When and where to take your oboe to the shop; an ever growing list of great repair techs

Below is a list of over 25 experienced oboe repair techs across the USA. They have been recommended to me by professional oboists and though I have not worked with all of them they are reputable enough to be trusted. They are organized by state, and I have done my best to make sure their information is up to date. Click here to jump to the list.

Whether you need to get your oboe repaired or maintained it is important that you take it to an experienced specialist who will know how to handle the instrument with care and precision. Avoid taking your instrument to a generic band instrument shop if possible, and remember to get maintenance done on your oboe every 1-2 years.

The following are common questions my students ask about repairs:

Justin Young doing annual maintenance on my oboe in San Antonio Tx
Justin Young doing annual maintenance on my oboe in San Antonio Tx

What is the difference between oboe maintenance vs repair?

Repair- must be done by a specialist with appropriate tools. Regards stuck swabs, bent keys, or anything else that renders the oboe virtually unplayable.

Maintenance- should be done periodically to keep the oboe playing like new. This might be changing bumper or tenon corks, or changing a worn out pad. Irregular maintenance work will make repair jobs more severe and urgent.

While it can be tempting to only take  your oboe to a specialist tech when something is not working at all neglect on this front will leave you compensating for a leaky oboe with your reeds or hands and your technique will suffer.

How much can I expect to pay to maintain/repair my oboe?

Repair work is charged by the hour. If you are in need of a simple swab removal it probably won’t cost very much and in case of emergency you may be fine not using a specialist. For annual maintenance I might expect to leave to the instrument in the shop for a week and pay between $100-150. If more needs to be done the cost will be greater as well.

Keep in mind the price of keeping your instrument in good condition is dwarfed by the price of a new instrument or the anxiety of playing on an instrument that is not in top condition. The cost of maintenance should be about 5% the cost of the oboe. I discuss this in my article about oboe shopping which you can read by clicking here.

How do I know if my instrument needs to be serviced?

Check the suction of the top joint by closing all the keys and covering the bottom with your palm/ thumb muscle. If there are leaks your oboe may need to be looked at by a technician.

Another simple indicator is if the joints are wobbly when you put the instrument together. Additionally, if your first octave pad starts to stick, you may blame the spring but springs are seldom to blame. More often, the pads need to be changed.  If you have skin pads on the low notes, low B and Bb, for example, look for discoloration and fraying on those pads. It may be time to change other pads as well or switch to cork.

Take a look at the bumper corks between the keys, they will wear down over time and eventually have holes in them where the adjustment screws make contact,or they will have just fallen off. This will make the oboe hard to adjust and seal.  There may also be keys where the action is delayed or slow; this has lots of different possible causes and a technician will be able to solve the issue.

Should I learn to do repairs on my oboe myself?

First, when in doubt: take your oboe to a specialist! There are some simple repairs that experienced players can accommodate themselves and your teacher may be able to show you some tricks to get your oboe working again in the short term. College bound musicians need to be familiar with the basics of the oboe mechanisms and be able to do simple adjustments with a screwdriver, of course ask your teacher first.

For everything else please use the list below to find a trusted oboe specialist near you.

Use this menu to jump to your state: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z

Many people have requested that their trusted double reed repair person be added to the list, and I am happy that the responses and request volume is high. However, I will not be able to add them with out the adequate information so please fill out the form below with all the required information of the repair person and I will be happy to add them to the list. 

Arizona

David Webber and Mary Simon
Website

Webber Reeds
ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 1807
Chandler, AZ 85244-1807
(877) 932-7332

 

Also sells oboe accessories and reeds

California

 

Forrests Music
Repair done by John Goebel
sales@forrestsmusic.com

1849 University Ave
Berkeley, CA 94703 U.S.A.(510) 845-7178

 

 

Also sells various oboe brands Gougers and accessories

Napa Valley

Mark Chudnow
Website
1-800-780-4340 
P.O. Box 3886
Napa, CA 94558 USA 

 

Georgia

Roswell, GA

Kelly Ramsey
Website
Ramseyoboe@gmail.com
(850) 628-8088

Blairsville, GA

Ginger Ramsay 
Website 
Covey and Ramsay
34 Rogers StreetBlairsville, GA 30512

Atlanta Georgia

Patrick McFarland
By appointment only
404-315-4500

Illinois

Eugene S. Gordon Woodwinds

Fine Arts Building
410 S. Michigan Ave., Ste. 709
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 663-0414

Claire Cutting/Cutting Edge Repair
312-448-3778
cuttingedgerepair1@gmail.com 1522 Greenleaf St. Suite C Evanston, IL

Indiana

Carlos Coelho
Website
317-920-0519
3854 N Washington Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46205

Carlos is also a famous dealer of F.Loree Instruments and sells shaper tips and accessories

