Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 2000/03

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tinkering
Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2000 20:10:16 -0500

At 07:27 PM 3/3/2000 EST, Chuck King wrote:
>Having said that, I have been surprised by the extent to which I have been
discouraged from working on my own instrument by people in music stores.
When I go in looking for, say, tenon cork, almost uniformly the salespeople
(after explaining that they can't sell me any, because all that stuff
belongs to their repairman) warn me about the complexity of work on
clarinets and the care which must be exercised in performing even basic
maintenance. They recommend leaving it to the pros.
>
I have two points to make:

1.) I have done most of my own instrument maintenance, including entire
clarinet and saxophone repads, since long before I ever started working for
a music store, as I do now as a school services rep which, among other
things, includes some on-the-spot repair work. So I agree that a careful,
mechanically-inclined person can perform a great deal of common everyday
maintenance, especially if that person has a repair manual to go by.

2.) Regarding the vast majority of individuals, the music store
salespeople are absolutely correct. You can hardly imagine the amount of
damage we see on a regular basis, caused by ham-handed amateurs. Dads are
without question the worst. "I can save us some money and unstick that
trumpet mouthpiece myself. Gimme my Vice-grips!" they say, just before
ripping the entire leadpipe off the horn. The store personnel were just
trying to save you from yourself. Assure them that you have done this
before. Better yet, try to see the repair man yourself, develop rapport
with him, maybe learn something from him. It will help if you allow him to
do some paid work on the horn. This will make it easier to get supplies.
At least it worked for me!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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