SAXOPHONES

J&H Clean, Oil, & Adjust

The COA is a thorough cleaning, regulation/setup, and “oil change” for your instrument.

Much like your car engine, there is continual wear and tear on your instrument through normal use, so regular maintenance is required to keep your instrument running at full potential. We recommend a COA once or twice a year depending on how much you play. Each player has a different body chemistry and wear pattern on the instrument, so we will discuss your individual needs to help prolong pad life, optimal mechanics, and the highest level of play at all times.

The instrument is fully disassembled and gently cleaned.
The neck tenon and receiver are cleaned and the fit is adjusted as needed.
All keys, rods, and screws are cleaned, lubricated, and checked for proper function. Binding or excessively loose keys are addressed.
The springs are cleaned or replaced as needed, and spring tensions are set to customer preferences.
The tone holes are carefully cleaned to remove gunk and prevent pad “kiss” noise and stickiness.
All pads are cleaned, treated as needed, and are leveled and properly floated to ensure a complete seal and a positive feel. Excessively worn, dirty, or damaged pads are changed as needed.
- If a pad is changed, the tone hole is checked for flatness and leveled if needed.
Any noisy or unstable regulation materials (corks, felts) are changed as needed, and timing adjustments are optimized.
The key venting is carefully set and tested for proper response and intonation.
Intensive play testing and adjustments are made until the horn has “settled in”.

J&H Professional Optimization

The Optimization is a fundamental reworking of the structure and mechanism of your instrument to

bring a positive feel and stability for years to come.

People often contact us with the complaint that their instrument played great for a while, but it didn't last, or that certain notes on the horn always feel stuffy, or they just can't do X Y or Z. Sometimes people don't notice until they play a horn that just "plays like butter" and they wonder why their horn never feels like this. This is often because the mechanics are too sloppy to maintain a consistent adjustment, the neck is leaking, or a plethora of other issues that are commonly overlooked.

Our COA takes care of the standard things needed to make your instrument play well, but the Optimization takes it to the next level. This is where we take a deep dive into the key fitting, the tone holes get leveled, the neck is fit, and every detail is checked and corrected, but we use the pads and materials that are already in place. This isn't possible for every instrument due to pad and material age, so contact us to see if this will work for you. This option is excellent as a "New Horn Setup" if you want the foundation to be as good as it can be right out of the box.

The instrument is fully disassembled and gently cleaned.
Any dent work or body straightening is done as needed.
The bell is carefully aligned and re-soldered or glued if necessary. Tension is removed from the bell to body brace for improved resonance.
The neck tenon and receiver fit is assessed and corrected to ensure a complete and optimal seal.
All keys, rods, and screws are cleaned, lubricated, and checked for proper function. All keys and mechanisms are meticulously fit to remove binding, excess motion, and noise.
The springs are cleaned or replaced as needed and spring tensions are set to customer preferences.
The tone holes are cleaned, dressed, and leveled.
All pads are cleaned, treated as needed, and are leveled and properly floated to ensure a complete seal and a positive feel. Excessively worn, dirty, or damaged pads are changed as needed.
- If a pad is changed, the tone hole is checked for flatness and leveled if needed.
Any noisy or unstable regulation materials (corks, felts) are changed as needed, and timing adjustments are optimized.
The key venting is carefully set and tested for proper response and intonation.
Intensive play testing and adjustments are made until the horn has “settled in”.

J&H Repad

The Repad is a materials refresher for instruments with worn out pads and noisy or unstable corks and felts.

This is a solid option for horns that are structurally sound and need little to no mechanical work to achieve their playing goals. Student and school instruments, back up horns, outdoor gigging warhorses, and any others that don't require a precisely nuanced mechanism would all be good candidates for this repad.

To save our customer money, our sacrifice is in the last 5% of detail that can sometimes add an extra day or two to the entire job, but the player may not even notice. We still address everything required for a solid pad seal, quiet mechanism, and easy play. Not all saxes are good candidates for the Repad, and if that is the case we will discuss the next best choice for you.

The instrument is fully disassembled and gently cleaned.
The neck tenon and receiver are cleaned and the fit is adjusted as needed.
All keys, rods, and screws are cleaned, lubricated, and checked for proper function. Binding or excessively loose keys are addressed.
The springs are cleaned or replaced as needed and spring tensions are set to customer preferences.
The tone holes are cleaned, dressed, and leveled.
The pad cups are checked for flatness and corrected.
New pads and resonators of your choice are installed.
- We offer the highest quality metal and plastic resonators in various shapes and sizes to fit the sound and feel you are looking for, as well as a variety of pads to fit your preference.
All corks, felts, and other regulation materials are replaced, and timing adjustments are optimized.
The key venting is carefully set and tested for proper response and intonation.
Intensive play testing and adjustments are made until the horn has “settled in”.

