Posts on Stohrer Music

Solid Silver Rampone & Cazzani Saxello

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Well here’s something you don’t see everyday. I have to admit, even though I am well aware of the mechanical challenges that often come with a Rampone saxophone, when they are put right they have a lovely tone and good gracious they are so beautiful. This particular instrument is solid silver, which I have not seen before. It was passing through the shop for a little tune-up, with someone previously having done a good deal of work to get it into good shape. It played very nicely, with a lovely warm vintage type tone.

Conn 30M rescue!

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A 1937 Conn 30M that arrived here in two two different boxes will leave in one! This tenor arrived to me as something I had purchased very cheaply on a bit of a lark. It had been disassembled since the ’80s, was probably refinished, and it was not completely certain that all the parts were there. I was hopeful that there would be enough there for me to make a saxophone, and upon opening the boxes and laying everything out, it was clear I had gotten lucky. All the major parts were there. There were many smaller things that were missing, and I did have to break the seal on several sacred secret and holy places in my parts collection- several Perm-Adjust adjustment feet, the special fat 26M/30M rollers that are NOT the same as 6M/10M (and even those are super hard to come by), the weird octave neck screws, tons of tiny 1-64 lock screws, a thumb pearl, pivot screws, a neck screw, a replacement neck tenon and receiver (compliments of Musical Fabrication/Matt Slauson).
And then dent work, and so much cleaning. I think I probably got a cubic inch of red rouge alone off of this thing, to say nothing of the regular grime. And these are challenging horns to work on when they are in excellent condition! This horn ended up being two full weeks of work, and then a bit more I lost track of.
All in all, I broke even. Which is somewhat of a miracle! And I got what I wanted- a horn that probably needed to get very lucky to get put back in circulation for the long-term, me being almost ready for the job at this point in my career, the luck to actually acquire it cheap enough that I could put the work it needed into it, and the right long-term customer to buy it who was willing and excited to let me do my thing. I love that I get to work on such special instruments- whether they are extremely rare or mint condition or collectible or have some sort of special heritage, or a workhorse like this one that found its way back to the sunlight. Time to make music again.

Some interesting Selmer Balanced Action engraving

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Engraving detail on the second Balanced Action alto ever made, and the first one sent to America, meaning it is the first “American Engraved” BA alto. Nice steamship, cool spider! I have not seen those before I don’t think. There are also a few other oddities about this horn that I will cover in detail once the overhaul is done.

Burnished Gold Plate 1931 Conn 6M with Norton Springs!

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

1931 Conn transitional 6M alto saxophone in original burnished gold plate finish, just overhauled by me. The art deco engraving is beautiful, and the CG CONN lettering is a rare style. This is the earliest example of the left-hand bell keys 6M I have ever seen, and shares some unique “features” with the first few hundred like this: a two piece inside neck tenon, odd alternate Eb mechanism on a long rod shared with the alternate G#.

Darts for Pad Backs!

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

No more worrying about bunched up skin on pad backs! Use the “darts” feature on the Stohrer Sax Shop Companion. Darts are customizable in shape, frequency, and at what sizes they are used.

I thought I would be using them mainly for smaller pads, but I’m not really seeing any downside to using them in larger pads.

Edit: I DO NOT WANT A PATENT stop talking about it darts are like a thousand year old idea the only thing that is new is that using a laser cutter means you can easily do it for pads

Free Strobe Tuner

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pssst, hey, you want a free 12 wheel chromatic strobe tuner??

Working on this for next major release of the Sax Shop Companion app. Got it working at 60fps+ and looking really good!

1928 Conn F-Mezzo

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Conn F Mezzo-soprano saxophone, 1928. Original silver plate, just overhauled by me.

This horn smokes. If you want to see it or play it, check out the GetASax booth at NASA later this week.

Flat pads

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pad set! I’m really enjoying learning about pads.

Buffet SDA baritone

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This Buffet Super DynAction baritone wears a rather owlish look, due to a unique upper turn layout.

Worn neck strap ring repair

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Worn neck strap ring repairs are fun when they go well! This was an otherwise excellent original condition Super 20 Silversonic, so a premium was placed on blending it in.

