The most recommended trombone techs

ttf_Orffbone · Post by **ttf_Orffbone** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:49 pm

While we're on the subject: any recommendations for exquisite and artful refinishing?

ttf_TNTBONE · Post by **ttf_TNTBONE** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:36 am

Anyone have re-lacquering done in the DC/Baltimore area?

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:15 am

I will have to go with Eric Edwards on this one.

He was Dennis Smith's repairman of choice, so that's how I found him. He's a fantastic man.

He is fair on prices, does phenomenal work AND he's close to home

I have also used Eric Swanson. Both Eric's are amazing at what they do. Either one would be a solid choice if you need work in the Dallas area.

ttf_bonearzt · Post by **ttf_bonearzt** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:26 am

Quote from: PosauneFreak on Apr 12, 2013, 08:15AMI will have to go with Eric Edwards on this one.
He was Dennis Smith's repairman of choice, so that's how I found him. He's a fantastic man.
He is fair on prices, does phenomenal work AND he's close to home

I have also used Eric Swanson. Both Eric's are amazing at what they do. Either one would be a solid choice if you need work in the Dallas area.

Thank you Sir!!

Eric

ttf_SilverBone · Post by **ttf_SilverBone** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:15 am

I need a new recommendation for a great tech in Portland, OR, since Randy Mueller left town. I'm happy with Benn Hanson in Seattle, but it's a long drive for simpler repairs.

ttf_Etshinn · Post by **ttf_Etshinn** » Sun May 12, 2013 11:09 pm

Quote from: connman93 on Feb 28, 2013, 08:27PMAnybody in Michigan or Northern Ohio or Indiana?

Chuck Ward who was mentioned earlier on here does great work. http://chuckwardbrass.com/. He's based in Chardon, which is just East of Cleveland.

Still trying looking for a North Florida/South Georgia tech if anybody has one.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:38 pm

I'd be interested in hearing anyone's thoughts on a North Florida tech/resto guy as well...

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:23 pm

Does anyone know of any good techs in Georgia, or the Atlanta metro area?

ttf_jbeckett · Post by **ttf_jbeckett** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:14 pm

Greg Tyson @ Music and Arts APex (Raleigh NC)
Chuck Ward in Ohio

ttf_JimArcher · Post by **ttf_JimArcher** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:23 pm

Quote from: SilverBone on Apr 13, 2013, 02:15AMI need a new recommendation for a great tech in Portland, OR, since Randy Mueller left town. I'm happy with Benn Hanson in Seattle, but it's a long drive for simpler repairs.

Tacoma: Ken at Highland Hill Music Center on 6th Ave. He's a magician with slides.

I'll also 2nd or 3rd the Slide Dr.

My 3 cents. (inflation)

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:58 pm

Quote from: BGuttman on Nov 21, 2012, 06:56AMThis is a moving target. I keep meeting great techs on this Forum and outside all the time.

Everybody has their favorites. Fortunately, they are scattered around this country (and Europe) so you should be able to find one within a couple of hours' drive.

My personal favorite (mainly because he's close) is Jim Becker at Osmun Brass. But he's not the best -- I don't think anybody can be the best just like you can't find the "best trombonist". Everyone has some aspects where they might be better than some others.

Jim works on my trumpets and I always get consistently excellent work from him. He just rebuilt the valves on my main trumpet and they're fabulous. He's also advising me and will probably end up doing the work
to help me with an ergonomic problem with my valve trombone.

If you're in New England (or can ship) I can't recommend Jim and the Osmun guys highly enough....

keith

ttf_Offbass · Post by **ttf_Offbass** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 8:17 am

Mentioned before, but I want to put in a strongly favorable vote for The Slide Doctor of Dawsonville, GA. They did a beautiful job on my 1946 F.E. Olds Super, dual bore fluted slide, and their shipping container arrangements are top notch.

ttf_slidemansailor · Post by **ttf_slidemansailor** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 6:43 pm

I'd ask about recommendations for Montana, but I suspect few even know where Montana is, let alone that there are bones in them thar hills.

