1. [Saxophone Video]
Good evening everyone, my name is Dominic. The instrument that you see before today
is the final product of my senior project.
Saxophone restoration is the topic of my senior project. My research paper is all about the
parts of a saxophone and how they work together. Due to this, the correlation between my
research paper and my project is parallel. Through the process of researching and writing my
paper, I was able to better my knowledge of my senior project, as well as learning many different
principles that I am interested in. I learned through the course of my research that the saxophone
is much more complex than it seems. For instance, 24 different pads are used overall, while the
instrument can be split into nearly 50 different pieces.
As previously stated, my final product is my restored Conn New Wonder II (Chu Berry)
alto saxophone. I have played the saxophone for six and a half years and have always been
interested in the construction of the instrument; therefore, I chose to complete this product to see
if I could have a future in the saxophone business. During my process of restoring this vintage
saxophone, I had many steps that I had to complete to be successful. These included: First the
disassembly of the horn, this is one of the scariest parts of the restoration process for me. I had to
completely remove and disassemble all of the many parts on the saxophone; I would like to
demonstrate this for you now. Next comes the cleaning and polishing, for this I experienced my
first problem, chemical cleaning. Chemical cleaning is the process that removes corrosion, built
up grime, and in the worst case scenarios mold and mildew. It does this by submerging the
striped down horn in extremely harsh chemicals that remove all of the previously listed things.
However, after buying the saxophone, sax-gourmet pads, cork, and other assorted necessary
repair items I had exasperated my budget, this means I could not afford to have this

2. professionally done or to buy the professional cleaning agents with a bath enclosure. So, I
improvised using my own tub and a water and lavender bleach mixture I chemically cleaned the
sax. After this I used silver polish cloth to polish the silver on the sax. Next, the repading and
reassembly process, this was by far the most difficult and time consuming step. This involved
removing every old pad and gluing a brand new pad to every cup, this was extremely time
consuming simply because of the number of pads that had to be replaced. After every pad was
replaced the horn needed to be reassembled this was equally as time consuming, and at this stage
I dubbed the disassembled saxophone “the worst jigsaw puzzle ever.” Finally, checking for
leaks and readjusting pads is the last step, for this I used a piece of tape from an old cassette and
slid it between the tone hole and the depressed pad, and I would like to demonstrate this process
now.
Mr. Cheyne, the instrument repair teacher at Reinhardt, was my project facilitator. Being
relatively close and a very knowledgeable specialist in this area, I chose him to facilitate my
project; also, my band director, Mr. Robert Opitz, suggested that I choose Mr. Cheyne as my
facilitator. As my project facilitator, Dr. Cheyne assisted me in understanding the basics of
saxophone restoration.
I learned a lot on my journey through the senior project but, one of the really fantastic
things that I learned is that no matter how overwhelming a task can seem when you truly
dedicate your time and hard work to it, you can overcome anything. But, in the end, I will not be
pursuing this further, mostly because, while I do enjoy playing the saxophone and some parts of
the process were fun, most of the time the sax was just a hassle. I will be attending Georgia
Southern University in the fall majoring in biology, and I plan to go to medical school after
graduation from there. Thank you, are there any questions?