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:
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.
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
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
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
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
Ohio
Kirsten Kulma and Tim Burdick
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
United States
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
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!
Lori Kunde
21 Dec 2018But Wisconsin had George Jameson amd Rennick Ross….great repairman!!!
DannyCruzOboe
21 Dec 2018are they still doing repairs? can you please email me their info?
Larry Mueller
24 May 2020John 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
Donna Votino
24 May 2020https://coleswoodwind.com/index.html
When I lived in upstate NY I had my instruments serviced and maintained at Coles.