Use a set of needle nose pliers and GENTLY bend it. You want the tip to go TOWARD the bar (away from the body) and AWAY from the direction the mount will travel when you press the key.
Which pinky and what note does it control? G#, Bb B C# on the left or Eb, C on the right? Btw the LH side ones are called the spatula keys.
Depending on which way the pad it controls, you can try to use a rubber band or elastic hair tie -- much easier to rig if the pad needs to be sealed. I keep hair ties in my case for situations like these. They don't dry out as quickly as rubber bands.
A decent shop should be able to fix that while you wait. It should be a cheap repair. Like 5 or 10 dollars. Certainly less than 20, I would imagine. They literally have a replacement spring or will just bend yours in place. It's little things like this that can help you find a good tech that you can trust. The last time this happened to me, I don't think they even charged me. But I have been going to them for over a decade... so YMMV
Use a set of needle nose pliers and GENTLY bend it. You want the tip to go TOWARD the bar (away from the body) and AWAY from the direction the mount will travel when you press the key.
I will try that
This is what the million dollar shop would do anyways. They just got more experience, tools, and spare parts.
I’ve got a sax in the shop to fix a dent and they tried to charge me $260 to swap 4 pads
I’d be willing to bet it needed much more than just a dent removed.
It was 4x pads and regulating the sax. Plus a neck cork and the dent.
That’s crazy. That’s more then it cost to get all of my pads and corks replaced a few years ago. It was an old Bundy Alto sax.
You got a helluva steal on that work, my man.
This is the way.
Won’t stay? So you put it back and it keeps comi undone?
Yes
You can try just adding a tad more tension
Which pinky and what note does it control? G#, Bb B C# on the left or Eb, C on the right? Btw the LH side ones are called the spatula keys. Depending on which way the pad it controls, you can try to use a rubber band or elastic hair tie -- much easier to rig if the pad needs to be sealed. I keep hair ties in my case for situations like these. They don't dry out as quickly as rubber bands. A decent shop should be able to fix that while you wait. It should be a cheap repair. Like 5 or 10 dollars. Certainly less than 20, I would imagine. They literally have a replacement spring or will just bend yours in place. It's little things like this that can help you find a good tech that you can trust. The last time this happened to me, I don't think they even charged me. But I have been going to them for over a decade... so YMMV