I'm probably in the area of mail-order darn-near everything.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:14 pm

Does anyone know of a tech in or near Duval County, Fl who is good with slides and can do light custom work? I need some minor repairs done on mt slide and am interested in switching to the saturn water key.

ttf_JustinM · Post by **ttf_JustinM** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:19 pm

Quote from: Matt K on Nov 21, 2012, 07:11AMIt depends on what is being done to the horn too. For rotor stuff, I almost always use Ted Woehr in Pittsburgh, just as an example. But I've used at least 6 different techs for different things.

Ted does really good work. He has a reputation for giving free lectures with your repair work, though, so if you don't want to hear about how you're ruining your instrument, don't go there. You also need to keep in mind that he's a string player and has some misconceptions about what makes a brass instrument work well.

Still, if you have a specific job, he's a very good option.

ttf_Matt K · Post by **ttf_Matt K** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:25 pm

Quote from: JustinM on Sep 30, 2013, 01:19PMTed does really good work. He has a reputation for giving free lectures with your repair work, though, so if you don't want to hear about how you're ruining your instrument, don't go there. You also need to keep in mind that he's a string player and has some misconceptions about what makes a brass instrument work well.

Still, if you have a specific job, he's a very good option.

Hahah, he sure does give you an ear full. I've been using a guy down in Morgantown now, Albert Houde. He's with Baltimore Brass, but his wife is the new Viola professor at WVU. He does impeccable work, absolutely totally meticulous about his work.

ttf_Paul Martin · Post by **ttf_Paul Martin** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:31 pm

I just used Dana Hofer in the Chicago area to repair an old Bach 9 slide, he did a very good job.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:40 am

New to the site. Just can't not play any longer and it has been decades. Have a unique trombone coming from England and would like it refurbished. I live on the east coast in Virginia. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:05 am

Not sure if it matters but the horn is a Hawkes & Son Excelsior Sonorous Class A trombone. It will be a real looker when completed. Thanks again.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:51 am

Just to update...

I've used several techs from the forum.
All did fabulous work.

In order of work/projects.
Eric Edwards was the 1st I used.
The Slide Dcotor was the 2nd I used.
Benn Hannson was the 3nd I used.
John Sandhegan was the 4rd I used.
Bob Hester was the 5th I used.
John Sandhegan was the 6th I used.

I hope I didn't miss anyone...
But... before I came on this forum and met these guys, I had used Pettifor's in Elkhart Indiana for 2 jobs. Both of those jobs, left me regretting I had used them at all (I've heard they since changed management since then though).....

These guys I've used from the forum.... are quality people, doing quality work.
I haven't used every repairman on the forum, but I'm sure there is others here that do good quality work too.

From my experiences - I'd recommend either of the ones I listed. I was VERY pleased with their work.

And I'm not rough on my horns...

...... I've just had a few "project horns", that I got fixed up. And I still have a few more projects (I've slowed down a little lately - too many project horns on the back burners)..

T.

ttf_Matt K · Post by **ttf_Matt K** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:13 pm

Jeff Bonk does great work in VA. Not sure how far you are away from him you are though. Worth the drive.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 12:44 pm

Quote from: Dukesboneman on Nov 23, 2012, 09:28AMHere in my end of the world, The ONLY person I will take my horns to is Paul Able at the Able Brass Works. Paul an exceptional repair tech and he`s also a Bass Trombonist so he really knows trombones.

I went to Ithaca college with Paul. Long time ago. Makes me smile to hear that name again.

ttf_bonedude · Post by **ttf_bonedude** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:29 pm

Anybody have any opinions on the guys at Dillons?

ttf_Matt K · Post by **ttf_Matt K** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:59 pm

Quote from: bonedude on Dec 08, 2013, 02:29PMAnybody have any opinions on the guys at Dillons?

