Tenor sax trouble with low D and E (other notes are fine)

Question

I recently bought a 1950's Conn Naked Lady sax and it works fine except the low D and E are, for lack of a better word, "bubbly", or unstable. It's not a leak because C and below sound fine. I've had it checked out and he found nothing wrong, so I assumed it was operator error. I mentioned it to a friend who asked what kind of mouthpiece I was using (it happens with both my metal and my hard rubber ones.) He said the problem was the shape of the instrument and suggested putting the plastic cap (or some other sort of foreign object) down the bell to create back pressure. That helped slightly, but not a lot. I've never had this problem on other saxes (Selmer Mk VI and Yamaha YTS-23), so I'm not sure what to do. What can I try?

EDIT: Here's what it sounds like: http://loami-windmill.com/Music/StackExchange-Bubbly%20Tenor%20Sax.mp3

Answer 1

I think you've just run into a "Cranky old Lady" model. Just as beginners have difficulty producing the lowest notes until they learn breath control, some saxes are less forgiving than others.
It is possible that the C-pad is too close to its hole, thus partially blocking airflow for notes above C. If so, then closing the C-pad to produce C would be fine.

Otherwise, I don't see any downside to putting things into the bell to modify the structure slightly. Try some soft cushions such as a Sax Mute (yes, they exist) to see how those work.

UPDATE

I talked with my brother, who's been a performing sax player for 40 years & a repairman for 30. He says this is a fantastic horn, and there should be no problem with those notes. In his words, "find a better repairman," as there is almost certainly a pad leak.