Saxophones Repairer never heard of my sax. Worried?

[Daniel T Jones]

Hello,

I have a Bauhaus Walstein AS-Y which i bought from looking at a lot of recommendations. Which made me think it was popular. I've just rang the local repairers to get it oiled and the pads cleaned and he'd never heard of it. Should I be concerned?

 

[ProfJames]

Put the question to him!

 

[Daniel T Jones]

No i mean, should i be worried that because theyve never heard of it, that they aren't as "experienced" as their website says.

 

[rhysonsax]

No, you shouldn't necessarily be worried, either about the saxophone or the repairer. The BW is really quite a new brand (rather than 'maker' as they don't have their own factory). Over the last three or four years they have done well to build brand recognition in the UK, mainly thanks to the internet, but that doesn't mean that every repair tech should have heard of the name.

The design and construction is entirely conventional and won't pose any particular problems to a good repair tech.

Rhys

 

[ProfJames]

In addition, because they are new they may well have come with warranty, etc. Therefore a number of techies would not have experienced repairs. I would ask your techie when you take it in to him/her if he has repaired or played one previously. Build a good rapport with the techie/shop and it pays dividends.

 

[Daniel T Jones]

Cheers everyone. I rang someone else (just to compare prices) and this guy knew it straight away but was also really nice. So I'm going go with him, like previously said, hoping to build a good rapport.


Mine is still in warranty, but im assuming that it wont cover my oil and clean?

Thanks again.

 

[ProfJames]

Good luck with your new techie. Has someone advised you to get it serviced? Do they need to be serviced/oiled when they are that new? I have no experience with BW saxophones.

 

[DavidUK]

I asked Paul Carrington, sax tech, about BW saxes last Thursday. he said they were good from a tech's perspective.

HTH.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Good luck with your new techie. Has someone advised you to get it serviced? Do they need to be serviced/oiled when they are that new? I have no experience with BW saxophones.

I'm also wondering that, if it's still in warrantee it would only need a visit to a tech if it has been damaged.

Oiling and cleaning is something you should really do your self (get the Haynes Saxophone manual) , however in most cases it still wouldn't need oiling and cleaning within a year.

It is good to find a tech who does respect the brand, though one who doesn't know of it would no doubt be fine in most cases, unless they are of the school who believes that nothing coming out of China can be any good.

 

[edwin]

Every time I've bought a sax I've taken it straight to my friendly local tech for a checkup. Once or twice (out of 6, so far) he has pretty much just said all was well and sent me on my way. But mostly there are issues, adjustments that are needed to get the instrument in best possible playing condition. This includes a brand new Yamaha (YTS62) which needed several tweaks, described as par for the course by my tech. It also includes a new BW curvy soprano, which needed rather more done to it. So I reckon it's well worth while getting an inspection and, if needed, setup. As for whether a new horn needs to be oiled by a technician - probably shouldn't, but he will be able to tell you. And cleaned - where have you been playing it??

 

[Stephen Howard]

If it's still in the warranty period it shouldn't need any major work doing to it - and things like oiling and cleaning are the sort of jobs you should be able to tackle yourself. They come under the banner of 'maintenance', so won't be covered by a warranty.

Have a look at the handy hints section of my site - there's an article on oiling the action and another on dealing with (cleaning) sticky pads. Both are easy-peasy jobs.

Cheers,

 

[jonf]

If it's still in the warranty period it shouldn't need any major work doing to it - and things like oiling and cleaning are the sort of jobs you should be able to tackle yourself. They come under the banner of 'maintenance', so won't be covered by a warranty.

Have a look at the handy hints section of my site - there's an article on oiling the action and another on dealing with (cleaning) sticky pads. Both are easy-peasy jobs.

Cheers,

And he won't say this, so I will. Buy his book, it's great.

 

[milandro]

At Bauhaus Walstein, a company which sells several hundred instruments a year, they might have never heard of your technician


........should you be worried about that?



Your technician has probably never heard of Inderbinen or Powell silver Eagle either. Does that make him a bad tech?

He just doesn’t go out much!

 

[Daniel T Jones]

I'm also wondering that, if it's still in warrantee it would only need a visit to a tech if it has been damaged.

Oiling and cleaning is something you should really do your self (get the Haynes Saxophone manual) , however in most cases it still wouldn't need oiling and cleaning within a year.

I bought the manual and its awesome! Did the pad cleaning myself, worked great. got go find the stuff to do oil it now!

Thanks everyone.

 

[Saxdiva]

I bought an oiling pen from Dawkes. Only a tiny amount comes out so no mess and ideal for the job. It cost slightly more and one people can probably dribble oil carefully enough not to need it, but for me, worth every penny.

 

[kevgermany]

I bought an oiling pen from Dawkes. Only a tiny amount comes out so no mess and ideal for the job. It cost slightly more and one people can probably dribble oil carefully enough not to need it, but for me, worth every penny.

I've been using an oiling pen in preference to needles for a while now. Much better, much less risk of making a mess.