The Value of Repairers

The Value of Repairers

It is all too easy to forget the value and importance of a good musical instrument repairer to ones experience of their beloved instrument. Repairers, good ones, will usually have completed a multi-year training course to learn the skills that the rest of us can only guess at. These courses often have a final project of making an instrument, often a clarinet or perhaps a trumpet, completely by hand so that all the related skills of wood and metal turnings, tone hole drilling, key work construction, plating, soldering, padding, springing, mounting of key work and finishing are experienced 'from the inside out'.

Learning the proper techniques and use of tools for dent removal, key work straightening and silencing, pad seating and the balancing of springs and mechanisms, crack repair and reconstruction following major damage is a lifelong and continuing effort and one where experiences gained from handling hundreds of instruments is vital. An inquisitive repairer will pay attention to and learn from all of the situations which he or she has encountered and then draw upon these experiences to both inform, improve and make more efficient subsequent repairs.

It is not unusual in many music shops for a senior repairer to over see the work of more junior repair staff for a number of years before the apprentices are truly competent to take on unsupervised repair work for customers.

The result of all this training, on the job experience and supervision, is a highly skilled individual who should be able assess the genuine cause of poor instrument performance and have the skills to repair the problems identified and thereby return an instrument to a top condition - often 'better than new' - as instrument manufacturers are usually producing instruments under such time pressure that final finishing stages are rushed and such time consuming personal attention is not feasible.

In addition to all the time spent gaining knowledge and experience a repairer is providing a service that relies upon expensive tools, machinery and consumables (pads, corks, felts, screws etc.). A selection of woodwind pads of suitable sizes to handle most demands can cost thousands of pounds for each instrument. Brass dents tools and mandrels are very costly as well. Maintaining a workshop is a significant expense and of course, so are handling the inevitable questions of customers. Customers should be wary of 'cheap' repairs and my advice is to allow a repairer to do the job that they feel your instrument requires or deserves. This often ends up being the best way to ensure proper performance and ensure cost effectiveness. You should be encouraged to ask friends and colleagues or working professional for their recommendations for repairers. It is usually best advice to pay for good quality repairs and work to maintain the condition of your instrument afterwards.

A note to all players and teachers - 

  
All musicians are well advised to pay attention to the construction and function of their instruments and it does pay to learn some 'quick fix' skills for emergency situations. Teachers really should prepare themselves to be able to advise their pupils on the condition of their instruments and perhaps understand and execute simple key work regulation and explain proper handling, cleaning and lubrication as a part of the regular lesson process.

Even a little time spent understanding how instruments function is sure to prove very useful throughout a playing / teaching career and the knowledge gained is fascinating in itself - if for no reason than to better appreciate the further skills and resources provided by an actual repairer when a situation calls for their greater experience to solve more major problems or provide the more thorough servicing that will keep an instrument playing at its best.

------------------

The thoughts and comments above are the result of many years of learning from and reliance upon the skills of repairers for my own and my pupils instruments. I am grateful for the help and service that I have received as well as the inspiration that I have drawn from my encounters with some very talented and dedicated professional repairers. It has been my privilege to have worked alongside many such repairers including Daniel Bangham, Brian Dent and Timothy Taylor from Woodwind & Reed, Cambridge ( www.wwr.co.uk ) and others in the UK and USA to whom I am indebted.

Thomas Dryer-Beers