Key Leaves is making an absolute killing by coming up with cleverly-designed products. In fact, they're all simple products- just developed from a completely different angle than we've thought about before. The newest addition to that is the Gap Cap, which is an end plug replacement with a few extra concepts thrown in there. I swear that every time they come out with a new product, I find something else I didn't know that I needed. Then again, this is what happens when you get a product designed by saxophone players for saxophone players.
Key Leaves Gap Cap on my tenor sax.
A saxophone maintenance gem
Key Leaves Gap Cap in my tenor sax.
It doesn't look like a typical end cap, does it? That's because it's not. This is a SUPER helpful product and I'll tell you why:
It acts as a traditional end cap. Meaning that it plugs up the end of the saxophone and protects the octave mechanism. That's what ever other end cap does- sure- but keep reading.
It helps vent air into the top of your horn to get the moisture out. Most end caps that you can buy have a closed end which actually traps condensation in there when you're done playing and the horn goes back in to the case. Why is this bad? It's keeping moisture on your pads, and especially on the pads on the top of your horn. You don't want a bad pad up there or a leak, because that will affect the entirety of the rest of your horn. This will help you dry the horn out better.
Key Leaves Gap Cap in my tenor sax.
The cap is adjustable so your horn fits better in its' case. This doesn't seem like a huge deal, but this is actually the biggest deal of all of my points. Most horns don't fit very well in after market cases. The best cases for your horns are usually the ones that are custom-fitted or molded to the horn, because it helps the horn to stop moving around inside the case. Horns gets easily damaged when they're allowed to move around inside the case. The Gap Cap relieves this when you adjust it to take out the extra space in the top of your case. Simply adjust the screw portion (on top) to fit properly so that the horn cannot move up and down in the case.
By design, the gap cap was made to fit every horn, but they're currently only making caps for Alto Saxophones, Tenor Saxophones, and C Melody Saxophones- which seems like an odd inclusion to me. The material that they use on the bottom of the gap cap is flexible, so it will fit in the top of every body tube with no real adjustment. A great design!
Looking to pick up a Gap Cap for yourself?
For the moment, you have to buy these directly from Key Leaves.
The Gap Cap is made to fit every horn by design. For the time being, they're only made for Alto, Tenor, and C Melody Saxophones.
Want my thoughts?
This came in the mail for me while I was on tour and I was hoping to take it on tour and test it. I haven't proven it tour-strong yet, BUT I have been testing it on my tenor saxophone that I keep at home and it's been doing well. I've played a bunch of gigs over the last month and a half that I've had this, and the Gap Cap has surely made a difference in how my horn fits in the case.
Although the concept of the airflow idea makes way too much sense to me, I don't know that I've spent enough time with it yet to verify that it works. However, I do have basically brand new pads on my recently-overhauled tenor saxophone and they're clean- so I could tell if any gunk/moisture had caused issues on the pads. So far, they're still clean.
So far, I'm really liking this piece of gear. I have some plans to buy a couple more of these for my tour saxophones for my 2020 travels.
Hear from a tech
One of our friends Tyler Hill is a woodwind repairman/technician and owner of Resilience Saxophones. He was kind enough to submit his thoughts for our video about Key Leaves, and additionally wrote an article on his website about Key Leaves and why he chooses to use them for himself and (soon!) for his customers.
Why Key Leaves?
Based in Seattle, WA, Key Leaves was founded by owner Rulon Brown, a professional saxophone player. Key Leaves has put great care into creating products that help keep life in your saxophone. Quoting from their website:
We care enough to:
- Design for durability & washability for years of use and re-use.
- Use sustainable or recyclable material in our products and packaging.
- Recycle our scrap silicone material. Ethical manufacturing is important to us and our scrap silicone is used to make industrial lubricants that other manufacturers need.
- Research new methods for simpler, cleaner, more effective products.
Key Leaves on Soprano Sax
I swear that every time they (Key Leaves) come out with a new product, I find something else I didn't know that I needed.
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