- How often should I get my instrument looked at?
We suggest at least once a year. Just like a car or any other machine, preventive maintenance is important in keeping it in top working order and repair bills to a minimum. Also, young players often do not know when an instrument's performance is degraded due to neglect and will spend months "fighting" with it. Our annual maintenance will wash out all those peanut butter sandwiches, realign the pads and keys and put the horn back in top playing shape. We've got an ultrasonic cleaner that we often use to gently dissolve mineral deposits and other hard to clean gunk. Finally, our trained staff "play tests" every instrument to make sure the instrument is performing as well as it should.
- The rings on my clarinet are loose, is this a problem?
This often happens on wood clarinets and it is important that this be corrected the right way. The rings give structural integrity to the thin wood at the joints. If they're loose, you will often have problems with cracks. Cracks are expensive to fix and take a great deal of time. Fixing loose rings is a simple correction, and much less costly. Also, loose rings may indicate that you need to pay closer attention to humidity issues regarding your instrument. We can advise you in this area.
- How old is my instrument?
Good question! Locate your instrument's serial number and then check out this website to help you find an answer:
Music Trader Serial Numbers
- How long will it take?
Our stock answer is 10 days to 2 weeks. Longer during the summer, shorter during the school year (except during school holidays when everyone brings their instrument in and thinks we should have extra time).
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