woodwind repair & vintage instruments
08.09.10 | Landed in Raleigh
We're here! And loving it so far.
We've landed in Raleigh, gotten unloaded and unpacked and set up, gotten my wife a runabout car (an old Mercedes diesel wagon that I picked up for pennies on the pound) and are getting situated and doing the stuff that needs doing. I start work on Wednesday the 11th, and I should be starting to take repairs a little while after that.
Once I've got a little more time I'm going to be going through the website and cleaning it up for its new life as an information portal vs. a business site.
07.13.10 | Moving to Raleigh, NC!
So papers have been signed and everything is underway! We will be moving to Raleigh, NC, where I will be the band instrument repairman at Sam Ash Music on Capital Boulevard. I have a gigantic, private, quiet and clean shop all to myself, and I will be working Monday through Friday. I will be starting work in mid-August, and I will service all band instruments although I will remain a high-end saxophone specialist. All of the services that I previously provided will still be available, and many many more will be added as time goes on.
We move at the end of July, and although I have a few repairs to finish here in Brooklyn, for all intents and purposes we are already gone. To reach me regarding repairs, you can call Sam Ash in Raleigh at 919-855-9581 starting in mid-August, but I will probably not be ready to accept repairs until September, when I anticipate being done building the shop. And remember, if you can't make it in-person, I will be accepting mail-in repairs from all over the world as I always have done. And of course you can still call me for questions, advice, or just to talk music.
I am REALLY excited for this move, and I look forward to seeing you on the other side!
07.01.10 | Moving update
As of now I am completely booked until I leave, and we've figured out where in general we are going to move: North Carolina!
I will be set up in my new shop in North Carolina by this fall, and at that time I will update my contact info here on the website. I will then be accepting mail-in repairs as I always have done.
For local NYC repairs, here is a list of repairpeople here in the city that I personally know and trust:
Dave Santiago @ Sam Ash 48th St. (Manhattan) 212-398-6070 (general + flute specialist)
Shelly Tanabe @ Windplayer Services (Queens) 718-969-5869 (general + sax specialist)
Kristin Bertrand @ Buffet showroom 48th St. (Manhattan) 646-670-6565 (clarinet specialist)
Anne Pollack @ Yourfluteworks (Yonkers) 212-459-4451 (flute specialist)
Please note this list is only people I personally know and trust, and is not meant to imply that people left off this list don't do great work- just that I don't know them as well as the folks above.
Of course, if you are looking for that old timey Matt Stohrer feel, you'll need to go to the Post Office or come to North Carolina :-)
06.17.10 | Moving out of NYC!
My wife and I are finally going to pull the trigger on a dream we've talked about for years- moving to a more rural area and growing our own food and working towards sustainability in our lives. Yeah, we know its crazy.
What does this mean for the website, and for you? Well, the website will still be around, but I'm not sure what will happen to it just yet. It may stay in its current form or it may change, but the information and galleries presented here will stay available to the saxophone community one way or another.
For you, it means that I won't be repairing in NYC anymore. Depending on where I end up, I may be closer or farther to you, and I will still be doing instrument repair.
As for where we are going to end up, we aren't sure yet. We have a few potential spots but nothing has been decided.
We move out of NYC by the end of August, and I close shop at the end of July. As of right now, I am booked until I close.
Thanks for visiting and I'll see you on the other side of this big move!
02.10.10 | Stohrer Model One mouthpiece SOTW pass-around
Well, a big day in the lifetime of my mouthpiece has come. I'm going to be doing a "pass-around" on SOTW for two of my Model One prototypes, a 7 and an 8 tip. Read the post and sign up for the pass-around, I can use all the feedback I can get!
Click "launch related site" below and to the right to be taken to the thread on Saxontheweb.
Thanks for stopping by!
01.25.10 | Stohrer Model One tenor mouthpiece on its way
This spring looks to be a very busy one for Stohrer Woodwinds. I have plans to move to a larger space in a few months, and I continue to acquire more and more tools and supplies and expand my services. Due to popular demand, I will be starting to carry some accessories within the next few months- probably some reeds, also maybe a few straps or cases that I myself think are good quality products that represent a good value.
