High F and F# problems on my keilwerth!!!!

[Saxmansam]

I bought a new Nickle Silver SX90r a few months ago. Everything on the horn sounds beautiful and has great response, except for the the palm keys.

High E flat and to an even greater extent F and F# are very difficult to play. Most of the time when i try to play them, they don't come out. Instead the note that come's out is as if I DON'T have the octave key pressed down.

When they do come out (which requires me to tighten up my embouchure and close my mouth cavity quiet a bit) they start breaking, if held.

I have another alto (student line yamaha) and these notes are very easy to play. I even let my teacher play my sax, and he had similar problems as me. So i don't think it's the player.

My teacher said i might have some leaky pads, so i took it to a repair guy. He said all the pads were sealing fine.

I am not sure what is going on, these notes should not be this hard to play. I have 2 mouthpieces (S-90 C star, and keilwerth stock mouthpiece) and they both have the same problem.

maybe the tone holes are mis-aligned, im not sure. Can someone tell me what the problem i am experiencing is. and more importantly, is it fixable?

:(

[Morry]

I, too, find the palm keys a bit harder to voice than on other horns, but the tradeoff is that the sound is much bigger when you get the hang of it. You can have it checked for leaks, but I think it'll end up being just that the JK needs a full column of air for those notes to speak.

[Saxmansam]

Thanks, I'll keep practicing those, and use a more air.

maybe this will help!

[singlereed]

My first 'good' saxophone was a JK alto and like you I found the palm key notes very hard to hit. I also had the same mouthpieces you have to start with. I got so frustrated, I sold the horn because like you, my Yamaha student sax had been easy tn play up there. More recently, with a lot more experience I have acquired another JK alto and whilst I am now able to play the palm key and altissimo notes, they are undoubtedly more difficult on this make of sax - if ever I am tiring I worry about those notes. So, I think it has to do with the design, strangely enough those notes are one of the real plus points of a JK tenor on which they seem to have a wonderful clarity.

Mouthpieces I like on the JK alto: Meyer 5M or 6M (also the Meyer New York Ltd model, and a Freddie Gregory New York Meyer type-piece), Vandoren A28 (good choice if you like the Selmer C*, but I find this plays much better and the intonation is good with the JK), Jody Jazz 5, Selmer Metal Classic, Yanagisawa metal 7. Thinking back, the Yani metal did help with those top notes on a JK alto.

[Kosma]

OK I don't know what's going on here, but I posted a reply to this thread last night and it's gone.

Anyway, I had the same problem on my sx90 tenor. Never had the same problem on any other horn. The solution was to open my mouth cavity more. Specifically, I moved my tongue down and back.
Let us know if this works on alto.

[Riff]

I've noticed on my JK tenor that the plam notes are somewhat difficult but in my case it's just a matter of making sure the octave key is depressed all the way. The octave key seems to have a lot more travel than my Mark VI tenor. It hasn't been a problem in the lower registers, only for high E, F & F#. I have to actually roll my thumb off the thumb rest to push the key all the way down. (this is also the case with my Series III alto)

Long tones has also helped with these notes as well as the altissimo.

[Morry]

That's true, there is quite a bit of travel in the octave keys on JK horns. I guess this is by design. The horn is so well engineered, it doesn't seem likely that this is an oversight.

[SAXISMYAXE]

Singlereed is correct, the VANDOREN A28 mouthpiece works far better on the Keilwerth saxes than the Selmer C* models. The Keilwerths need a mouth piece that is shorter with a round bore. This could very well be a major contributor to your palm key and altisimo problems. Meyer, Otto Link, and Barone New York and Hollywood model mouthpieces also work well on the Keilwerths- at least the Tenor.