How to Assemble a Saxophone

Playing a saxophone hinges on assembling the instrument properly. While it may appear a difficult undertaking, it's quite easy. Just lay out all of the pieces of your saxophone including the body, neck, mouthpiece, ligature, reed and neck strap and follow these steps. You'll have your saxophone assembled in no time

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saxophone
• Cork grease
• Reed

Assemble the Mouthpiece

1. Loosen the screws on the ligature and place it around the mouth piece so it conforms to the proper shape.

2. Put the moistened reed between the mouthpiece and the ligature. Be sure the flat side of the reed is down and the thin part of the reed is pointing towards the tip of the mouthpiece.

3. Adjust the reed so it is flush with the mouthpiece tip.

4. Tighten the ligature until the reed is snug. Do not over tighten.

Assemble the Body

5. Apply a coating of cork grease to the cork on the saxophone neck. Gently push the mouthpiece onto the neck until most of the cork is hidden

6. Loosen the screw at the top of the saxophone body where the neck is to be attached.

7. Attach the assembled neck and mouthpiece into the body of the saxophone. Use a small amount of cork grease as needed.

8. Retighten the screw so that the neck is held in place. Do not overtighten the screw.

Adjust to Play

9. Place the neck strap around your neck.

10. Connect the hook of the neck strap to the neck strap ring on the saxophone body.

11. Adjust the neck strap so that it holds the saxophone at a comfortable height for playing.

12. Check to see if the angle of the neck is appropriate for play. Loosen the screw, turn the neck and retighten the screw to make any adjustments.

13. Make sure that the orientation of the mouthpiece is appropriate for play. Gently turn the mouthpiece until the correct orientation is achieved, if needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Use caution not to over tighten any of the screws when you assemble your saxophone.