He's done good work for me in the past. He setup my Shires T0825GLW slide with the correct receiver. Originally it was setup to fit Bach small bore horns for some bizarre reason

(this slide was a used slide on their showroom floor). I put the slide on my Bach 6vii bell section and immediately fell in love with it. I friction fit it for awhile, but ultimately decided to get the Shires part mounted.

He also added a saturn key to that slide and fixed a pretty bizarre alignment issues with a used TW25 slide I had that was causing the leadpipe not to sit in the horn properly.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:21 am

I have had work done at Dillon's. The routine work (slide dents, etc) is done quickly and is done well. I have had some custom work done there in the past too - done exactly as I wanted.

ttf_Trav1s · Post by **ttf_Trav1s** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:38 am

Benn Hannson did the Rotax conversion on my 79h and I am very happy with the results.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 7:12 pm

In Toronto, Canada or anywhere within a few hours drive it is Ron Partch of Partch Brasswinds. He is the "slide doctor" and works on all brass instruments. He has bored out the valve rotor on my 88H and 72H significantly improving the F attachment range. He has also done custom modifications on brass instruments. Well known and respected in the frozen north. he is also a bass trombonist.

ttf_chipolah · Post by **ttf_chipolah** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:26 am

Central Florida...Polk County

I've had work done by MICK at Carlton Music in Winter Haven, Florida. Excellent with slides and general repair work. He has worked on 6 or 7 horns for me over the years and I have been VERY happy.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 4:43 am

Here's another unsolicited word of support for Eric Edwards, near Dallas TX. I had a conversion project that was a bit tricky, and Eric did a wonderful job. It was worth the additional hassle of sending my horn to him from the Midwest.

He is a consummate professional and also pleasant to deal with. His website is:
http://www.proinstrumentrepair.com/

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:30 pm

Philadelphia is home to a lot of great brass players, but the caveat is that there are no technicians in the city, let alone competent ones. Until now!

Sun He is a graduate student for bass trombone at Temple University. He's picky about his horns - everything must be perfect. He vows to treat every instrument that he works on as his own, and he makes sure that everything he does to a client's instrument is something he'd be thrilled to have as his own. As a matter of fact, he overhauled an old Conn 62H of mine. He has a 72H of his own, which was actually George Roberts' main axe for a large portion of his career - He played my horn to get a feel for it, I asked him and he said he still preferred his by a long way. After the repairs and modifications, though, he was a bit jealous of the horn.

He'll do all of the work right in front of you, he is 100% open to any and all input or ideas you might have, and he charges drastically less than an average tech with half of the skill would charge. Discounts galore, and in my case, his generosity has resulted in slashing well more than half of the usual cost on at least one occasion. That, and he's a great guy; everyone finds him very likable and that is not without merit.

Any brass players in Philadelphia, for a cleaning or dent work or linkage conversions or absolutely anything else, give him a try. You definitely will not be disappointed, he comes with the highest recommendations from absolutely everyone who has ever worked with him. Check out his website, complete with contact info:
http://bassbonesun.wordpress.com

ttf_deanmccarty · Post by **ttf_deanmccarty** » Sun Jan 19, 2014 4:11 am

I've never seen anyone better than Eric Swanson in the Dallas area (Hurst)... I have been using him for the past 28 years off and on...

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:36 pm

Merlin Grady In Waterloo, Iowa He's amazing. Great with Slide (everything about slides) and putting custom horns together

http://merlingrady.com/home.html

KAREN GLEASON in Lexington,KY she's awesome great with removing dents slide alignment and many other crazy. She Works at Hurst Music in Lexington,KY

Lee Sable Repair/custom stuff guru. He's on Facebook easy to find. He did an amazing Job with my bass bells and many of my Brazilian friends. All of these people at some point did some great job on my horns.

ERIC EDWARDS!!! I love him!! perfect too!!

Chuck Alexander (BrassLAB) the man who put my bass valve section together back in 2009! (Shires axial flow valves but the rest is all of his out of this word stuff) The valves are running great, great sound, Trigger lever are the fastest I ever had.

