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 guys.

Some of the finest players in the country are having their work done at Carl's Band Instrument Repair in Bloomington; a few of which are list on their site here

Carl and his son Travis have been repairing professional woodwinds for longer than I've been around, and using RooPads before RooPads were cool. When I first started offering RooPads for Saxophone Carl was one of first, if not the first tech to call me. So it was no surprise that Carl was one of the first techs to try our RooPads for Bass Clarinet.

It is a surprise when you see the instrument in which they installed our RooPads for Bass Clarinet.

Check out this keyed Bugle with RooPads for Bass Clarinet brought back to life by Carl's Pro Band!



Carl and Travis did some serious work to this baby. They replaced some of the tone holes. Leveled the ones that were OK, and installed RooPads for Bass Clarinet.



Travis tells me that he likes the way the RooPads worked on this bugle because of the, "Nice firm feel" and that they, "seal up well." -Of course, these are RooPads and it's your work Travis!

Tons of body work was done including the fabrication of various parts, stripping the lacquer dents etc.. I'm told that a new pigtail is being made for this Bugle as we speak. This will allow for the use of a 'regular' trumpet mouthpiece.

If you would like to learn more about Carl, Travis and Carl's Pro Band, check out their site:
http://www.carlsproband.com/index.php

If you need some horn work done, do not hesitate to call these guys!

-Curt

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 Saxophone Quartet" (RSQ). While studying saxophone at Fredonia, I attended a workshop given by The Rascher Saxophone Quartet and it changed my life. During that camp I decided my ambition was to play in a saxophone quartet. Since that time, I've attended and enjoyed many RSQ workshops and many of the decisions I've made about music and business have been based on my desire to play in a quartet similar to the RSQ.

I've also had the honor of doing saxophone repair work for members of the RSQ and once went on a playing tour (duo baritone saxes!) with Kenneth Coon, the baritone saxophonist of the RSQ. Needless to say, this quartet and all they have done have greatly impacted my life for the better.

This year the Rascher Saxophone Quartet is doing a special workshop in the US at Florida State University. 'Special' for many reasons: First, three of the current members in the quartet are past students of Patrick Meighan, professor of saxophone at FSU. So this should be a sort of homecoming for the RSQ. Also, FSU is the home of the MANA Quartet, winners of the recent 63rd Annual Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition. MANA is the first saxophone quartet in the history of the competition to take home the top prize! Aside from the RSQ (isn't that enough?) and the MANA Quartet the Trio Bel Canto will be in attendance.

The Trio Bel Canto is a group of amazing players that you must hear to believe. The Trio is comprised of Alto Sax (Patrick Meighan), Tenor Sax (John Moore) and Piano (Krista Wallace-Boaz). I've heard this nationally acclaimed ensemble perform many times and it's always outstanding. I heard from Patrick Meighan this morning that the Trio may be performing on the evening concert at the workshop.

This means, The Rascher Saxophone Quartet will be under the same roof as the Trio Bel Canto, the hugely acclaimed FSU saxophone studio, the MANA quartet as well as all the amazing players from around the world that attend RSQ workshops, for a whole week. Wow, this will be nothing short of spectacular!

This is an event that should not be missed. I highly recommend that all my saxophone friends out their sign up for the RSQ workshop at FSU. I do not know how many spaces are left at the workshop, but I do know that spaces are limited. For all current and past students of mine this workshop is mandatory!
Every workshop I've been to included meals and lodging. The cost is extremely reasonable and the food is always good!


Learn about the workshop or register (do it!):
RSQ at FSU info and register:


Rascher Saxophone Quartet:



The MANA Quartet:


Trio Bel Canto:
Patrick Meighan:
John Moore:
Krista Wallace-Boaz

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 pad cup arm. Cut off a piece of Hot Glue Filled Heat Shrink Tube that is the smallest diameter possible.


Shrink it over the shaft. This heat shrink tube will remain more resilient if it is not overheated, so hot air may be a better choice than a flame.


Now, shrink a piece of Heat Shrink Teflon® Tube over the Hot Glue Filled Heat Shrink Tube. Assemble the mechanism. It should be too tight at this point.



With the pad cup and lever both in place on the saxophone, heat up the joint to soften the shrink tube, while at the same time moving the lever through its normal range of motion.


The hot glue inside the shrink tube will soften and conform to the forked arm on the lever. Remove the heat as soon as the key moves freely. Continue moving the key while the shrink tube cools so the spring tension doesn't force all of the hot glue to one side of the joint. After it's cool, test that the key moves freely and silently. If it still feels too tight, re-heat again while moving the key. If it is not silent, add a little heat without moving the key.

Once you have this working properly trim off any excess tubing.


Teflon® shrink tube has a tendency to slide off over time if not glued in place. Most often the nature of this joint allows the forked arm on the lever to hold the Teflon® in place, but if it doesn't just slip the Teflon® tube off halfway, put a drop of super glue under it and slip it back in place.


