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Some of the first pads I made. This guide is based on the method generously taught to me by Phil Noy over about 6 months starting in late 2024. We both believe that knowledge like this belongs to all of us, and that by having it out in the open, the saxophone benefits. Phil’s saxophone pad making method is elegant because you only need one tool: a laser cutter. With this tool you make your pad die holder, your pad dies, and cut all of your materials. It is a brilliant solution to the problem, and combined with the “Stohrer Sax Shop Companion” program I made using a chatbot, the process is both streamlined and accessible while producing a very high quality pad with a total shop footprint of about 3 feet by 3 feet. Startup costs- including the laser cutter, software, acrylic sheet for the dies, and a heap of leather, felt, and card stock- are about $2500 (as of 2025) to produce about $2500 in pads- though of course it takes time to make them. Once the initial investment is made, pads are thereafter quite cheap to make- around 25 cents to 3 dollars apiece depending on size, and you have total control over the end product and will always have pads you like regardless of backorders or government whimsy.

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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!

Couesnon Monopole II low A alto, original finish, just overhauled by me. The “other” low A alto, and keyed to high G. Plays fantastic, supremely even and in tune, and low Bb sounds like a regular low Bb (unlike Selmer low As, oftentimes). Low A also works with one key, and not at the expense of adding low A once low Bb is already engaged, which is the typical tradeoff with Selmers.

Note from Matt: Shortly after I posted the JJ Babbitt stuff, I got an email from Paul Coats (formerly of SaxRax, also Runyon, SOTW columnist, and generally a saxophone guy going way back) where he laid out an enormous volume of interesting information from his days at Runyon mouthpieces. Steve Goodson had linked him to my video, and Paul then graciously shared what is obviously only a small portion of his saxophone knowledge with me, and even more graciously has allowed me to reprint it here.

In the early 1920s, Conn made saxophone pads with a lead foil interior backing to the pad skin. Some of them were marked “Conn-Foil” on the pad, some were not. Some were white with or without a center stitch (no resonator), some were tan with no stitch and no resonator. When handling an original pads Conn saxophone from that era, it is a good idea to handle it carefully until you know for sure- that lead foil has often oxidized and turned to dust, and the pads themselves are often dry rotted. I wear a mask and handle them with gloves whenever I come across them, and continue to wear the mask and gloves until the pads are removed and safely disposed of and the saxophone has been thoroughly cleaned.

J.J. Babbitt in Elkhart Indiana is one of (the?) world’s oldest and largest mouthpiece makers, and they make Otto Link and Meyer mouthpieces, among many, many others. In July 2024, my family and I took a 3000+ mile road trip, and along the way we drove through Elkhart. Unexpectedly, thanks to Ryan Lillywhite at Conn-Selmer who saw my Facebook photo of my car and our home-built camper in front of the Selmer building, I was able to tour both Conn-Selmer and the J.J. Babbitt factory. The new owner of J.J. Babbitt, Steve Rorie, graciously took over an hour out of his day to show me around.

(full description coming soon, price includes overhaul/restoration) Price: $2800 Contact me to purchase or inquire about this horn.

SOLD Early SML alto with left hand bell keys, says “Le Strama” on the bell. Looks nearly exactly like the horn they used to make the early “Coleman Hawkins Special” alto- I say nearly exactly because I cannot be certain it is exactly the same, but I do not see any differences myself. These horns are somewhat challenging to work on, but they are some of the only saxophones I have encountered that can even be considered in the same league as a Conn New Wonder I or II for fatness of tone, while also having a certain “French” color to the sound. Super fun to play.

This is a gorgeous Conn New Wonder series II transitional alto saxophone in an extremely rare finish: burnished gold plate. The engraving is the art-deco style, heavily elaborated for the burnished finish. Only a few of these probably exist; I know of two of them and this is the only one I have overhauled myself. It turned out beautifully. It was a powerful player as you might expect from a Conn of this era, but it also had an incredibly cheerful and nimble alto sound that was unique in my experience with Conns. All it all, it is one of the best altos I have ever played- very hard to put down, and I was genuinely sad to see it go when I was done with it! What a fantastic horn.

My personal alto is a King Zephyr Special, and these horns have a special place in my heart. The craftsmanship is outstanding, the tone is unparalleled, and they are drop-dead gorgeous horns. They play much like a Super 20, but darker. I find the intonation to be particularly excellent, and the sort of zing to the tone that King aficianados seek out is present in abundance. Typically, King Zephyr Specials are in lacquer, rarely in silver, and only a very few of them were gold plated. I have been lucky enough that this is my second gold plated Zephyr Special to come through the shop, and I actually have a third one scheduled for later this year! I would not be surprised if there were less than a couple dozen of them ever made, but I don’t really have any idea.

I have finally overhauled my websites and combined them, and now all of my content lives here in a much simpler format. I prioritized ease of use, quick load times, and a simple design that was inspired by early internet. Still using Wordpress as a site builder, after a dalliance with a simpler but less user-friendly (as far as administration) format called Hugo. This website redesign is now pretty much complete as of this posting. There is even a new logo, adapted from the old Open Source Saxophone Project. Last thing to happen on the backend is migrating to a faster server in the next couple weeks. My website is so old it has been operating on actual hard drives vs. SSDs, and that will change.

The open source saxophone project ended up being mostly me doing it (although I had some fantastic help with the pivot screw stuff) and it seemed dumb and felt like extra work maintaining two different websites. So I have added everything that was once on the Open Source Saxophone Project to this website, under Sax Repair Info –> Articles and Info. They have their original publishing dates, so most of them are pretty far back (around 2015ish).