The tenor mouthpiece I have been working on for close to two years now is coming closer to fruition. I hope to have two of them with me at the NAPBIRT conference I am speaking at on Feb. 6th at MusicMedic.com HQ. If you are coming to the conference I'd love to get your feedback.
Shortly after that I will be doing a pass-around on SOTW, and of course I will have some in my shop for playtesting and feedback.
Assuming I get a positive reaction over the next few months, I will continue forward with the project and I anticipate being done my packaging and having them ready for sale around June.
I will add a dedicated page on my website for my mouthpiece once I am ready to start accepting orders. In the meantime, here are a few tidbits:
- My goal with the design of this mouthpiece was for a easy-playing, even, fat, rich-sounding piece much like the Otto Links and Dukoffs of old.
- The mouthpiece itself is is a one-piece casting made of bronze.
- It is a large chamber piece with a long low baffle.
- The mouthpiece is going to be plated, probably Rhodium for its durability.
- Still working on what ligature to include. Eventually I hope to make my own, but for a while it will probably come with a Rico H-ligature. Any ligature that fits a metal Otto Link ALTO (yes I said alto) piece will fit this piece.
- The picture on the front end of my site is actually my first step in learning about mouthpiece design. That was a mouthpiece that I took apart to learn about the internals. The background is simply my soldering board.
- The most complicated tool I used in the production of this mouthpiece was my 7x14 manual mini lathe, used during making the prototype from which the mold was made.
- Each mouthpiece is completely hand-finished. From molten metal to finished product, the only tools I use are files, sandpaper, and sometimes a Dremel.
- Cost of the mouthpiece will probably be $350- I will have a concrete number once I finalize my packaging and plating costs.
- I will start offering 7 and 8 facings, quickly adding facings 5-10 over the months following introduction.
- I will most likely be offering a service where I can do a facing on request- that is, if you have a mouthpiece you really like, you can send me that mouthpiece and I can measure and copy that facing on to your Stohrer mouthpiece.
- I've been prototyping and having some of my customers playtesting these for a couple years now.
- I already have plans for a Stohrer Model Two in the RIA/Berg style, and if all goes well, I will introduce that in 2011.
Anyways that's it for now! Thanks for stopping by the site and expect another update in late February or early March, most likely corresponding to a few weeks of shop closure while I hunker down and build myself a dedicated mouthpiece work area and make a few mouthpieces.
Oh, I've also changed a few and added a few sections under the "Repair" heading here on my website- a new section of payment types accepted, a new section on consignment sales, and a few typo corrections here and there.
Thanks as always for stopping by the site!
-Matt
12.20.09 | In Memorium: Pat Petty, 1985-2009
Some of you who visited me while I worked at Sam Ash may remember a friendly, funny, dark-haired young lad working away the day on string instruments. That was Patrick Petty, a talented cellist and natural born luthier. This month he passed away after a long battle with cancer, and the world is the worse for it.
Pat was a natural when it came to luthiery, but he also applied himself every day to learning more about his passion, and I remember times when every single day after work he would walk over to 54th st. to a well-known violin shop and do oddjobs and glean what information he could, until he won them over and began apprenticing after hours. His affable manner and continually more polished skills gained him friends and customers at a rapid pace, and he looked on track to claim the life of a high-end luthier that he wanted. What had started out with the us guys in the shop giving him a butter knife and telling him to use it to take the back off of a violin on his first day at work had become a full-fledged calling, and he was was well on his way when illness struck.
I worked with Pat for almost two years, and as time went on we hung out outside of work quite a bit. He introduced me to many people I now consider friends, and much music, books, and movies that I now consider essential. When he was ill, he spoke to me about his illness and his life with a wiseness well beyond his years, and instead of me comforting him, he ended up comforting me. He had a massive impact on my life and how I live it, and I remember him every day.
Pat, you will be sorely missed.
