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Woodwind Pad impressions (brand discussion)

Up until now I've used MusicMedic 'Precision' pads almost exclusively for Saxophone and Clarinet projects and have sourced most of my tools and other materials from them. I have found that MM has always been very friendly to us in the DIY crowd. It has always had a nice website, takes paypal, and responds to overnight questions first thing in the morning. In Contrast, Ferrees didn't have an online ordering system until 2014??? and Kraus wants nothing to do with us.

I've been pleased with Music Medic, but I've been curious about other pads. Precision pads have a reputation for being quite hard and unaccommodating to less than flat tone hole rims. This sounds like an odd match for amateurs given that dealing with tone-hole issues is an advanced repair and demands a significant tool investment to do properly. Most of us just grabbed whatever cheap crap horns we can find and start with assembly/disassembly, cleaning/polishing, and adjusting and replacing pads. I would think softer pads would grant more early successes (even if "fluffing" is considered a band-aid).


So, I've gone and ordered a number of pads from Instrument Clinic that i'm going to use in an upcoming project.

: http://instrumentclinicusa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_245_470

.....because you can't have too many projects going at one time.
 
Up until now I've used MusicMedic 'Precision' pads almost exclusively for Saxophone and Clarinet projects and have sourced most of my tools and other materials from them. I have found that MM has always been very friendly to us in the DIY crowd. It has always had a nice website, takes paypal, and responds to overnight questions first thing in the morning. In Contrast, Ferrees didn't have an online ordering system until 2014??? and Kraus wants nothing to do with us.

I've been pleased with Music Medic, but I've been curious about other pads. Precision pads have a reputation for being quite hard and unaccommodating to less than flat tone hole rims. This sounds like an odd match for amateurs given that dealing with tone-hole issues is an advanced repair and demands a significant tool investment to do properly. Most of us just grabbed whatever cheap crap horns we can find and start with assembly/disassembly, cleaning/polishing, and adjusting and replacing pads. I would think softer pads would grant more early successes (even if "fluffing" is considered a band-aid).


So, I've gone and ordered a number of pads from Instrument Clinic that i'm going to use in an upcoming project.

: http://instrumentclinicusa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_245_470

.....because you can't have too many projects going at one time.
Music Medic now has a "soft feel" pad in both thicknesses. I applaud your foray into saxophone repair and restoration and encourage you to work to move up to tonehole leveling as soon as you can. There is a big difference in the quality you can achieve in terms of not only pad seating, but accurate regulation as well. Any flat plastic, metal, or glass disk with 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper glued to one side with contact cement can serve as a tonehole file.
 
Yep, I do like and I think prefer Precision Softfeel pads to the standard. However, I've heard they are still considered to be on the hard side and am just about some of the others.

I've heard a few decent things said about IC pads, and they are one of several I'd like to try out, the others being Prestini, Ferrees, Valentino, and Psoni/Music Center. I've also ordered a small selection of super-cheap pads off Ebay from China, for comparison.

So far with IC, I put an order in Saturday and two days have passed, my CC has been charged but the order is still listed as 'processing'. Music Medic would have shipped Monday, early afternoon and would arrive either today or tomorrow.
 
Update, the IC pads did arrive Yesterday, so not really a bad delivery time (on the fourth business day). The ebay cheapo pads branded "Luxiumei Deluxe" also arrived same day, their total delivery time from China was approximately two weeks.
 
Thanks for the encouragement and the advice, JBT. I am looking over leveling solutions now. The ready made files from JL and others are very costly, so I'll be looking at your suggestion of finding flat discs and find sandpaper. I'll probably need something for deburring as well...
 
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