F-mezzo oddity!

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Took what I am nearly certain are original pads out of a Conn F-mezzo today for overhaul and the serial under the G# does not match the serial on the body! Felts and corks and everything were correct and matched the original setups I have seen on these in the past. I have done a weirdly high amount of F-mezzo overhauls, but I have never seen this before. Neither serial was on Peter Hurd’s “rare saxophone registry” but is now.

Just finished and up next

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Just finished and up next! 88k alto and 78k Mark VI tenor.

SML tenor with no maker's mark

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Doing a PC repair to this SML tenor and the maker’s mark is blank! This must have been on its way to be a stencil and never found a stenciler.

Straight tone holes, 21k serial puts it at 1970.

1968 Conn Product Manual

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

1968 Conn Product Manual, scanned in high resolution.

https://www.greenleafcollection.org/research-text/1968-conn-product-manual

1951 King Super 20 Silver Sonic

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

1951 King Super 20 “Silver Sonic” alto saxophone with full pearls, just overhauled by me. Original finish including lacquer over gold inlay engraving on solid silver bell, lacquer over solid silver neck. I did this one with my own handmade pads and flat metal resonators.

Another Super 20 alto

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Just finished up the overhaul on this excellent playing King Super 20 alto from 1953. This one has been refinished at some point in the past, which makes a lot of the work challenging- especially on a Super 20 since the key barrels are solid nickel! Swedging them is a good bit of exercise.

Super 20 puzzle keys

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Super 20 bell keys are just so weird. One of these days, I will reinstall the criss cross applesauce low C# and low B on some of the altos without having to think quite so hard. But not yet.

But wait, what kind of neck is that?

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pad set cutouts for a Super 20 alto. Felt, card, leather. Neck for scale

Martin Workhorse

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Almost done this old workhorse Martin tenor. I get to work on a lot of extremely good condition horns. But I also get to work on daily drivers, and horns that have seen a lot of use. They are both rewarding in different ways, but there’s something special about these horns with a few miles on them- sometimes, it’s like you can feel the gratitude. A lot of times when you’re working on stuff like this you’ve got something you’re about to do and it can go a lot of different ways on the spectrum between great to not great. The more variables, the more complex the issue, the less likely that great-on-the-first-try result is. But sometimes these horns give that to you every time. You look at something and think oh, this is going to be a journey. And you settle down to start that process and… you get it right on the first try! And you kind of look at the horn and it’s like yeah man, we’re working together on this one. I wanna play.

Tree sax

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I have an old HN White alto (56k serial) in silver hanging on a tree outside my Airstream workshop. I have noticed an uptick in the past few years of people looking to refurb (usually at home as a DIY project) these older HN White horns and I am only sometimes successful at resisting sending people this photo when they ask about them.

Padwork work

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Mark VI tenor I just overhauled wearing the pads I make. I am really loving these. I’ve made improving my padwork a major focus over the last 5 or so years and I think I am finally arriving at a place I like. Perhaps time to pick up the overhaul video series where I left off!

Original pads Mark VI

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Original pads, original condition American-assembled 1955 Mark VI tenor saxophone with high F# and original Tonex resonators. Look at that padwork. The horn still plays well!

Other projects- Nixie Clock!

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Finished up the Nixie clock build! I have been wanting to make one of these since 2010 or so. I Made the enclosure on the laser cutter that I use to make pads.

1957 Martin literature

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Booklet from a 1957 Martin “The Martin” tenor saxophone.

Neck fitting example

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What a little more than half a day of neck fitting a 10M can look like. The left most picture is after everything was cleaned and the initial expansion was done and the first lapping step was done and then the lapping compound cleaned away. You can see the (typical) low spots below and around the neck screw slot in the dull metal.

This is typically caused by overtightening of the neck screw, a problem that typically starts with a loose neck, possibly from a slight pulldown or just time or a bad fit from the factory. The top of the receiver gets tightened too much and ovals out and creates a bulge beneath the slot, and it gets worse over time. In the case of the 10M, I think sometimes this is also caused by the metal end plug tap tap tapping away at the receiver as the horn jostles in its case, and that receiver on the 10M is underbuilt already.

