The part of the neck that changes when a pull down occurs is the area under the octave key saddle – right in the 90 degree curve of a tenor neck. A neck with a pull down will have gone from a round shape to an oval shape in that area in particular. This will affect how the sound wave travels through the neck tube as it now has to conform to the different inner shape.
My experience from restoring many pulled down saxophone necks and doing before & after play testing has shown me the following:
A pulled down neck will play more diffuse with a feeling of lost energy, whereas a restored (and thereby round neck tube) will gain focus and quickness in response with the sense that all your energy goes into tone production (= no lost energy).
A pull down on a neck will also change the inner volume in the part of the neck affected. This will negatively influence the intonation of the neck and thereby the saxophone.
So since a pull down issue can have quite an impact on sound, response and intonation, I generally recommend getting it repaired by a knowledgeable repair person.
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