SAXORAMA, SAXOMANIA, SAXFEST, SAXESGALORE No matter what you call it, it’s happening here at MusicMedic.com and it’s gonna be outrageous! What’s this all about? MusicMedic.com has been asked to host a regional clinic for our favorite trade organization, the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians (NAPBIRT). Every year, there are regional NAPBIRT clinics […]
I’m super excited and really disappointed all at once. The Saxophone Ensemble that I play with, The North Carolina Saxophone Ensemble, was asked to play for the Navy Saxophone Symposium this year. This new and energetic group is comprised of outstanding players from all-over North Carolina. This will be the Premier Performance for the group and […]
About 8 months ago I posted about this building that we bought and our crazy plan to for fixing it up. I promised some updates along the way. Then, it started, the huge undertaking of renovating a 40,000sqft warehouse including indoor parking a new shop, the supply house, storage, a residence etc… Well, the updates […]
In a recent NAPBIRT clinic given by Carl Thacker of Carl’s Pro Band, Carl tested our Shellac right there under the watchful eye of a panel of NAPBIRT technicians. After the Clinic, Carl sent me an Email about his finding. Check out Carl’s test! “Hey thanks guys! Got your stuff in time for the Sat. […]
Working with a professional player is among the most rewarding experiences we have in the repair shop. Very often we are forced to find ways of ‘repairing’ an instrument that borders on re-manufacturing. Our most recent overhaul certainly falls into that category. When professional saxophonist Wayne Leechford first came to our shop, he was excited […]
Well, we’ve done it. MusicMedic.com is now twittering. None of use know where it will go but we hope you follow us there!
After I posted the last neck extension that saxophone repair technician Matt Scott made for My Conn Baritone, we received a number of calls and emails to do the same, or similar, to other mouthpieces. Well, we’ve done a bunch. The most recent extension was put on a stainless steel mouthpiece and the extension was […]
My computer went down and took my inbox with it. If you have not gotten a response to an Email recently, please resend it to me. As you can see, I’m tooling up to fix the computer. Thanks! Curt
Carl and Travis Thacker from Carl’s Pro Band Today I received a call from my good friend Carl Thacker at Carl’s Professional Band Instrument Repair in Bloomington, IL. If you’re anywhere near Bloomington or if you’ve ever had the pleasure of having Carl and Travis work on your horn, you know why I’m honored to know these […]
photo by Malcolm Crowthers When I started playing saxophone in Cambridge NY, I had no idea that the world’s most respected classical saxophonist had retired to a small town bordering mine. After some time, I learned about Mr. Rascher and heard his music as well as the music of the quartet he founded “The Rascher […]
One of the toughest places on a saxophone to keep silent while still feeling smooth and tight is the link from the side key lever to the pad cup on most modern horns. Here is a quick technique we use in our shop: Remove the old material from the shaft on the end of the […]
Hello! We’re all just getting back from our trips and I thought it might be a good time for a quick update. As you may know, Matt and Rich went to Louisville Kentucky for the NAPBIRT convention while Jen and I went to Frankfurt Germany for the Musik Messe. A great time was had by […]
It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again! Every year MusicMedic.com exhibits at many shows around the world but this time of year is particularly special for us. This is the time of year when we make the journey to Frankfurt Germany to exhibit at the Messe, followed by a trip to […]
Downtown Red Wing on a snowy night One of my favorite things to do is go see other repair shops. As a tech, it’s very cool when another tech lets you into their world, giving insight into how they do things and how they set up shop. This week I was able visit on of […]
One question I get in my emails a lot is, “How do I extend my Conn 12M Baritone Sax neck so I can use modern mouthpieces on it?” My answer is usually that the neck should not be extended if possible. I see these neck extensions as a non reversible job that will alter the […]
OK, Here’s a quick shop tip that someone out there is going to enjoy. The problem: Mixing epoxy is messy and it gets air bubbles. Adding heat to epoxy makes it flow much better and takes out the air bubbles. It also, makes it thin and thus difficult to work with. The solution: Red Bull […]
I just returned from the NAMM show in Anaheim CA. Rich Zimmerman and myself exhibited for MusicMedic.com again this year. It was a great show and I have some news and pictures to share. However, Rich stayed out west to do a series of Clinics on Jazz improvisation. Rich has the camera so I’ll wait […]
Shortly after I posted this Blog about our visit with Ken, this letter showed up in the mail. “Dear Curt, Just a quick note to thank you, Jen, Matt and the entire MusicMedic team for making my visit to Wilmington such a fruitful and enjoyable one. I know all too well how busy you and […]
There are a lot of reasons that I love my job. Repairing saxophones is a wonderfully fun and challenging sport were I am constantly pressured to outdo my previous work and solve new problems. It can be hard work but it is not without rewards. Sometimes these rewards come in the form of gratitude, occasionally […]
In the MusicMedic.com repair shop we often get requests to re-pad Buescher Saxophones with RooPads. This is something we do on a regular basis for professional players around the world who play Buescher saxophones at a very high level. The results are excellent and I believe it is in a large part due to the […]