Bundy II "swellings"

clarnibass

clarnibass

First the really unimportant background, you can skip this part...
I now have the first Bundy II for an actual overhaul. I've repaired many, but have never done a full repad/overhaul on one of these. It was never worth it. The situation here is that the owner (a young girl) really likes it. They can't afford a better saxophone right now or any time soon, which would cost more than the overhaul (prices here are much higher for student saxophones). I actually recommended to get a less extensive repair and save for a better saxophone, for a better overall value, but they considered everything and chose the overhaul.

Tere is my question. This is probably the first time I completely disassembled a Bundy II (alto BTW). I first noticed a sort of swell above the low Bb tone hole (i.e. the last tone hole, I call them by the name of the key that is above them, not the note that comes out from them). It looked like either the side of the tone hole was bent, or the type of "swelling" that you can get from a rebound method that goes wrong...

I checked and the tone hole wall near this part was actually high and there weren't any dents in other areas of the tone hole, so this pretty much rules out a dent. There are no signs for any dent work in the area and definitely not something that would require the rebound method, which is already rare to need in this area. It looked like it came from the factory that way. I then looked around the saxophone and found several of these "swells" near sides of tone holes. I think there were at least six of those.

So, is this something from the manufacuring of this model? I don't think it really makes a difference. My only other guess is that a repairer found the side walls high and tapped them down. But the sides are still significantly high on most tone holes (but maybe better than before). Overall, tone holes don't seem more or less level near these "swells".

Anyone noticed this before with this model? I'm just curious if they were made in a way that caused it.
 
I have done play conditions on hundreds of Bundy II's since they were the workhorse of the store's rental program where I used to work. I don't recall ever noticing what you described, but then I never completely disassembled one and checked the all the toneholes at once.

Over time I grew fond of how the Bundy II's played. The ergonomics are awful, but they play with a good sound and very good intonation for a student sax. They are built like a tank, so they hold up well in the hands of careless students. We used to joke in the shop that if the world ever ends, there will only be cockroaches and Bundy II's left.

Be sure to put the high E key on before the upper stack. :) (I have forgotten to do that more times than I care to admit.)
 
Thanks John.

I haven't worked on hundreds, but this was also the first time I disassembled one completely. It's very possible I just didn't notice it before. I guess I could have missed it this time.

If it wasn't made this way then someone must have tapped down these high sides, which are still pretty high on almost all tone holes. This would make it one of the worst non-level tone holes I've seen, compared with other Bundy IIs which usually have non-level tone holes anyway.

It's also possibly the best playing bundy II I've played as far as tone. I still prefer many other student models much more, but I can understand why she likes it. This young student is actually very careful, like most players here of any age are.

Thanks re the high E key, I noticed it when I disassembled it!
 
Now that I'm doing this big repair on this Bundy II it turns out the design is even worse than I thought...
The best design is when keys are resistant to bending easily in normal use, but are not too difficult to bend for adjustment. This means that with some force they bend where they should when force is put in certain areas. The Bundy II is one of the worst instruments in this aspect. It is strong, yes, but it is extremely hard to adjust normally, because of its poor design (mainly key arms and linkage arms/bars).
In addition to the E key before upper stack, the side C and Bb levers also need to be put before both high E and the upper stack (reversing the rod would be better and only require the trill F# to be removed first). The front F linkage also went in just barely by loosening the high E key and just squeezing the rod next to it.
 
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