12.15.09 | 2009 Wrapup, holiday hours
2009 was quite a year for Stohrer Woodwinds as June of this year was when I went independent. Well, thanks to you guys I'm still here, and I have many improvements for my customers in mind for 2010. To start off, beginning in January, I will be offering full-service clarinet repair in addition to saxophone repair.
I have many more additions to the business in mind, and as 2010 progresses you can expect more used horns (both sax and clarinet),more vintage mouthpieces, a new and better location by July 2010. As I continue to upgrade Stohrer Woodwinds I will post updates here, so check every once in a while to see what I've been working on.
HOLIDAY HOURS:
-Stohrer Woodwinds will be closed from December 24th until January 3rd, reopening on the first Monday in January, the 4th.
Thanks for stopping by the site and I look forward to seeing you in 2010!
11.10.09 | November Update
Keeping busy this November, finally finishing a few big projects I've had for a while.
Yanagisawa has added my article to their homepage: http://www.yanagisawasax.co.jp/en/
I will be giving a clinic at the MusicMedic facility in North Caroline this coming February: http://www.napbirt.org/mc/community/eventdetails.do?eventId=236294&orgId=napbirt&recurringId=0
Thanks for stopping by!
10.06.09 | October Update
My repair studio is fairly complete for now, with the exception of the constantly growing tools/parts/supplies. I now have a 4'x6' Whisper Room for playtesting, a couch and coffee table full of saxophone-related reading materials,and I have installed a security camera system.
I just finished moving apartments last week as well, so considering that my repair shop is complete(ish)d we've just finished unpacking in our new apartment, I am finally feeling like the major realignment of my life that began with leaving Sam Ash in June has come to a conclusion. Now I can settle down and concentrate on what I love- saxophone repair! It's been a hard few months work, and I am looking forward to Fall in Brooklyn.
Thanks for stopping by.
08.15.09 | Up and running, what to expect for the Fall
My repair studio is up and running. I've got a complete repair shop now, although I am realizing that constantly improving the shop through new tool and supply acquisitions will be ongoing. I now have the ability to do heavy duty dentwork now that my vise and stand have arrived and I have installed them, and I have the special chemicals requisite for cleaning an instrument for a repad or overhaul.
I have also gotten a lathe and a drill press, and I will be adding more bench space and more supplies and parts in the coming weeks and months. I am also going to be carrying new accessories for sale soon- I am thinking of starting out with a few ligatures, neck straps, and some mouthpieces, possibly some cases. If you have suggestions about something you would like to see, please send me an email or give me a call.
07.11.09 | Repair Studio almost complete
So I have finally finished up the last repair I had through Sam Ash and I am now officially resigned and self-employed. The studio is almost functionally complete, with the last item I am waiting on being my Votaw vise stand. It should arrive around July 24th, so I am unable to major dentwork/body restoration until then, but I do have a small mandrel vise and I can push out minor dents and straighten necks and so forth.
I am currently booked for overhauls/repads/restorations through the end of the summer, but I schedule my work so that I am always available for play-condition (PC) work, and of course I am always available for sales and trades of horns and mouthpieces on my website.
I've got a couple horns in the pipeline for my website, including a Conn 6M transitional with a metro neck, and a Keilwerth ToneKing tenor in silver plate with an intact lucite keyguard. Look for them up on the website in the next few weeks.
06.29.09 | Repair studio coming along
Right now I've essentially got three jobs: finishing up the last few repairs that I had for Sam Ash, building my new repair shop, and starting up repairs at the new shop. I am hopeful that the first two jobs will wind down within about a week and a half. I aim to have my new repair studio (tiny place that it is, a "grand" opening just won't happen) fully equipped and set up by July 12th, give or take a few days due to shipping on tools and supplies I ordered. I will post an item in the news here when all is ready.
06.21.09 | I am going independent
I have begun transitioning from working for Sam Ash to my own repair business. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be moving my home-based repair shop to a studio in in Gowanus Brooklyn (off the R train) as I finish up my last few repairs at Sam Ash.
If you have a repair currently at Sam Ash under my care, it will be completed as estimated, and you should not notice any difference except if you call I most likely will not be there, as Sam Ash is graciously allowing me to finish up my last few repairs from my own shop. I will meet you at the repair shop at Sam Ash when you pick up your instrument for playtesting and adjustments if needed as per usual. If you need to reach me, please call the number listed on this website.
