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dougmac98
New Member
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- Ashland, Oregon, USA
Somehow I didn't know about this group and now I'm excited to explore it.
My "bio" is that I am now a (mostly) retired woodwind repair tech, having had a shop in the area for over 25 years. I say "mostly" because I still have a few clients in the area that know me and trust my work, and I still love working on saxophones, especially nicer, professional instruments. I don't mean to sound snobbish but since I'm in a semi-rural area I had to take almost all comers, which included some pretty junky instruments and their associated frustrations. (The emergence of Chinese instruments proved to be especially challenging.) Now my clients are generally also my friends... better players with better horns, and they appreciate my work. I don't mean to sound braggy, but in my opinion woodwind work is all about details, some of which other shops are willing to ignore.
My history also includes a career in firefighting, which was cut short by an accident on a wildfire. It was work I really loved so when I could not longer do it I went back to playing, which I had left behind 20 years previously. I went to repair school in Seattle at the technical college in Renton. I absolutely loved repair school and I really enjoyed the work, although summers and fall were especially busy. I think I didn't do my due diligence before taking up instrument repair because the busiest times are summer and early fall, since much of the work come from schools or students returning to school. Still, I enjoyed the satisfaction of returning an instrument to a customer in good condition, and I found that simply doing a good job for a reasonable price brought as many customers as I could handle!
Now as a mostly-retired guy I get to enjoy playing my horns, and I have a "stable" of some really great instruments. My two favorite brands are Selmer and Yanagisawa. Yamaha makes great horns, too, but IMO Yanis and Selmers are more nuanced, each of which now have advanced features and excellent craftsmanship. I will never have to worry about "out-playing" any of my saxophones!
My "bio" is that I am now a (mostly) retired woodwind repair tech, having had a shop in the area for over 25 years. I say "mostly" because I still have a few clients in the area that know me and trust my work, and I still love working on saxophones, especially nicer, professional instruments. I don't mean to sound snobbish but since I'm in a semi-rural area I had to take almost all comers, which included some pretty junky instruments and their associated frustrations. (The emergence of Chinese instruments proved to be especially challenging.) Now my clients are generally also my friends... better players with better horns, and they appreciate my work. I don't mean to sound braggy, but in my opinion woodwind work is all about details, some of which other shops are willing to ignore.
My history also includes a career in firefighting, which was cut short by an accident on a wildfire. It was work I really loved so when I could not longer do it I went back to playing, which I had left behind 20 years previously. I went to repair school in Seattle at the technical college in Renton. I absolutely loved repair school and I really enjoyed the work, although summers and fall were especially busy. I think I didn't do my due diligence before taking up instrument repair because the busiest times are summer and early fall, since much of the work come from schools or students returning to school. Still, I enjoyed the satisfaction of returning an instrument to a customer in good condition, and I found that simply doing a good job for a reasonable price brought as many customers as I could handle!
Now as a mostly-retired guy I get to enjoy playing my horns, and I have a "stable" of some really great instruments. My two favorite brands are Selmer and Yanagisawa. Yamaha makes great horns, too, but IMO Yanis and Selmers are more nuanced, each of which now have advanced features and excellent craftsmanship. I will never have to worry about "out-playing" any of my saxophones!
