GapCap® Wins "2020 Product of the Year" from The Saxophonist Magazine

“Ingenious” GapCap® saxophone storage product wows critics and marks the second “Product of The Year” award for Key Leaves.

The Saxophonist Magazine choses GapCap® saxophone end cap as the “2020 Product of The Year.” The magazine previously gave the innovative device an “Outstanding Product” designation in a glowing first-look product review. This honor also marks the second “Product of The Year” award from the Magazine for a Key Leaves care product.

The GapCap® saxophone end cap from Key Leaves® is a radical rethink of sax end cap tradition. Rather than a rigid ill-fitting plug that traps moisture in the sax body to rot, the patent-pending GapCap design vents clean air, flexes to fit the body tube, screw adjusts to fill the case, and shock absorbs impact from case hits. 

"The GapCap is really ingenious!" said saxophonist and editor of The Saxophonist Magazine, Paul Haar, who tested the product with his team of product reviewers. "This thing is wonderful! Between the GapCap, Spit Sponge and of course the Key Leaves [sax key props], these are three inexpensive products that are going to extend the life of your saxophone."

"Here's what I love... all I have to do is touch the sides and it slides into the saxophone. If I need it longer I can thread it out or in thus tailoring the fit into the saxophone… if the horn should take a massive hit... the flex that this cap has is going to act like a shock absorber."

"This is gonna save a lot of people a lot of damage in a lot of cases. I have a really dear friend of mine who has an amazing collection of vintage saxophones and he wants to keep them in their original cases. Well those original cases were never very good for saxophones. And he has a lot of play and he doesn't want to take his Super Balanced Action, or his Balanced Action, or his Mark VI and have them jolting around in his case. He can get one of these GapCap[s] for each one of his horns, adjust them to the fit he wants, those horns are not going to be moving, they're locked in the case. This is really a mind blower and it is going to be such a useful tool for so many sax players!"

Key Leaves first introduced the GapCap product in the single color of emerald green anodized aluminum and now offers frosted silver and satin gold finishes.

CHALLENGING A HARMFUL TRADITION

For almost 175 years, saxophone players have followed an odd tradition of sticking end plugs into the top of the saxophone body tube after play, while other woodwind players do not plug their instruments shut. This tradition persists with sax players because they use the end plug to brace a fragile key from bending inside loose fitting cases. This good intention does protect the key but slowly causes other harm.

Traditional sax end plugs trap moisture inside the body of the sax leading to increased pad rot and costly repair. End plugs don’t always fit the sax well and can slide around or fall out. If an end plug fits your saxophone, it may not fit your case and that’s an even bigger problem. A sax that shifts around inside the case can become damaged with a body bend or worse.

To prevent damage from ill-fitting end plugs and wobbly sax cases, Key Leaves created GapCap® - the ultimate saxophone cap that flexes to fit the sax perfectly, screw adjusts to fit the case, shock absorbs impact, and vents air through the top and side for a cleaner saxophone and longer pad life.

• Flex wall spring fits the sax perfectly
• Shock absorber protects from impact
• Vented at top and side to air dry the sax and pads
• Expanding end cap to fit any sax case
• Octave key protection from a more secure hold in the case plus a bracing arm.

GapCap® is one of the latest innovations from Key Leaves, a music products company that has earned industry praise for providing powerful solutions to nagging problems including sticky instrument keys and messy spit. 

See other Awards for Key Leaves care products