I hope this info helps

ttf_TNTBONE · Post by **ttf_TNTBONE** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:26 am

I have used a tech (David Roan) at ATEC Corporation in Clinton MD to pull leadpipes on my 71 36B and my 74 42. Both times he has taken the inner slides completely apart and carefully reassembled them in the process. Both pipes came out 100% intact and both slides are now 10 out of 10.. Very reasonably priced too...

ttf_Sid · Post by **ttf_Sid** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:04 am

For those in the St. Louis area, I would recommend Steve Wyatt of Midwest Musical Instrument Service (http://www.manta.com/c/mttzn01/midwest-musical-instrument-service-llc). He worked for years at St. Louis Woodwind and Brass before opening up his own place and has worked on my horns several times now. I took my 3BSS into him for slide work and cleaning in January and not only did he do great work, but his costs were very reasonable. He does custom work on request (showed me a custom finished Olds trumpet he recently finished when I dropped a horn off yesterday) and is also a phenomenal bass trombone player.

ttf_Posaunus · Post by **ttf_Posaunus** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 1:52 pm

In my part of Southern California, it's hard to imagine anyone could do a better job on slides than Bruce Belo in Anaheim.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 6:03 pm

The best I've ever had the pleasure of hiring = Robb Stewart out of Arcadia, CA. He did a complete Shires Axial valve conversion (fitting 2 bells/slides) onto my Bachs. I kid you not, they came back playing more lively than before - in fact, they are easily the best playing Bachs I've ever played. I'm still flying high. He's an absolute perfectionist. He came highly recommended by both the shop guys at Shires and The Horn Guys in CA. They weren't joking. Plus, he's ON TIME!

So, Robb Stewart. Done deal.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:51 am

Lindy Wunn in Portland is fantastic. He's been head of instrument for Portland Public Schools for decades. He's a great guy and does great work.

He did all of Ed Thayer's installs when the Thayer Valve was released.

Let me know if you need more details.

ttf_Ian McDougall Wannabe · Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:31 pm

Dave Gsponer at Matterhorn Music in Surrey, BC. Beautiful dent work, and his slide repairs/tune-ups are second to none. He's done excellent custom work for me too. For those in the know, he's the guy that bought all of Joe DeBruycker's old tooling.

ttf_Sliphorn · Post by **ttf_Sliphorn** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:09 pm

Anyone know good techs in the Salt Lake City area?

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:42 am

Anyone have a recommendation for a trombone tech in Arkansas? Or Memphis, if he/she is worth the drive? Or am I better off to send it out? Thanks.

ttf_Paul Martin · Post by **ttf_Paul Martin** » Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:29 am

Quote from: littlerockjohn on Aug 13, 2014, 07:42AMAnyone have a recommendation for a trombone tech in Arkansas? Or Memphis, if he/she is worth the drive? Or am I better off to send it out? Thanks.

I've never had the slightest problem sending a horn or slide to one of the really good brass techs; if I had something minor to be done that did not require someone of Dan Oberloh's or Mike Corrigan's talents to solve, I'd go locally, but then I'd want to talk to the person in question, because you never know their exact skill level (and there are some bad techs out there).

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Wed Aug 13, 2014 1:30 pm

Quote from: Frank Longino on Nov 27, 2012, 09:08AMDoes anybody have any recommendations for the Raleigh, North Carolina area?

I took a couple of old, rough horns to Jim Peterson (off Hillsborough Street). He gave them a good cleaning and did some slide alignment, and now they work and play a lot better. However, he doesn't do refinishing and I don't know if he does any major repair work.

I'm interested in getting an old King 5B refinished, but I'm not sure who to trust with it.

ttf_Paul Martin · Post by **ttf_Paul Martin** » Wed Aug 13, 2014 2:58 pm

Quote from: dbuster on Aug 13, 2014, 01:30PMI took a couple of old, rough horns to Jim Peterson (off Hillsborough Street). He gave them a good cleaning and did some slide alignment, and now they work and play a lot better. However, he doesn't do refinishing and I don't know if he does any major repair work.