Warranties of instruments I have repaired will be seamless, and I will honor all warranties on repairs I have done, just as if I were working at Sam Ash.
I wish to say that Sam Ash has been a very good employer, and provided me with opportunities I never dreamed of having. Right up through this transition they are providing support and friendship and trust, and I will always speak highly of Sam Ash, particularly Jerry Ash, who has been a gentleman and a friend, and a man of a type sorely needed in today's music industry. If it were a perfect world, I would work at Sam Ash still, but in order to become the type of specialist that I would like to be, I must go out on my own.
I have no illusions about the difficulty of such an undertaking, particularly in these times of financial hardship, and I am starting small. If I have misjudged, I may end up back at Sam Ash! But I truly feel that there is room in the saxophonic world (and New York City) for another independent saxophone specialist, and I hope that those of you who have visited me in the past will continue to do so.
In the near future, I will be putting up a few mouthpieces and saxophones that I have been saving for when I went independent. I have plans to produce a tenor saxophone mouthpiece of my own, and I hope to offer a high-end repair service as well as used mouthpiece and horn sales. As time goes on, I hope to grow my business and make a positive contribution to the world of music, particularly that of the saxophone. I thank everyone who has supported me so far and I look forward to the future.
Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your support! Watch this section for updates over the next couple of weeks as I get settled in.
05.07.09 | Out of the country until May 22nd
I know, I know, we finally get the shop back up and running and I go running off. My excuse is that its business related! I will be going a factory that produces some of the Jean Baptiste student-line instruments for Sam Ash and spending some time helping them improve their (and thus our) product.
I am out of the country May 15th-22nd, but I am completely booked solid until the 15th, so I cannot accept any work until I return. Feel free to get in touch if you have questions, but note that while I am out of the country I may not be responding for a while, depending on the internet situation at my hotel.
Hopefully, factory willing, I will have some pictures to share upon my return.
04.28.09 | Shop (finally!) ready May 1st
Finally got the construction/wiring/plumbing we needed done. Shop should be up and running at 100% capacity by May 1st.
The new place is a MASSIVE upgrade from the old shop. Once we have settled in I'll take some photos (maybe even a movie, as my website host supports that now) and update the gallery.
The new number is 212-398-6084, ext. 225.
04.04.09 | Sam Ash has moved!
Sam Ash pro brass and winds has moved across the street to 166 W. 48th Street and are open for business at their new location. The repair shop has moved upstairs from the retail store, and the street address for the repair shop is 162 W. 48th street. You can reach the store at 212-398-6084, and if you would like to reach the repair shop directly, dial extension 225 when the automated greeting starts.
The move was because the old building (built in 1887) was condemned. This will probably come as no surprise to those of you that have been by the old shop! The back wall had an 18 inch buckle among other problems, so the building has already started to be demolished. I am happy to get out of the building because my bench was bolted to the back wall.
But, alas, everything has not calmed down just yet. Although the retail part of the store is open for business as usual, the shop is not quite there yet. Long story, but basically there may be some more reshuffling over the next couple months as Manny's closes for good and Rockefeller aligns itself as it wants, because Rockefeller owns most of the block. Sometime soon we should find out what the future holds and whether we are moving again or not, but until then, Sam Ash has decided not to invest in the electrical, plumbing, and ventilation work we need done in our new space to get the shop up and running at full capacity. For the time being, only PC work can be done- no major dents, no chemical cleaning- and thus no repads, no overhauls. If you have a few pads you need changed, now is the time as the wait is significantly shorter.
I will post here once we know more, but in the grand scheme of what is going on on 48th street we are definitely low men on the totem pole, so it could be another couple weeks, but hopefully for my sanity it will be sooner than that. Regardless of whether we stay in our current location or move to another space on the block, it will be a massive improvement from the old shop.
