Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your French Horn.
Two weeks ago, three of our technicians were invited out to Yamaha, in California for some specialized technical training. Tim Roethler, Spencer Guyer and Brad Rubin were attending. Which then brings up the issue of technician training in general.
We can’t stress this topic enough. There are many problems with rotary valves. Maintaining them requires skills in tying knots, gentle tapping with special hammers, not to mention all those little screws and bumpers. Then after they are completely apart, they must be cleaned off all the dirt and debris on the valves and inside the casings. Lubricating and returning them to their proper casing and reassembling are the next hurdles. This first picture here shows valves from an instrument that the valves were barely working on. You can see the oxidation and staining on the valves from lack of lubrication turning them almost black. Prolonged lack of lubrication along with dirt and debris caused this build up inside the casings and prevented the rotors from turning smoothly. Sometimes it is so bad we have to forcibly, but gently, drive the valves out of the casings. We then have to clean the valves and the body of the instrument in our ultrasonic cleaner to get them back to new condition. In the second picture you can see the valves after they have been cleaned just before they are re-installed in the instrument. Proper lubrication will keep your valves looking this
Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your trumpet.
It’s not too late, but time is running out. Contest Season is almost here! January through April is a really busy time of year for school music students. Many of the annual contests and festivals happen during this time of the year. These include: Solo & Ensemble Contest Jazz Band Festival Junior/Middle School Organizational Festivals High School Organizational Festivals Your performance level and the success of your organization depend on a properly playing instrument. If your instrument has not been looked over by a technician in the last 6 months you may be overdue. Send your instrument in for proper maintenance to help avoid small problems from turning into something larger at an inappropriate time. It could help you get to the next level during the upcoming contest season. If you’d like to send your instrument in for us to check, we have a step-by-step guide on how to do that right here. As always, please give us a call if you have any questions. 1-800-382-1099
While at first glance removing a stuck mouthpiece can look fairly simple, it can be anything but. The mouthpiece shank and the receiver both have specific tapers so the mouthpiece fits snug and doesn’t wiggle or leak air while playing. The mouthpiece may be stuck due to damage to the shank or the receiver. It might be dirty or it may have just been jammed on too tight. In any scenario the proper way to remove the stuck mouthpiece without damage is to use a mouthpiece puller. There are many different pullers available on the market but the one we use here is a Bobcat or Accent brand. You adjust the tool, with the screws, so that one side of the puller is pressing against the end of the receiver and the other side is pulling against the bottom of the mouthpiece cup.
Meet our new repair technician Benjamin Bruemmer Ben has been working as a repair technician since graduating from the Red Wing Technicial College Musical Instrument Repair program in 2013. Having graduated from high school in Nelson, Minnesota he attended Bob Jones University, in Greenville North Carolina, where he graduating with a BA in French Horn Performance. After graduation from Red Wing College he worked at a music store in Olathe, Kansas for three years. Now that he has joined our repair team here at Paige’s Music he is looking forward to advancing his repair career and playing French horn in one of our many community bands around Indianapolis. Welcome Ben!
Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your trombone.
Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your clarinet.
A sad but happy time for us in the shop this week. Scott Hayden, our lead brass technician, is retiring after 39 years of service here at Paige’s Music. When Scott joined me here in 1977 it was just the two of us doing all the repairs. Four shop remodeling’s and two moves later we now have a staff of 23 in the shop. Through all of the changes Scott has been instrumental in development, training, organizing and maintaining the level of repair we believe in, as well as one of the finest brass technicians I know. We wish him well in this new chapter of his life as he and his wife, Mary Lou, get to enjoy their grandkids and traveling at their leisure. ~ Tim Roethler You can learn more about Scott from his Staff Spotlight that we recorded back in February of this year (2016).
Sending an instrument into Paige’s Music for repair is a very easy process. Here’s what you need to do: 1. Call us at 1-800-382-1099 to let us know that your instrument needs service. We’ll arrange for a loaner to be sent to your school so your student isn’t without an instrument for class. TIP: You’ll need to keep your mouthpiece, bow, reeds, and cleaning items with you so that you’ll have them to use with the loaner until your instrument is returned to you. 2. Our District Manager will bring the loaner with him on his next visit to your school. He will also pick up your instrument and bring it back to the store for servicing. Most of the time your instrument will be returned to you the following week. TIP: Make sure you take your mouthpiece, bow, reeds, and cleaning supplies out of the loaner and put them back i your original case once your instrument has returned to your school.
Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your flute.
Daily care and maintenance of your instrument is very important to how well your instrument performs. Watch this quick video below for a few, quick tips on caring for your trumpet.
First we take the instrument completely apart. All the tuning slides are pulled and all the valves are removed and disassembled. Next, all the parts and the main body are immersed in one our four ultrasonic machines using different cleaning solutions and run through the process. After they come out of the ultrasonic cleaner, all the parts are rinsed thoroughly and inspected to make sure they have come clean. Next, the tuning slide tubes and valves are lightly scratch buffed to remove any oxidation that may still be on the pieces. After that, the springs, water key gaskets, valve stem washers, cap washers, bumpers are all replaced as needed. Finally, the instrument is reassembled with the proper lubricants and checked for proper airflow. Rotary valves are tied with new string and realigned. Any needed repair work is done outside this process. That’s a quick overview of the brass cleaning process. If you haven’t had your instrument in for awhile, please contact us or simply drop by the store!
