There's just something wrong with that horn. You should look into getting a different one." |
The horn should be so responsive to your expressive devices that their execution is immediate.
When Steve Wilson played this 1933 Selmer Cigar Cutter with a Full Mechanical Rebuild, he busted up with laughter and said, "Oh man! This is not fair!"
Jeff Clayton answered him, saying, "See? That's exactly why I'm not gonna play that horn."
And this is the response your horn should illicit from you
When Steve Wilson played this 1933 Selmer Cigar Cutter with a Full Mechanical Rebuild, he busted up with laughter and said, "Oh man! This is not fair!"
Jeff Clayton answered him, saying, "See? That's exactly why I'm not gonna play that horn."
And this is the response your horn should illicit from you