02.15.09 | Recession
Hopefully you still have a job, I know many people who have been laid off and unfortunately for all of us the situation looks like it will take a while to correct itself. Thankfully I still have a job, but for a while you might not see many new mouthpieces or horns up here while I direct my resources towards saving and continuing to build my tool collection at home in case that rainy day ever comes.
08.24.08 | Ligatures, mouthpieces, articles, oh my!
So it looks like I'll be carrying the Christoph Heftrig ligature on my website for a while- check out the gallery/for sale ---> ligatures and accessories for sale or trade. Also see his website here: http://heftrig.de/englisch/index.htm
These are great ligatures, built well of an ingenious design, and I'm proud to have them available here.
I've been working on getting more mouthpieces, and hopefully within the next few months my selection will broaden considerably. My goal is to have 20-30 mouthpieces of varied type by the end of the year. All of them are available to be playtested in the shop at Sam Ash.
I've also got a new article up entitled "My sax philosophy". Hopefully it will be food for thought.
Well, its a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the window is open, and I've got a Buescher 141 alto to finish up. Thanks for stopping by the site!
02.29.08 | Taking a break from website work? Must be a leap year!
And oh ho ho, it is.
Seriously though, I am taking a break for a couple of months from doing website work (which I do in my home shop, vs. Sam Ash in Manhattan where I work 40 hours a week doing customer repairs) to get my own personal collection in good working order. Currently, I own 7 horns that are my own personal horns and only ONE of them is fully overhauled by me, and I had to pull an all-nighter to fit it in my schedule! The rest are in various states of disrepair, "still playing on old pads", or in pieces.
My wife and I are going on vacation (the first real vacation in my adult life) to Japan in April, and I figure now is as good a time as any to go on a hiatus from website horns and get my own stuff in working order. So from now until May, there probably won't be too much going on in the way of new horns for sale on my website. I've cleared out my inventory, put the cash into some new tools and supplies, and I'm going to fix up my horns as well as concentrate on a few new skills that I hope to make into new available services within the next few years.
Mouthpieces will still be coming and going with the usual frequency during my horn hiatus.
Horns that I hope to overhaul:
1. Gold plated SML Rev. D. tenor. Full overhaul on this one, probably going to get some gold-plated resonators just because.
2. Gold plated Martin Handcraft soprano. The gold on this one is fading, although the horn is in remarkable physical condition. I think I may either get another layer of gold plating put on or possibly rose gold before overhauling. Hmmmm... the possibilities...
3. Keilwerth New King series II alto. Almost perfect physical shape, with one badly done key repair on the G that I will have to fix and maybe fabricate a part, replate, and then the horn will get overhauled.
4. Keilwerth King Modell 3 (New King I stencil) tenor in silver plate. Good physical condition but really tarnished. Will need an extensive cleaning, then an overhaul. It will match my main alto, which is a Keilwerth King Modell 3 in silver plate (but with some keywork mods I did) when its done.
I've got a few more waiting in the wings, including an Amati ToneKing (very close to a Keilwerth New King series I) alto in original lacquer, a Keilwerth ToneKing Solo alto in silver plate with full pearls like a Conn Virtuoso Deluxe, and a Buffet SA 18-20 tenor that I am not quite sure what to do with. Since each overhaul represents between 30-50 hours of labor, I will be happy if I can get those first four done before May.
I also want to spend some serious time practicing refacing. I hope to be able to offer refacing as a service in a year or two, so I've got to get a few hundred more hours under my belt between now and then.
12.25.07 | Happy Holidays! Year end update.
Happy holidays to everyone out there! Already almost 2008- I was just getting used to writing 2007 instead of 2006. Time flies when you are repairing vintage horns.
My most-used word this year would have to be BUSY. I'm fairly new at this game, and you folks have been kind enough to get me very busy very quickly! I am using the holidays to catch up on some website work (actually taking a break from the Couf right now- yeah, on Christmas day- and I should have it finished this week) so hopefully by early January I will have a few new items on the site.