J&H Overhaul

Our Overhaul is a complete mechanical correction and rebuild of the instrument from the ground up bringing a level of precision to your instrument that is not only better than new, but will last for decades.

To make your instrument truly "better than new" takes dedication and meticulous attention to detail. We strive to take your instrument to the pinnacle of stability and precision through experience, a high level of craftsmanship, and the latest tools and materials available.

The majority of professional "player's horns" will fall into this category when it is time to replace the pads. Not only do the pads and adjustment materials need replaced, professional players will find a great technical benefit in having the key work optimized, and a stability benefit from having the tone holes and pad cups leveled meticulously. Overhauls also include a bit more body/dent work and realignment than a standard repad.

The instrument is fully disassembled and gently cleaned.
All dents are removed from the instrument. Re-soldering is completed as needed. The body tube is straightened if necessary.
The bell is carefully aligned and re-soldered or glued if necessary. Tension is removed from the bell to body brace for improved resonance.
The neck tenon and receiver fit is assessed and corrected to ensure a complete and optimal seal.
All keys, rods, and screws are cleaned, lubricated, and checked for proper function. All keys and mechanisms are meticulously fit to remove binding, excess motion, and noise.
The springs are cleaned or replaced as needed and spring tensions are set to customer preferences.
The tone holes are cleaned, dressed, and leveled.
The pad cups are checked for flatness and corrected.
New pads and resonators of your choice are installed.
- We offer the highest quality metal and plastic resonators in various shapes and sizes to fit the sound and feel you are looking for, as well as a variety of pads to fit your preference.
All corks, felts, and other regulation materials are replaced, and timing adjustments are optimized.
The key venting is carefully set and tested for proper response and intonation.
Intensive play testing and adjustments are made until the horn has “settled in”.

J&H Restoration

The Restoration takes our Overhaul process and applies it to horns that are mechanically worn out or structurally compromised.

Instruments become "played out" in a few different ways. Some old instruments have rusted rods and screws, worn and sloppy keys, or even have an amp dropped on them. Instruments that are currently "unplayable" will most likely need a full Restoration. This type of job could include new rods being fabricated, all the springs and pearls being changed, excessive dent and body work, posts being sleeved, etc. These jobs can take twice as long as normal overhauls and are truly in a league of their own, so special care must be taken to get the horn into better than new condition.

The instrument is fully disassembled and gently cleaned.
- Extensive cleaning, polishing, spot plating or lacquering may be performed to restore a newer looking finish if desired.
All dents are removed from the instrument. Re-soldering is completed as needed. The body tube is straightened if necessary.
The bell and all joints are checked, carefully aligned and re-soldered or glued if necessary. Tension is removed from the bell to body brace for improved resonance.
The neck tenon and receiver fit is assessed and corrected to ensure a complete and optimal seal.
- Cracked or damaged receivers and tenons can be replaced if needed.
All keys, rods, and screws are cleaned, lubricated, and checked for proper function. All posts are aligned and the keys are meticulously fit to remove binding, excess motion, and noise.
- Worn or damaged rods and screws will be replaced where needed.
The springs are cleaned or replaced as needed and spring tensions are set to customer preferences.
- Upsizing, downsizing, or using a different type of spring is possible to change spring feel if desired.
The tone holes are cleaned, dressed, and leveled.
- Cracked, damaged, or unsoldered tone holes will be rebuilt and repaired as needed.
The pad cups are checked for flatness and corrected.
- Holes from finger wear will be repaired if desired or needed for pad stability.
New pads and resonators of your choice are installed.
- We offer the highest quality metal and plastic resonators in various shapes and sizes to fit the sound and feel you are looking for, as well as a variety of pads to fit your preference.
All corks, felts, and other regulation materials are replaced, and timing adjustments are optimized.
The key venting is carefully set and tested for proper response and intonation.
Intensive play testing and adjustments are made until the horn has “settled in”.

J&H Everything Else

Any minor repairs, custom modifications, or a la carte jobs will be discussed and quoted on a case by case basis. We enjoy new challenges and modifying or creating things that help the player get exactly the feel and sound they are chasing. Let us know if you have a new idea you want to turn into reality on your instrument!

Plugging of neck or mouthpiece pickups
Plugging of or modifications to tone holes
Custom thumb rests
Custom key risers, reshaping, or relocating of touch pieces
Spring optimization options
Dent work
Neck work including correcting pull down or fitting and lapping
Re-solder corrections and beautification
Pearl replacements
Insurance appraisals
Any other major or minor repair that you can dream up!

Pricing and Quotes

For us, every instrument is unique and individual. For this reason, we quote every job individually based on what we see. Call, text, or email us to discuss your instrument and we will be glad to help you make it the best it can be!