Repair Work

Minor repairs/Emergency repairs

If the repair required is very minor and I can do it in less than 30 minutes, then I will repair the musical instrument while you wait for my minimum charge of £12 (provided the instrument is brought in before 4.30pm). If the repair takes a little longer than 30 minutes I will charge an additional £1 for every 5 minutes.

If the repair required is minor but I think it will take longer than 30 minutes, then it can be left and collected later the same day (provided it was brought in early enough in the day) or collected the next working day.

Larger repairs

For larger repair jobs (including services, overhauls, and re-pads) the musical instrument can be left with me once it has been assessed or it can be booked in; if it is booked in then you take the instrument away after assessment and bring it back at an agreed date and time for me to work on. If the instrument requires a service and I have serviced it before then I probably won’t need to assess it – you can just phone me and book it in.

I have two different grades of repair work depending on whether the musical instrument is a student instrument or a graduate/professional/vintage instrument.

Student repairs

(usually for student Clarinets, Flutes, Piccolos, Saxophones, and old student Oboes)

There are three levels of student repair work which reflect the condition of the instrument and the work required: a student service – generally for student instruments that are less than 3 yrs old or I serviced less than 2 yrs ago; a student overhaul – generally for student instruments that are older or have gone longer without a service; and a student re-pad – generally for student instruments in a very poor condition.

Student repair work is intended to make a student woodwind instrument play adequately for players up to and including grade 8 (depending on the quality of the instrument). The instrument is completely stripped down; the pads, tone-holes, mechanism, and tenons and sockets are cleaned; any leaking pads are replaced or re-seated as necessary; any loose or missing corks are replaced; the mechanism is regulated (with any excessive play or binding being removed); the tenons are re-corked or tightened if necessary (and the head-cork on flutes and piccolos is replaced if required). For a guide to my repair charges in PDF format click here.

Custom repairs

(for suitable Clarinets, Flutes, Piccolos, Saxophones, Oboes, and Bassoons)

There are different levels of Custom repair work that reflect the condition of the instrument and the work required: a custom service – generally for graduate, professional or vintage instruments that are less than 2 yrs old or I serviced less than 2yrs ago; a custom overhaul – generally for graduate, professional or vintage instruments that are older or have gone longer without a service; and a custom re-pad – generally for graduate, professional or vintage instruments in a very poor condition.

Custom repair work is intended to make a graduate, professional, or vintage woodwind instrument play as well as possible. The instrument is completely stripped down and cleaned throughout. The mechanism of the instrument is made to operate as quietly as possible and to feel as balanced as possible; this is done by removing play or binding from the mechanism, balancing the spring action, and using felt instead of cork on all articulated keys and some specific key heels. All pads are made to seat as well as possible – this may involve re-aligning keys (particularly the ring keys on a Clarinet) on Flutes, for example, the pad seating of the open keys is tested by unhooking the springs and letting each key close to sound the note without any finger pressure. For a guide to my repair charges in PDF format click here.

Materials, Parts, and Spares

The costs of materials such as glues, cork, felt, plastic sleeving etc, are included in the estimate for the repairs. The parts (pads, head-corks, tenon corks, and springs) required for the repair are charged for separately and I give a separate estimate for this cost when assessing the instrument. Occasionally I have to replace spares – such as worn screws or rods, these are also charged for separately but I cannot estimate this cost in advance, however the cost is usually small.

Time required to do larger repairs

Large repair jobs, such as servicing, can only be collected the day after the work has been completed; this enables me to check the instrument first thing in the morning to see whether the mechanism is “sluggish” when it is cold. Also customers usually bring the instruments in the day before I am due to start work, this allows a bit of leeway if the customer is running late. Therefore when using my price guide the customer must add two days to the repair time estimated; thus an instrument requiring an estimated 2 days work will be away from the customer for 4 days (or longer if this coincides with the weekend). For a guide to my repair charges in PDF format click here.

Simple System flutes (Irish wooden flutes)

As well as the orchestral woodwinds I also repair simple system flutes. I particularly specialize in the modification of the tuning and intonation of simple system flutes used for traditional Irish music. The flute must be airtight before I can assess it and I often find I have to repair the instrument before I can assess it. Assessment of the tuning and intonation is a lengthy process so I charge for this and then report back to the customer before carrying out any modifications to the tuning and intonation (assuming they are possible).