My overhaul/repad work is now by appointment/schedule only. I have an apprentice at work who I am teaching repair, but all of the customer repair work is done by me only, so I have to schedule my work so that simple repairs (what we in the repair business call PC work- that is Play Condition work) can get done in a timely manner without a ridiculous wait just to replace a few pads. The way this has ended up is that I schedule my big work (repads and overhauls) and simple repairs can be done within a few days or so, depending on how many hours of labor are involved. If you are interested in getting your horn repadded or overhauled by me, definitely let me know so I can put you down on my calendar. I will call you about a week before I am ready for the horn, and you can come drop it off and I will get started, so you are only without your horn for about 1-2 weeks.
As always, estimates and consultations are free.
I've got some interesting horns coming soon- a Dolnet Royal Jazz alto in gold plate, and an SML Rev. D tenor in gold plate will be making appearances within a month or so.
Also, I will be attending the NAMM show in Anaheim in January, drop a line if you are going to be there also.
Most importantly, I wanted to thank all of you for stopping by my site and helping me earn a living by working on your horns. It is an honor each and every single time one of you trusts me with your instrument, and I truly appreciate working with you guys. I hope everyone has a good holiday and that 2008 is as good a year for you as 2007 was for me. Thank you again!
06.06.07 | Site update, rework of mouthpiece section
I have added an "articles" section with a few things to start out, so check it out and let me know what you think if you have any comments, questions, requests, etc.
I am consolidating my mouthpieces for sale section, and will most likely only put a few of the mouthpieces I own up here. The reason for this is that my selection is constantly changing, and its a lot of work keeping up with what I have and don't have. If you want something you don't see on the site, drop me a line and I might have it, or you can be first in line to know when I do. Another reason is that I seem to be getting more on ebay than I am asking for them here! I will try to keep the highlights of my collection on this site, vs. everything that comes through.
I will be concentrating for the next few weeks on getting some overhauls done for horns I have on the site.
04.19.07 | Shop closed April 19-24
My wife and I are taking a long weekend to Portland, OR and the shop will be closed until my return on Wednesday, April 25th. I will still have access to email and phone while I am gone.
I have a house-sitter, so if you mailed anything to me this past week, do not fear, it will be properly received.
If anyone has any recommendations of things to see and do while we are in Portland, drop me a line!
-Matt
03.30.07 | Keeping Busy
Almost April already! I am barely used to writing 2007 instead of 2006.
I'm keeping very busy. I've been getting in and turning around a lot of mouthpieces lately, and I only put a few of them on the site. I'll try to be better about that, but in the meantime if you see I don't have what you want, tell me to keep an eye out and you'll be the first to know when one comes by.
A few horns are in the works: a King Zephyr tenor, a Conn rose gold Chu alto, and a Martin Music Man tenor.
I've also recently started to really dig old Keilwerths. If you come across any in the 10xxx to 20xxx serial range, let me know!
Hope all is well with everyone, and thanks again for stopping by.
-Matt
12.23.06 | Happy Holidays, more stuff for sale
I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. My wife and I are going to travel to Maryland to see my parents and get some much needed out-of-the-city time.
I've been gathering more and more mouthpieces and accessories lately and have been slowly putting them up on the site. I created a new section just for accessories, so keep an eye on that for ligature, straps, cases, and other misc. stuff.
10.10.06 | I made the papers
Quite a bit of rewording in this article, but anyways...
click on the "launch related site" below right to open up a link to a newspaper article in the bermuda royal gazette.
09.28.06 | Done in Bermuda
Tomorrow is my last day working in Bermuda. While here, I managed to build a small repair shop and get 56 instruments back in to circulation, from tubas up to piccolos. Based on how many instruments of each kind I fixed, I calculated that the CHEAPEST possible cost of replacement for these instruments would have been $25,000. The actual replacement value for the particular instruments I repaired is more like $40,000. Probably more including the insane duties Bermudians have to pay. And I can estimate that shipping these instruments out (based upon what my boss here told me about the cost of shipping things to and from Bermuda) and paying for repairs on an instrument by instrument basis would have been somewhere between those two numbers, not to mention taken much longer.
Since the total cost of my compensation, housing, transportation, and tools still fell well below the lowest of those numbers, the Ministry of Ed. came out ahead, which makes me feel good.