1941 Conn 10M

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This 1941 Conn 10M appears to be in decent shape!

Just overhauled by me with my self-made pads.

Flat pads

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

One of the things I’ve found that I really enjoy about my self-made saxophone pads is that they’re really, really flat. I think that that’s basically what happens when you have an even tension on the skin all around, and it isn’t too tight.

Getting an even tension on the skin is part of the handwork of making the pad, and while it is not difficult to do, it helps to be attentive and have an understanding of seating pads when you are making pads to do them well.

StroboConn journey

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

my intonation journey with the StroboConn is just starting but I can tell it will be of this type

Old documents from Indiana Library

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

some neat old photos at the Indiana Memory site of the Indiana Library. You can search C.G. Conn, Buescher. Martin unfortunately is too generic a name. https://digital.library.in.gov/Search/Results?lookfor=c.g.+conn

SML alto with "permagold" finish

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

SML alto with the “permagold” finish. Not actual gold but instead zinc chromate, and you don’t often see them looking this good!

But what is a StroboConn

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The StroboConn is a super high precision mechanical tuning device that was invented in the 1930s: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2286030A/en

The 12 wheels allow you to see very note at once, so you can see the relative strength and intonation of your harmonics at the same time as your fundamental note.

Production continued through World War 2, as it has industrial uses beyond tuning saxophones.

On that patent, you will see Allen Loomis as an assignee. He was heavily involved in the Conn Experimental Laboratory, and if you click his name you can see he has tons of really interesting saxophone patents.

StroboConn is alive!

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hell yeah got it working!

Neck fit (bad) example

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Whoever fit these necks before, I imagine it was like [FREE BIRD GUITAR SOLO FADES IN]

Projects projects projects

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

No, Neo. I’m telling you that when you’ve got enough unfinished projects in your workshop, you won’t need clamps.

Road Trip

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Drove far enough north it was hoodie weather! Home now, 3300 miles completed. Back out on the road in a few days to head to the beach! Then back to work in August.

Silver Plated King Zephyr Special

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Exceptionally rare original silver plated 1941 King Zephyr Special tenor saxophone, just overhauled by me with my own handmade pads. This was a basketcase, believe it or not! Severely bent and dented, rusted solid in most places, it has all new springs, mostly new rods, all new pearl rollers, a tricky but necessary double socket neck fit (tenon was dented too!) and a new lease on life. Most expensive overhaul I have done in about 10 years. Plays fantastic thank goodness! But these always do.

Replacement real pearl rollers

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

All new pearl rollers for this Zephyr Special, whose original rollers were rotted/cracked/discolored from extreme rust on the rods. These were purchased from windplus.net and lightly modified (drilled out a size or two, shortened to fit).

A bit of grumping

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I am convinced that the majority of useful knowledge is locked inside the heads of old people who just don’t want to deal with other people anymore. I really like to share stuff and (try to) help by spreading knowledge, but I am a delicate little butterfly when it comes to how much arguing online annoys me. I used to see videos on youtube and stuff with no commenting allowed and be somewhat annoyed because there can be a lot of useful info in the comments, but I am starting to get it. Those comments were probably heavily trimmed by someone who felt worse for the experience afterwards. I hope my space online remains small enough that I never attract any true trolls, because I am just not built for it and would likely just log off.

Some original factory miscellany

Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I was given these recently, and educated opinion seems to be that these are “validated master samples” used to spot check production parts. Buescher soprano G# key and C-soprano high E key.

A visit to Adolphe Sax's grave

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you, Mister Sax! Your invention has given me a life of passion and allows me to provide for my family.

Adolphe Sax’s final resting place in Montmartre. Offerings had been left of flowers, money, and reeds.

Another pup on a Buescher

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Detail of a fully engraved 1927 Buescher True Tone alto in the Greenleaf Collection at Interlochen Center for the Arts. This is like the fourth time I have seen a dog on a fancy Buescher!