Gallery
The customization, adaptations, and repairs shown here are more complex than the average repair that comes across the bench, but they’re illustrative of the level of detail I strive for on every instrument.
Left-Hand-Only Alto SAxophone
This Selmer Mark 6 was heavily modified for a player who doesn’t have fine motor control in his right hand. Using just the left hand, it has a full chromatic range from Low D to High F, 2 octaves and a minor third. Brian Russell of Russell Winds did much of the design, and we collaborated on the construction.
There are a couple videos about this instrument on the Keystone Music and Repair YouTube channel (opens in new window): Short Video Long Video
The D and Eb keys are controlled by these touchpieces, operated by the left thumb.
The lower end of the D and Eb mechanisms. The motion of the touchpieces is transferred to the keys by Minibal linkages, which are efficient, durable, and silent.
The High E key, normally operated by the crutch of the right hand, is now grouped with the palm keys and operated by the crutch of the left hand.
The pinky levers, which normally operate Low C#, B, and Bb, now operate F#, F, and E. The G# key remains unaltered. The positions and angles of the touchpieces have been significantly modified to make them more comfortable to operate.
Antique Alto HOrn Ferrule Rebuild
This Wurlitzer alto horn, c. 1876, had a badly cracked ferrule connection that was leaking air. The ferrule itself was tapered to match the taper of the tubing on either side, so manufacturing a replacement would have been extraordinarily complicated. The best option was to salvage the original part.
The ferrule had multiple cracks and was broken into two pieces. It was barely salvageable, but fortunately most of the parts were there, so they could be carefully put back together.
The metal around the cracks had corroded in some places, leaving large gaps. The fix for that was to braze in pieces of nickel-silver sheet to fill the gaps, then file away the excess.
Partway through the rebuild process, the excess has been removed and the cracks are mostly sealed. The missing section at the top still needs to have a piece brazed in and there’s a lot of polishing to be done to remove the file marks.
After polishing and reinstalling the part, the seam where the cracks were rejoined is barely discernible. This photo has been edited to make the seam more easily visible.
Flute Tone HOle REplacement
The original roll on the Lower G tone hole had been filed through on this flute, resulting in the roll becoming partially separated from the tone hole chimney. The damaged roll was removed and a new one made out of a sterling silver washer. Once it’s soldered in place, the new roll is structurally, aesthetically, and acoustically indistiguishable from the original.
The chimney and damaged roll are shown after the roll was removed, in preparation for the repair.
The sterling silver washer (center) is ready to be spun down in the lathe to make a new roll.
After spinning. The washer has been pressed down onto the brass mandrel to create a new roll.
The spun washer is removed from the mandrel, then soldered in place over the tone hole chimney before being trimmed and cleaned up.
After cleaning up and polishing, the repair is invisible and new roll is indistiguishable from the original.
Bass Clarinet Adaptive LEft Hand Keys
The player of this Yamaha bass clarinet lost the use of the 3rd and 4th fingers on his left hand. Multiple modifications were made to the left hand keys to allow the necessary mechanisms to be operated by either the second finger of the left hand, the right thumb, or the crutch of the right hand. The design of the new mechanisms and the inclusion of alternate fingerings allows the player to move smoothly between fingerings that might otherwise be awkward or cumbersome.
The hinged touchpieces for the second finger of the left hand allow the player to slide between notes without having to lift or reposition that finger. The alternate keys on the right side of the image are repurposed bassoon keys.
The right thumb operates the G# key and F/C, both of which would normally be operated by the left pinky. The G# touchpiece is connected to its pad by a bridge between the upper and lower joints that mounted on a rocker. Although this is a Yamaha instrument, a Buffet thumb rest was fitted because it has a large plate for the thumb, which makes it easier to slide over to the touchpieces.
Oboe crack and tone hole repair
A somewhat routine repair: this oboe had a large crack running through four tone holes in the upper joint. The crack was sealed, and the damaged tone holes were drilled out so they could be replaced with ABS inserts.
The crack after cleaning out and prepping for sealing. This process makes it look worse than it actually was when it came in, but provides a clean surface for gluing. After sealing, the crack will be virtually invisible.
After sealing the crack, the tone holes for the trill keys, B, and Bb are milled out so that inserts can be installed.
After sealing the crack and installing tone hole inserts, the upper joint is once again airtight, the crack is barely visible, and the instrument is ready for new pads.
Other Projects
Just a few smaller repairs.
This half-hole plate from a Howarth oboe d’amore had been damaged, so a new one was made from nickel stock and silver-plated.
Every repair technician needs some before/after pics of a dented flute on their website. It’s the law.
This octave key extension was fitted to a Loree oboe for a player who had difficulty reaching it. This was a school-owned instrument, so the extension had to be removable. It’s held in place by two screws underneath the touchpiece.
The middle and right-hand bearing plates in this image were made in the shop, to replace the missing original parts on this student-level horn that was otherwise in decent condition.