Thank you for purchasing a saxophone from Okubo Gakki.
Proper daily maintenance is essential to ensuring you enjoy your saxophone to the fullest. Even if you’re thinking, “I already know how to take care of it,” you might actually be doing it wrong!
Here, we’ve summarized the key points for daily maintenance that you should perform.
The text in red highlights points that are particularly prone to mistakes. Please be sure to review them before using your instrument!
《Before Playing the Saxophone》
* Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before handling the instrument. If there’s no sink nearby, use wet wipes or a handkerchief to thoroughly wipe away any sweat from your palms. Sweaty hands not only cause dirt to accumulate on the instrument and damage the plating, but they can also lead to key malfunctions.
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| Do not apply anything to the neck joint! ● Apply cork grease to the cork at the joint where the neck connects to the mouthpiece. A thin layer is sufficient. The ingredients differ from the slide grease used on brass instruments, so using it on the cork can damage it. |
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● Do not apply anything to the metal parts where the neck joins the body.
Before joining the parts, wipe the metal surfaces with a clean cloth. If you join them while lint or debris is still present, the parts may become scratched or get stuck.
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| *If you’re having trouble fitting the neck because it’s too tight, have you accidentally tightened the neck locking screw (wing nut) on the main body? Be sure to loosen the locking screw before joining the parts. (Keep the locking screw loosened whenever the neck is removed. You should only tighten the screw when the neck is attached.) |
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《After Playing the Saxophone》
● Be sure to thoroughly wipe off any grease from the cork on the neck with a tissue or similar material. Never use a swab to wipe it off (angry)!!
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| ● Use swabs that are the correct size—neck swabs for the neck, and soprano, alto, or tenor swabs for the body—otherwise the swab will get clogged. ● Before threading the swab, check the string to make sure there are no knots or tangles. ● Start threading from the bell end! For the neck, start from the end with the wider opening. |
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| ● Wash your swabs regularly. Running a dirty swab through the instrument is counterproductive!
*If you think, “It might be stuck?!”, don’t panic and try to pull it out by force—be sure to take it to a music store. Never try to force it out. |
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| ● After running the swab through, use cleaning paper to absorb any moisture that has settled on the tamp (the brown leather part that covers the tone holes). |
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| ● There are products on the market labeled [Powder Paper] that have powder on the cleaning paper, but please do not use them. Even if it temporarily reduces stickiness, the powder left on the pad will attract moisture and dirt, shortening the pad’s lifespan and causing the instrument’s tuning to go out of adjustment. |
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● Finally, wipe down the instrument with a soft cloth. Gently wipe away sweat and fingerprints. This will help the lacquer and plating last longer.
●When polishing with polish (an abrasive), use lacquer polish for lacquer-finished instruments and silver polish for silver-plated instruments.
● Never, ever use a “Pa○-Sai▲-er” (you know, that rustling, stick-shaped thing used to remove dust from cars…). You’ll get fined! Haha.
It traps moisture inside the instrument, keeping the interior constantly humid! Plus, after a few months, the “rustling” part starts to fray, leaving the instrument and case covered in lint. This can damage the pads.
I’ve also witnessed countless instances where people get too lazy to run a swab through the instrument and just leave this inside instead! (Eek!)
There’s absolutely nothing good about it! (I might get in trouble with the manufacturer for saying this… but I can’t lie (´∀｀；))
● Please place a desiccant packet (silica gel) inside the case to remove moisture. It’s best to store used swabs in a separate pocket on the outside of the case. If there isn’t one, please store them in a plastic bag or something similar.
● Attach the socket (the black plastic cap) to the neck joint of the instrument before storing it in the case. If you don’t attach the socket, it will put strain on the octave key. Please don’t lose it!
| ● Please leave the neck retaining screw loose. You should only tighten the screw when attaching the neck to the body. ● It goes without saying, but please do not close the case lid while there are objects on top of the instrument. This puts strain on the keys and can cause them to warp. |
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| ● You might think, “What?! No way!!” but this actually happens surprisingly often. |
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