Once we really inspected Diane’s soprano, we found a lot of underlying problems and fundamental issues that need to be resolved. A past technician had fit the keys on the instrument while the body was bent, and we knew once the body was straightened, there were going to be some real keywork issues to resolve.
Many of the tone holes are far from round.
A front F had been added. That gap is larger than the thickness of a dime.
Another big issue was that the low Eb tone hole had been severely damaged, and the repair was done poorly, leaving a cracked tone hole with mounds of soft solder holding it together.
Below is the new Eb tone hole.
The pull-down damage to the neck was another obstacle. Once the damage was fixed, a neck brace was added to protect the neck.
