On the bench today - a rather tatty-looking Yamaha 62 alto. Got a few bars under its belt, and on at least its second set of pads. Time for its third.

Fun job on the bench today - the Superglue Weltklang bari. Poor old thing's held together with superglue...but has made it to almost ten years in this state before it all got a bit too much. Time for some proper solder!

@ellen_hawley @delightfulrepas Yep, the old prescriptive/proscriptive thang.

@Globoglobitos Thank you! Glad you liked it - and especially glad that one of my reviews helped you choose a horn!

@delightfulrepas Works for me, innit!

@CultureOfOne I offer 3 tiers - basic (get going), midrange (decent service), top tier (all the bells and whistles). Most folks choose the top tier. 'Underhauls' are popular - mechanical rebuilds, a few pads, no cosmetics.

@CultureOfOne There's virtually no coverage at all, on any of the pads. And they're fake pads. I never learn - instead of saying "I can make it good" I really ought to say "I'll have to start over, sorry".

@RachaelComposes Had a peek...just signed up. Will probably migrate over at some point - I get the feeling this place is dying on its arse.

@CultureOfOne Yes it is, in combination with raising the low points. There's still often a need to carry out some light dressing though.

@ADsaxist Aye, they have that...in spades!

Another day, another Yamaha. This one's just had £200's worth of work done to it. Yep. Leaks like a sieve. A broken sieve, at that. Played properly it craps out at A - with a gorilla-grip it won't go past low D. I've seen this guy's work before...and he ain't getting any better.

OK, it's not the neatest job I've ever done - but it worked, and it's at least tidy. After all these years...you never stop learning.

@sguminww There's no visible solder to scrape. It's almost as if the clamp has been spot welded at the rear...and that's all. Never seen anything like it. I've filled the joint with citric acid. That ought to clean thing up enough for me to be able to solder it back together.

Here's one of the first jobs to do - the crook clamp's solder has deteriorated, which means the clamp no longer snugs up the joint. It's a common problem on old Selmers but quite rare to see it on a Yamaha. But I guess it happens on all horns eventually.