Service - Northampton area

[dooce]

Has anyone used Paul Egan for work on their instrument? Although based near Bath, he collects weekly from my local music shop in Northampton, and his website looks encouraging.
http://www.woodwindrepairs.org/

 

[Pjonah]

No, but I too am stuck in the Northants county which is extremely lacking in decent techs.

I tried a young lady in Stratford on Avon but was less impressed with her work, tech that is, fnarr fnarr!

But this guy looks half decent, so if you use him, I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

There is always Myatts at Hitchin I beleive.

Simon

 

[Taz]

Whilst parting with my hard earned in TMC in Coventry (see "What have I gone and done?) I noticed this chaps card on the counter Alex Preston
Now I've never heard of him but by all acounts he's not bad. Could be worth a try.

 

[dooce]

The Conn, and my Karl Hammerschmidt flute, are with Paul right now. I had to go to Bristol on Tuesday so called him up and dropped both instruments into him. He gave the sax a good look-over while I was there, identified a couple of problems I hadn't noticed, and has rung me since to tell me how it's going. I'll pick them up at the weekend. Certainly gives every impression of knowing exactly what he's talking about.

 

[dooce]

Picked both instruments up yesterday - the flute had a full re-pad, which is unsurprising as it hasn't been touched in 20 years. Hasn't made the bloody thing any easier to play though - although maybe that's a lack of practice on my part - 20 years lack of practice!

The sax is greatly improved - much better feel to the action, much easier to blow. When things deteriorate slowly, it's only when they get sorted that you realise how bad they had become.

I would certainly recommend Paul for servicing/repairs - nice guy, good work.

 

[dooce]

Had a very educational evening last night. I shut the howling dalmatian outside (like many others, he protests at my playing :cry: ) and with my newly leak-free and more manageable sax, worked my way methodically through 3 mouthpieces, 2 ligatures and 3 grades of reed to find that perfect combination. Starting from my usual Eddie Lawton 7*B with its built-in lig and a 2.5 Java, through a Runyon Quantum 9 and ROC Brilhart 5, a Rovner and an Arbiter lig, after an hour of experimenting I wound up with.........er, the Eddie Lawton 7*B with the built-in lig and a 2.5 Java.

Although the lig is now approximately 3mm closer to the tip of the mouthpiece.

:whistle:

 

[Mikec]

It's amazing how you can go round in circles once you get it in your head that something's not right, isn't it? I envy people who are happy with one combination for long periods...

 

[Taz]

Nice one Bill, the old Conn will be good for a few more years yet then 😉 Hows she sounding.
On a separate note, thanks for the link, just not quite my cuppa, but cheers for the thought

 

[dooce]

Taz wrote:
Nice one Bill, the old Conn will be good for a few more years yet then 😉 Hows she sounding.
On a separate note, thanks for the link, just not quite my cuppa, but cheers for the thought

The Conn certainly sounds better and plays more predictably - although Paul Egan did say that neither the sax or flute were exactly the easiest instruments in the world to play. Never really thought about it before - maybe I should go out and swap them for something nice and undemanding :laugh:

Didn't think the ska band was quite your thing, but you never know.

 

[Bobby G]

I dunno Bill, something that's not so easy to play can be, well, characterful and character building. Plus over time you just get used to it's little quirks and foibles - anyway, it sounded good at the Kitten last month!

 

[dooce]

Bobby G wrote:
I dunno Bill, something that's not so easy to play can be, well, characterful and character building.

I agree, hence the laughing smiley after my comment! I had a nice Yamaha tenor before the Conn which was a doddle to play - but just boring, and I never really "bonded" with it. The Conn was an unpredictable old SoB, but the service has made it a lot more manageable, and I'm looking forward to my first rehearsal with the revitalised ol' mutha tonight!