I'm interested in getting an old King 5B refinished, but I'm not sure who to trust with it.

A lot of guys don't do lacquer work except for very limited touch up work; I've even had guys refuse overhauls because of their own bad experience with sending out parts for refinishing (Comm/UMI losing original parts at the Eastlake plant), Oberloh would be a sure thing, but he's not taking any full overhauls currently due to a backlog.

Mike Corrigan does nice work, and I'm pretty sure soup-to-nuts overhauls.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 3:06 pm

In Oklahoma I'd recommend Bruce Kitzel (Edmond Music and Gilliam Music in Norman). He fixed up my 1963 Olds Super, and it's now like new. He is recognized as one of if not the best tech in the state.

- Freedy

ttf_trombone addict · Post by **ttf_trombone addict** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:19 pm

Any recommendations in the Boston area? I know shires is nearby but they seem like they're busy enough.

ttf_Posaunus · Post by **ttf_Posaunus** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:19 pm

Osmun Music
77 Powdermill Road, Acton, MA 01720
978-823-0580
http://www.osmun.com/service.html
Store Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-5pm | Saturday 10am-2pm

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:30 pm

In Denver, Colorado: Greg Meis (www.meismusic.com). He just replaced a tuning slide on my '89 6H, which I figure is not high in difficulty, but he did it for an extremely reasonable price and while the horn was there he banged out a lot of dents "that were bothering him" and replaced my spit valve because is was leaking a bit; and he didn't charge me for the extra work. I asked if he refurbished horns (I have a '41 12H I would love to get redone) and he said he's moving out of that, but he showed me a flugelhorn he had just done for one of the best trumpeters in town, so I figure the good folks go to him.

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:04 pm

Any recommendations for repair techs that can do modification work in the Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia region of the country? I am in Charlotte, NC and need to have a bell flare mounted on a valve section. Although this is somewhat simple of an installation process I want to make sure it's done precisely, so I'm willing to drive out of state to get it done well. Right now I'm considering Rich Ita's Brass Instrument Workshop in Marietta, GA (just outside of Atlanta), anybody had work done by him? Also I saw this post from a couple of years ago:

Quote from: jbeckett on Nov 17, 2012, 04:00PMHEY ALL,
A FRIEND OF MINE STARTED HIS OWN BRASS AND WOODWIND REPAIR SHOP IN ROCKY MOUNT NC. HIS NAME IS GREG TYSON AND HIS SHOP IS CALLED TYSON BRASSWORKS. I DECIDED TO TRY HIM OUT WITH A REPAIR JOB ON A TRASHED BENGE 290 THAT I BOUGHT. I THOUGH HE MIGHT DO A GOOD JOB AND IT WOULD BE SOME GOOD PR FOR HIM. HERE ARE SOME BEFORE AND AFTER PICS. I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT ANYONE IN COASTAL CAROLINA, SOUTHERN VIRGINIA, OR NORTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA SHOULD TRY HIM. HE HAS 17 YEARS EXPERIENCE AND MAKES SLIDES BUTTER SMOOTH. A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TECH. PICS TELL THE STORY:

Anybody know if Tyson Brassworks is still around? There is no information on the company online, it would appear to be closed.

Thanks for any leads.

ttf_AZTBNDAD · Post by **ttf_AZTBNDAD** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:50 pm

In Phoenix, I would pick Mike Nye.

ttf_KingMan · Post by **ttf_KingMan** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:02 pm

I've had really good service from a shop in Red Lion, PA called The Broken Note. The owner/tech is Brian Greek. He knows his stuff and has gone the extra mile for me. I recently bought a Conn 100H from another Forum member that had a few large dents and a misaligned slide (both directions). He chem-cleaned it, aligned the slide, straightened polished all 3 lead pipes, and removed all the dents for less than a hundred bucks.