The Bermuda newspaper came by the other day to interview me. Apparently I am interesting enough that I will be in a small newspaper article next week! I will post a link here when it is printed.
Glad to be heading home soon.
09.22.06 | One week left in Bermuda
Well, the month does grow long. I look forward to being back home where I know the lay of the land and have friends, and also to getting back to work. I am happy for the opportunity here, but I sorely miss home. I also miss doing repads and most especially overhauls and restorations of vintage horns. I am doing mostly "get 'er runnin' quickly" type work here and that is not what I am used to or what I like. But, I have gotten over 40 instruments back into playing condition here, including tubas, french horns, trombones, trumpets, and of course woodwinds. I CAN do a bit of brass work- in fact it is what I learned first! I just greatly prefer woodwind work, being a sax player first myself.
One more week and I'll be back! Added some pictures to the Bermuda section.
09.10.06 | End of week one in Bermuda, Hurricane approaching
Well today marks a week that I have been here. Got the shop up and running, and I have been working on instruments since yesterday. There is a mountain of them to sift through! Since I am only here a month, I will be going through them and only working on the ones that will be an efficient use of my time. In other words, I won't be spending 40 hours to restore the beautiful rolled tone holes Conn 12M bari I found in the pile, although I'd love to. Mostly I will be doing PC (Play Condition) work on instruments that need less of a time investment to get them going.
It is definitely a very interesting situation here. I am working for the Ministry of Education in an old (unused) high school, working out of an old chemistry classroom. I am the only person on the grounds, and there is still stuff written on the chalkboards and books on desks. Gets creepy at night, to be sure. It is a lot of fun though!
So I've learned a bit more about what piece of the puzzle I am since being down here. Apparently, this year is the first year that Bermuda will be teaching music daily in the classrooms. Up until now it has been all after school and club type deals. So in preperation for that, they have bought a lot of brand new instruments and music, and they are relying on me to fix as many of their old ones as I can so the classes can begin. It is very humbling to have the public school music program of an entire nation (ok- territory) depending on you! I am honored and I am very glad to be able to devote myself to something I hold so important as music in the schools.
Well tonight and tomorrow I will be holed up here (I am staying at a guest house) waiting for the hurricane to finish. I want to get back to work!
See the gallery for a couple of pictures of Bermuda. I will write more news and upload more images as the month progresses.
09.01.06 | Gone for September
The contract has been signed and plane tickets have been bought. It's official: I will be in Bermuda for the month of September repairing school-owned instruments for the Bermuda Ministry of Education. It will be a long while away from home and away from my wife, but I really respect the school system in Bermuda for spending the time, energy, and money on music in the schools, and I want to support that as best I can. I will definitely be taking my camera and my laptop and posting a few pictures here. I will still be able to be reached by email, but my phone will be turned off for the month.
As far as horns and mouthpieces on the site, don't expect to see anything new for a little while. I hope to have the Martin Magna low A bari done by the new year, and the Dolnet tenor should be done by Thanksgiving. Once those are completed, more mouthpieces should be coming on line.
If you wish to purchase one of the mouthpieces while I am away, you may still do so, and my wife will handle the shipping. If you wish to purchase one of the horns, you may reserve it but you will have to wait until I get back for me to ship it.
07.24.06 | Repair in... Bermuda?
I have been in contact with the Bermuda Ministry of Schools for a while now, and it looks pretty solid that I will be going there for the month of September to build a repair shop for the school system there. In four short weeks, I will have to build a shop, repair as many instruments as possible, AND try and teach a music teacher some basic, basic repair. I am excited about the opportunity, and I commend the Bermuda Ministry of Schools for putting so much time, energy, and money (tools are not cheap!) into their music program. Details are still being ironed out.
06.28.06 | Stuff added to for sale section
Still working on the site a bit, and added some mouthpieces I have lying around. More will slowly be brought online. In a few months I should be finished the Martin Magna Low A bari I have been overhauling for the site (personal stuff takes a back seat to customers). Have a ton of work right now, so I will be working more on repairs for the next little while than getting mouthpieces and horns up on the site.
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