TromboneChat

Hey guys, looking for recommendations for a good tech in southern Vermont. I'm about half an hour north of Brattleboro. Need a little bit of work done on my 50A3.. the little support that attaches my f wrap to the Bell brace is loose. Not on the brace or the F wrap, but the connection between the two. Also looking to get a Saturn water key installed.
Conversely looking for advice on brass instrument repair anyone have any good advice on soldering?. I do plenty of soldering both on plumbing as well as micro soldering of electronics. And also brazing of HVAC tubing as well as lots of welding. Just never got into instrument repair lol. I feel confident with the right information and the right supplies that my hands and eyes are capable.
That being said would still like to have a tech give my horn a once over and see if there's anything I miss, as well as getting a good cleaning would be nice. Thanks a bunch and look forward to hearing from yall.
EZ

Can you make it to Osmun Brass just outside Boston?

Osmun should be under 2 hrs.

The soldering involved isn't terribly difficult in and of itself if you're disposed in that direction. It's everything else that's the problem... for example, why has that brace come off?

Maybe it was a dry joint to begin with, or there's been some trauma to the wrap tubing, or maybe your case is repeatedly loading that area, or maybe things came out of the factory stressed and unparallel and the wrap tubing has been stressing the relatively fragile Hagmann casing, or maybe you've slightly bent the slide receiver which in turn has torqued both the valve knuckle and the bell brace and that broken brace solder is merely an indirect symptom, etc etc etc.

You might not know, whereas the person you pay can see the cause, and has the solutions and tooling to hand.

A 50A3 isn't the horn to start on.

Osmun is now in Acton, MA. Much closer to you than they used to be.

I believe there also is a repair shop near Keene NH, but I'm not sure what their name is.

Ellis Music in Royalton does repairs, but having done business with both Osmun and Ellis I would recommend Osmun.

Go to Osmun or Virtuosity in Boston.

Ellis Music and Osmun are probably both the same distance from your location. Osmun would charge more but their work is impeccable always.

Osmun is great for in depth brass work of course, Ellis is a good all-around shop and great folks, and if you just need a little solder work done or to have a nearby set of eyes on it, Jonathan Dancing in Bellows Falls might hook you up, though he’s shifted to mostly just taking on woodwind clients lately.

When I was living in Brattleboro I had all the above work on my horns, though I made the trip to Osmun to service my Edwards bass.

Ferees is good to look for your own tools etc. We use 60/40 solder and the liquid flux you can get from them for most stuff, and a little blazer-style butane torch works great for most small jobs. They have repair manuals you can buy too.

All that said, you should probably take your Bach to a tech

SoVTTb wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 5:29 pm Osmun is great for in depth brass work of course, Ellis is a good all-around shop and great folks, and if you just need a little solder work done or to have a nearby set of eyes on it, Jonathan Dancing in Bellows Falls might hook you up, though he’s shifted to mostly just taking on woodwind clients lately.

When I was living in Brattleboro I had all the above work on my horns, though I made the trip to Osmun to service my Edwards bass.

Ferees is good to look for your own tools etc. We use 60/40 solder and the liquid flux you can get from them for most stuff, and a little blazer-style butane torch works great for most small jobs. They have repair manuals you can buy too.

All that said, you should probably take your Bach to a tech

Lol no way! I live in Bellows Falls!!
Have any contact info on him?
EZ

SoVTTb wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 5:29 pm Osmun is great for in depth brass work of course, Ellis is a good all-around shop and great folks, and if you just need a little solder work done or to have a nearby set of eyes on it, Jonathan Dancing in Bellows Falls might hook you up, though he’s shifted to mostly just taking on woodwind clients lately.

When I was living in Brattleboro I had all the above work on my horns, though I made the trip to Osmun to service my Edwards bass.

Ferees is good to look for your own tools etc. We use 60/40 solder and the liquid flux you can get from them for most stuff, and a little blazer-style butane torch works great for most small jobs. They have repair manuals you can buy too.

All that said, you should probably take your Bach to a tech

Lol no way! I live in Bellows Falls!!
Have any contact info on him?
EZ

If you are curious about soldering repairs on musical instruments, look for YouTube videos by Wes Lee. He goes into detail on soldering brass tubing joints and flanges. If you want to solder, I'd recommend getting some junker horns to learn on.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:06 pm If you are curious about soldering repairs on musical instruments, look for YouTube videos by Wes Lee. He goes into detail on soldering brass tubing joints and flanges. If you want to solder, I'd recommend getting some junker horns to learn on.

Yeah thanks.. just found his channel a few days ago.. Awesome guy with great info and stellar delivery
EZ

Osmun has done excellent work for me. I am in Lenox, MA

If you're willing to invest the travel time to Osmun from Brattleboro, also consider John Keal Music in Albany. Looks like a similar travel time investment. Their tech Bekka is also a trombonist and has done excellent work on my horn as well as several trombone friends.

https://www.johnkealmusic.com/

https://www.johnkealmusic.com/t-contactus.aspx

PhilTrombone wrote: ↑Sat Oct 21, 2023 6:53 am Osmun has done excellent work for me. I am in Lenox, MA

If you're willing to invest the travel time to Osmun from Brattleboro, also consider John Keal Music in Albany. Looks like a similar travel time investment. Their tech Bekka is also a trombonist and has done excellent work on my horn as well as several trombone friends.

https://www.johnkealmusic.com/

https://www.johnkealmusic.com/t-contactus.aspx

Thank you for that! I drive through Albany regularly.
EZ

Thank you for that! I drive through Albany regularly.
EZ

Kool. Tell her Phil G Sent you!