Klarinet Archive - Posting 000051.txt from 2004/04

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Brannen
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 12:39:20 -0400

Joe,

I had a horrible experience with the Brannens a few years back.

At the time I was investigating getting the Brannens to overhaul
my instrument, I used this list as a reference to find a repair
person. I was promptly told "none better" by so many on this
list when they were asked of the Brannens' work. When I called
to schedule a time to ship my instrument to them, I was told by
Mrs. Brannen I could *not* ship the instrument to them, as they
would not ship it back to the New York/New Jersey area.
Supposedly, there was a lost instrument while in transit from
their shop once before and they just frankly weren't going to be
bothered with the hassle of that possibility again.

So I bit the bullet. This was my only instrument at the time,
and I wasn't in the market for another one. I took a day off of
work (they refused to work on it over the weekend, so I lost a
day's pay to get the Friday slot - $300+,) flew to Chicago for
the repair ($200+,) got a hotel room and car to get around to
and from the airport and to their shop and the hotel, since I
couldn't get a flight when they couldn't give me a specific time
in the afternoon it would be done ($200+,) and it took from that
morning to late that afternoon to finish my instrument. Let's
not forget eating out, gas, and transit to and from the NYC
airports to my place.

When I arrived and got the instrument back, I noticed that the
job was not very good, and there were leaks. They made it clear
that it was late, insinuating that they just wanted me out of
their shop so they could go home. They had no interest in fixing
the leaks, even after I persisted about getting it done while I
was *there*. I was left with an instrument I had to take to
another repair shop to be "finished" as I still had two leaks to
be fixed and the register tube to be replaced, which were
supposed to be included in the $450 I paid. I was originally
told that I would get the register tube replaced during the
overhaul. The replacement for my pitted old register tube (which
I had specifically asked for to be replaced a month before when
I made the reservations with them for the repair date) wasn't in
stock, and if I wanted to come back in a week when the part was
in, they would do it "gratis." What a joke.

Granted, the pads were "better" than the worn, 13 year old
factory Buffet pads they replaced, but cutting them to the right
proportions and seating them correctly would have been a bonus,
I suppose. Maybe I was wrong to expect a professional model
clarinet to come back after an overhaul in a condition to play
without any major quirks.

Many of the cork pads had to be reseated, and the two leaks
(which I pointed out to Mr. Brannen when I was there, who
promptly put his mouthpiece on the instrument, honked on the
horn and said "Look...no leaks. It’s you") were noticed by the
local repair person I took my instrument to without me
mentioning the leaks at all. (I brought the instrument in to a
shop to find out about the replacement register tube when I was
back in NYC. The repairman found the rest of the leaks I had
experienced, including the two major leaks that were so bad you
could feel air coming out from under the keys without me telling
him there were any leaks to look for.) He thought from the badly
shaped pads that were not seated correctly, and the leaks that
were so easily recognizable, that whoever had done the repair
work was in training and not an accomplished repairperson of any
type. He replaced the two pads that were ill-shaped and fixed
the worst leaks. I called the Brannens back with the repairman's
findings, and they weren't interested in discussing it once
someone else had touched the instrument after their overhaul.

I have not said anything about this to the list in the last 4
years since I got the work done, but would mention it to people
privately who asked on the list about references. I have seen
other people go out on a limb to speak their mind of the
problems they had from the Brannen overhauls before, but were
met with many more people who had tons of great things to say
about their overhauls, and how long they lasted, blah blah blah.
If anything, it proves inconsistency to me about their work now,
regardless of who had a wonderful overhaul in the 70s and 80s by
them. I can't be silent about this now that the thread has come
back up. I was treated like a number, not a person, even though
the whole experience cost me $1200 for the overhaul with the
plane ticket, the car, the hotel, and the day off of work, in
addition to the $450 for the overhaul. They were flippant with
me about their shoddy work, telling me it was my playing, and
not the egregious leaks from the poor workmanship that were at
fault. And the worst part is, they didn't even do the specific
work I asked them for a month in advance of the repair date
(register tube replacement.)

I would never recommend them to anyone I knew, friend or
acquaintance, and that is my choice. For those on the list that
have a love affair with the Brannens’ work over the years, don't
blame me for my retelling of what happened in my experience. I
have waited 4 years to tell it, and stand by it wholeheartedly,
since it is MY experience with them. The fact that I wasn't one
of their "platinum clients" showed through. Maybe if you have
had great work and customer service from them, you *are* a
platinum client. Maybe you get all of your clarinets
Branennized. I was a dispensable client, as far as they were
concerned. I now have 7 clarinets, and take none of them to the
Brannens. 4 of my students have gotten AMAZING overhauls from
local people here in NYC that were on much older clarinets than
mine, and were spectacular when they came back. I have 3 really
competent repair persons I know of locally here in NYC (who, by
the way, are all more competent and CHEAPER than the Brannens -
say that 10 times fast...NYC is CHEAPER. You won't hear THAT
often.) I don't think I will have a need for a Chicago day trip
again for instrument repair, for me or my students. I guess I
shouldn't have been so disposable after all.

But I'm not bitter...

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - Computer Geek
New York City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--- Joseph H Bertram <opelican@-----.net> wrote:
> Brannon repaired my R-13 --- about 3 years ago.
>
> Both tenon corks broke off the clarinet after 3-4 months.
>
> Assumed they were using apprentices for minor work, but
> read in Clarinet magazine they have no employees.
>
> This is possibly a rare thing to happen from their shop, but
> did
> cause me to drive about 100 miles to correct the problem.
>
> Joe B
> Key Largo Fl

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