B&S Medusa sticky pad???

[xuanvu]

Hi all,
I've just got my new B&S Medusa alto (sandblasted finish) and absolutely love it! The sound, the look, the feel, keyworks, etc..., all better than any other altos that I've tried before. But there is a problem with the Medusa's pad, especially with the high F# key. They're really sticky! I've tried Charlie's Crud Patch to remove the crud that makes pads stick, doesn't work... I've tried Charlie's Gig Dust, doesn't work! I don't have that problem with my Antigua sop, so I'm sure it's not my problem. Should I replace all the pads? Any other solutions???

Thank you very much,
Kenny.

[Morry]

Ah man, sorry to hear that. It seems the Germans excel at making sticky pads. I used a little lighter fluid on an index card on my SX90R. Seems to have fixed the problem.

[Gandalfe]

http://www.guitarsite.com/tuning.htm

[saxophrenic]

Xuanvu,

Here's a copy of a post I did about my Medusa pad sticking problem:

Posted: Sat May 01, 2004 10:10 am Post subject: New Spin on Sticky Pads

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:shock: :shock: Yeah, I know, I know, everyone is sick of this complaint, but...

I was too! Until it happened to me. When I played sax as a teenager (in the 60's) we never heard of pads sticking. We never cleaned or swabbed our saxes.

Now, this year I get a B & S Medusa and I have sticky keys all over the place! I have been hearing that people are having trouble with newer JK's too.

Gordon from NZ has opined that it is the leather finishing or waterproofing. I thought so too. Have talked to a couple of techs. The last guy, I think nailed it.

He showed me on my new Medusa that the pads are fat, fluffy, and kind of upholstered you might say. The seats are very deep. Great set up to be tolerant of leaks, but lousy for sticking. It doesn't look like any kind of lighter fluid, crud patches, or crisco is going to help this.

We have decided to just change out the worst offending pads - the bis, G#, and low C# pads. He is going to put in tighter, tauter, stiffer pads. I said, "wait, what will that do to the intonation?". He said something like, "'trust me, I am a professional'". We'll see. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Hoped someone might have more to say on this latest installment of "As the sax pads stick".



Actually, changing the worst pads worked out quite well. It plays very well now. BTW, though, after I got my old Conn 16M tweaked, it plays just a loud and full as the Medusa. The Medusa's ergonomics are better though. Both horns are fun. 8) 8)

What worked for me will probably work for you. Go see a good tech about changing the stickiest pads.

[xuanvu]

Thank you all, I'll bring to a local tech and see what he'll do about it.

[Kareeser]

http://www.guitarsite.com/tuning.htm

Tuning, Gandalfe? :shock:

[saxophrenic]

Xuanvu,
How about an update on the sticky pad problem with your B & S horn. What did you find out? :shock:

[xuanvu]

I haven't done anything yet :) The sticky problem only occur when I left the sax in the case for awhile, but after a lifted the keys up, then all of them works just fine. My solution for now is that when I got the sax out of the case, I press all the keys first, especially the palm keys, they're sticky, but then after that, they work really well... I haven't seen the tech guy yet since I have lots of gigs and this is my only alto.