The Resonator Field Guide

What is actually known about saxophone pad resonators, from a repair tech at the bench since 2011. No purchase required to use any of it.

What a resonator is

A disc mounted in the middle of each pad. The pad's job is sealing; it is soft, and soft surfaces absorb sound energy. The resonator covers part of that soft surface with a hard one, which reflects energy back down the bore instead of soaking it up.

What the one blind test found

McGill's acoustics lab (Eveno and Scavone, 2014) put four identical altos in front of 13 players, blind. The horn with no resonators rated least bright and hardest to play.

The size conventions techs actually use

Resonator diameter is set as a fraction of the tone hole it sits over. Around 60 percent is the standard fit. Around 80 percent plays as oversized. The max-fit approach runs close to the full hole diameter; the trade calls these "Beasonators", after the late Ken Beason.

The commitment

Depending on where you live, an overhaul can cost from $800 to $2,200, and might last you well over a decade. That is why resonator comparisons on a single horn are rare.