In our last blog post we mentioned that now is a good time to get your instrument serviced. However with schools out and possibly no summer program going on it can be difficult to get your instrument in to the shop when you live a distance away. Here are a couple of tips for those of you this effects. Brass instruments – At the very least make sure you grease up the tuning slides and move them in and out a few times to spread the grease around. Keep the valves oiled and make sure you get the instrument out from time to time to move the valves and slides around. Clean your mouthpiece out! Woodwind instruments – On reed instruments make sure you take the reed off the mouthpiece and clean it out with some mild liquid detergent soap and lukewarm water (not hot!). On flutes you can also clean out the headjoint (not the main body) with some mild liquid detergent soap and lukewarm water (not hot!). Be careful to not move the head crown assembly or it will have to be reset. String instruments – Make sure and let the tension off on the bow to keep the
Has it been a while since your instrument was in for a check-up? If summer is a down time for you and your playing time, then you should send your instrument in for a check-up. We recommend two visits each year to help keep your instrument in proper playing condition and the summer is the perfect time. In fact, schools across the state will be sending in all kinds of school-owned instruments this summer to be cleaned, repaired, and refurbished so that they are ready to go for the next school year. The best way to get your horn serviced during the summer is to bring it to the store. Our District Managers are visiting some schools during the summer, but not all schools and not every week. It’s very sporadic. The safe thing to do is call us first to see if arrangements can be made to drop off a loaner and pick up your instrument. You can call us at 1-800-382-1099. Have a great rest of your summer and don’t forget to practice!
The case or bag your instrument comes in is just as important as the instrument itself. Without a proper fitting and functioning case your instrument is subject to getting bumped around and causing it not to play correctly. It is essential to keep your instrument in its case even when it is your own locker at school. It is vital to the health of your instrument to use when transporting it from home to school, or anywhere else for that matter. Some of the larger string instruments come with custom fitting bags rather than cases. This is mainly because cases for these are slightly cumbersome. The bags are designed to fit the instruments specifically and have proper handles for carrying and protect the finish from scratches. It is just as important to keep your case/bag in proper working as well as your instrument. We can usually replace latches-hinges-handles-straps-corners-wheels on most any case. Sometimes the inside of the case can become so worn and broken down that it no longer holds the instrument in place. When this happens the entire case needs to be replaced. All in all the case or bag is very important and needs to be kept in good shape
Yes, spring is finally here and along with it changes in temperature and humidity, which can cause changes in your instrument. Mostly woodwinds and strings. With woodwinds the actual wood bodies can swell causing keys to bind up and tenon joints to be too tight. (note: If the tenons are ever too tight no amount of cork grease will help. They must be re-fit in the shop) The pads on woodwinds can also swell and cause small leaks that affect the overall adjustments and performance of the instrument. This goes for stringed instruments as well. The stresses of extreme cold have eased but we still deal with temperature and humidity swings that affect the wood and sound of our instruments. We still need to be diligent in our efforts to provide good care. Leaving an instrument in a car is never a good idea. The sun will heat the car interior rapidly, possibly loosening glue joints and causing imprints to the finish. Rosin will soften and adhere to tops and ribs. Be watchful for open seams and cracks, raising bridge heights can raise and loose bow hair due to added humidity. These examples are more pronounced in summer, but now
Our craft. How do we learn? Around this time every year there is an international convention of repair Technicians that gathers together to discuss instrument repair. There are usually over 200 technicians in attendance from all over the world. This year we will be sending three of our own technicians. It is called the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Technicians or NAPBIRT. Instrument manufacturers will be there showing off their new designs. Tool manufactures and suppliers will be there showing their latest and greatest wares. There will be about 20 different training sessions on various repair techniques. All being taught by fellow repair technicians. In addition to this convention there are several mini-sessions throughout the year for specialized training that we also sometimes attend. We regularly send our Technicians to these events in order to keep them at the top of our craft so that we can better serve you, the customer. Always Learning!
We posted these tips once before on this blog, but they’re still relevant so we’re posting them again! “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. It is best to have your instrument serviced regularly in order to keep it in good playing condition. We recommend at least once a year but twice is better. Especially for woodwind instruments. With all their intricate key work and pads/corks that wear out from just regular use they need a little more TLC. The hole in the bottom of a brass instrument piston IS NOT for a screwdriver or a pencil! It is a vent hole and sticking anything in there is liable to damage the port in the piston and cause a more expensive repair. We pull stuck mouthpieces for FREE. However, we do charge to re-install mouthpipes. When in doubt…..let us do it. (Pictured above) When wiping off your flute or piccolo to keep it nice and shiny be careful to not rub the edges of the pads. The pads are covered with a thin membrane which tears very easily leading to an earlier than normal complete repadding. Bari saxes do not bounce! Not really a repair tip but
