 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: P.K.M.
Date: 1999-12-11 21:32
Has anyone ever had any experience with this repair shop? I'm on their waiting list to get my 1971 Buffet bass clarinet overhaul (hopefully they can remedy the faulty register) and was wondering if they were worth the wait.
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Author: Tobin Coleman
Date: 1999-12-12 08:29
I sent Thomas a Buffet-Evette Master Model in September for a complete overhaul. It is considered a high-level intermediate horn, mine is pretty close to my R-13, sometimes I think it's just as good.
At the time, Thomas was a bit overwhelmed with work and it took a few weeks longer than expected. However, he explained on his Web site that things were running a little behind, so the extra wait didn't come as a surprise. He posts the progress of your instrument if it's in there for major work and you can check on it daily. And he answered all my e-mail messages promptly.
I know your real question is about the quality of his work. I'm a little handicapped in answering that because I had bought the Buffet-Evette knowing it was not in playing condition. It had been stored, apparently for as long as 10 years, and pads were rotted and it looked like it had never been swabbed out and had accumulated some gummy deposits. It also clearly had hardly been used which is why I bought it. A possible diamond in the rough for the $300 I spent on it. So I had never played the horn before I sent it to him.
I did a little research on techs and took a chance and decided to send it to Thomas for the much-needed overhaul, even though I'd never had any contact with him before. His prices are much less than I have to pay here in the New York metro area. And his references seemed good.
When I got it back the clarinet played superbly, and it was obvious that he did a complete and thorough job. I had measured some of the key clearances before I sent it along, just out of curiosity to compare it to my R-13 as they have the exact same keys and tone hole cuts. (Of course each instrument will need different adjustments) I never discussed this particular item with him, but his overhauls are supposed to include intonation adjustments and he certainly made them. The horn plays in tune up and down and I couldn't be happier. Everything else, from completely cleaning the bore and tone holes to oiling the bore and realinging the keys also was completed as advertised. Spring tensions were also adjusted to be more uniform.
The shipping and everything also went smoothly, and of course he has a generous gaurantee on overhauls, I think it's two years. I would certainly recommend his work.
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Author: P.K.M.
Date: 1999-12-12 11:27
I wonder if he'd also work on my Pedler bass clarinet. At first I'd say no because he advertises work on professional instruments, but then I noticed in his repair log that over the summer he overhauled a Bettoney soprano for someone. Cundy-Bettoney and Pedler always seemed to be on the same level of quality as each other.
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