Massachusetts

Western massachussets

Cliff White
Website
Phone: 413.863.0089

Boston

Boston Double Reed Inc.                 Also sells various oboe brands Gougers and accessories
Website
255 Kelton Street. Unit #5
Allston, MA 02134 U.S.A
617-232-3592

Maryland

Baltimore

Jeff Denning
1.7164305296
repairs@woodwindfixer.com

Michigan

Ko Kaiden
Website
9357 General Drive Suite 111
 Plymouth, MI 48170
917-596-0287– call or text
kokaiden@earthlink.net

 

Bruce McCall

2807 Jolly Rd Suite 300
Okemos, MI 48864
bandrepair@comcast.net

Minnesota

Midwest Musical Imports

Eric Anderson
1621 E. Hennepin Ave. Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55413
(800) 926-5587

TOM HINIKER (MINNESOTA)
(507) 288-4191
227 15th ave SE
Rochester, MN 55904
no website

Montana

Ken Decker
Website

209 South B Street
Livingston, MT 59047
406.222.5529
​dmsoboe@yahoo.com

.

New Jersey

John Symer
856-858-0605
12 Lees Ave. Collingswood, NJ 08108

Deals instruments for  Lorée, Yamaha, Howarth &  Moennig.

New York

New York City

Kristen Bertrand
Website

Kristin Bertrand’s Woodwind Workshop
In Flushing, NY, and is easily accessed from Manhattan, LaGuardia, Long Island, and Westchester. 

646-670-6565
kristin@woodwindworkshop.com

 

Yonkers
Heidi Chisholm
https://heidioboerepair.weebly.com/about.html

Upstate NY

Nora Post
Website

Nora Post, Inc.
52 Lounsbury Place
Kingston, NY 12401
845.331.4845
 norapost@hvi.net

 

Teitelbaum Doublereed Co.
38 Hudson Drive
Brewster, NY 10509
(845) 278-8192

Baptiste Le Guillou
Website
For Upstate NY/VT – Montreal, QC, Canada

Many technicians here who train in house by manufacturers. 

North Carolina

Brian Seaton
Website

649 7th Ave
East Hendersonville, NC 28792
Phone: (202) 656-2638



Ohio

 Kirsten Kulma and Tim Burdick

Tim Burdick’s Woodwind Workshop
2140 Lee Rd #200
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
United States
Phone#-3710328

Pennsylvania

Steve Malarsky
Website

Malarsky Woodwinds
93 Municipal Road
Pipersville, PA, 18947
(888) 808-OBOE
steve@malarskeywoodwinds.com

Tennesee

Larry Mueller

300 Elmhurst Dr
Kingsport, Tennessee
 (423) 406-1368
muellerwoodwinds@charter.net

Jason & Beth Onks
Website 

621 Fitzhugh Blvd. Suite 100
Smyrna, TN 37167
615-223-9015

 

Texas

Justin Young
Website
San Antonio Tx
(210) 449-6711
jyoung4225@gmail.com

David Mathews
Dallas Tx
dwmatthews@smu.edu

 

Trent Weaver
Website
301 N High St, Longview, TX 75601
(903)312-1843

 

 

Washington

Ed DeVaney
Bellingham Wind Works
2405 Meridian Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
360.733.5840
bellinghamwindworks@hotmail.com

 

Vermont

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Baptiste Le Guillou
Website
For Upstate NY/VT – Montreal, QC, Canada

Many technicians here who train in house by manufacturers. 

.

Canada

If you know someone who fixes double reeds in Canada let me know with the form at the top!

This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. But Wisconsin had George Jameson amd Rennick Ross….great repairman!!!

    1. are they still doing repairs? can you please email me their info?

    2. THank you for mentioning Rennick Ross. He was Ray Still’s Repairman after Bill Brannen of EVanston Il. ANd I went toRennick for many many years. What a great guy and wonderful repairman. He passed away in 2012. As my instruments are C series Loree’s I now go to Paul Wolz of Kennelly Keys Music Store in Bellingham WA. another great repairman. I am Lucky to have found him.

  2. John Peterson and others at RDG, Angela Wells in the Los Angeles area, and John Kirkner in PA. I’m sure I’m missing some.

    Justin Young is working in IT now, David Weber has closed shop but might be doing a little at home? Pat McFarland has passed.

    I myself am mostly retired but have been doing a slight bit of training.

    Thanks for this list! I know things change as soon as you post something.

    Larry Mueller

  3. Thanks Danny! I’m working for home in Marietta GA now! No longer in Roswell. Also I recently got married and am now Kelly Rega.

  4. Hi Danny,

    David Tietelbaum is no longer in Brewster NY.
    He set up shop in Rhode Island.
    Can you find his new contact info from one of your many contacts and pass it along to me ?
    Thank you . John

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