If you have any questions about this technique feel free to email me at: Questions@MusicMedic.com

-Matt Scott

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 all.

At the Messe, there weren't too many new things and the show was not as crowded as it has been in the past. That said, our booth was jam packed. It was strange to leave the booth at the Messe and see the isle empty with a crowd around our booth.

I asked nearly every person coming to the booth what was the most exciting thing they saw at the show so far. Many of them said our Pearl Saxophone Rollers and our RooPads for Clarinet! I was amazed at the response these two new products got. I didn't have a chance this year to go around playing saxophones but I was able try a few.

Technicians at the Messe and the NAPBIRT convention were really excited about our Precision Pads. For years now, we have been offering Precision Pads for nearly half the price of even the least expensive pads offered by other manufacturers. Now, technicians are coming to us amazed at the high quality of the pads we offer and really excited about the price and free shipping. Offering a superior product for way less money was bound to catch on and it did, this year, in a big way. Thanks to all the techs who offered to try our pads at the show and to all of you that have known for years what a great deal we're offering!

-Don't worry, we won't be raising the price now that the secret is out!

For those of you that I saw at the Messe, I look forward to seeing you again next year! I hope you have a great year! For those of you who were so kind to Matt and Rich at the NAPBIRT convention we'll see you next year!

Here are some pictures of the Messe in Frankfurt. I didn't take too many pictures my camera/phone was acting up. The pictures I did take are a bit fuzzy! After the Messe, we took a little time in Venice so there's a picture from there too.



Two great friends that I enjoy hanging out with every year at the show. On the left is Karsten (maker of Gloger-Handkraft necks), Curt, Paul (proprietor Saxophoonwinkel)




Curt and Johann.
Johann is the inventor of the Cebulla neck strap!



Milandro, Arthur and Curt. These two are fascinating characters! It was great to see you guys. Next year, lets get some dinner and a beer! -Arthur, I still have a piece of candy here, I'm waiting to try!


I pulled Stephen Howard away for a chat this year. Great to see you again Stephen!


Random Venice picture. There is so much cool stuff in Venice.



Here's a special boat in Venice that you may not see anywhere else in the world! Once you've seen it in action, you learn to stay away from them!


All the best to all my friends at the shows. I can't wait for next year!

-Curt

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 the National NAPBIRT Convention where we exhibit and give clinics.

This year both shows are happening at the same time. If you've been following what's happening here at MusicMedic.com you know that we are also in the middle of a huge building renovation where we will relocate to once complete.

That said, it's a wonderfully busy time here and having two shows happening at once only ads to the excitement. Of course it also adds to the work that must happen. Times like this remind me that I have a super crew of hard working men and women backing me up. Matt, Rich and Dan are arranging for the NAPBIRT convention while Jon is leading a crew at the building leaving time for Jen and I to travel to Europe. Wow, what a great team, thanks everyone.


At the Messe, we will be showing many new tools, pliers, supplies and materials as well as a new product that will change the clarinet world forever! -you have to come to the booth to find out what it is! Hall 1.1 Booth A22.

At the NAPBIRT convention, Rich Zimmerman and Matt Scott will be showing our new tools, supplies and materials as well as the secret Clarinet product that you've all been waiting for. Matt and Rich are both very excited and this will be Rich's first NAPBIRT convention. Be sure to welcome them!

If you're going to either show come and see us. We all know that you're the reason we don't have to go get real jobs and we look forward to talking with you and working with you for the rest of the year. If you're not going to the show, and your just dying to know what the clarinet product is, send me an Email...

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 the most 'bling-bling' shops in the country and I want to share it with you. This experience was extra special for me as I'm on the advisory committee for this place and not only do I get to experience the latest and greatest in repair, I get to give my opinions on how to make it better!

The shop I went to is more than just a shop really, it's a mecca of learning and growth. If you ever happen to be near Red Wing Minnesota, you have to stop at Minnesota State College Southeast Technical, home of the Red Wing repair School. Visit with the guys at Red Wing, and you will quickly see what an outstanding bunch of people and bright future there is there. The only thing I regret from my visit is not staying longer in Minnesota, but alas, there is work to be done here in Wilmington.

Of course the facilities at Red Wing are awesome, and I have pictures to prove it, but the most exciting aspect of the shop and the Band Instrument Repair program are the students and the professors. As I was sitting in this super cool mega classroom filled with more tools than you could shake a contra-bass sarousaphone at, I couldn't help but think, what a great vibe there is here in the repair school. Lucas Pemberton, Greg Beckwith and John Huth are some some the most upbeat and straight forward guys I know. The whole trip, the meetings and the conversations at the local pub continued to be steered toward “how can we improve” and “What do we need to do differently to better serve our students and our industry”. The students I was fortunate enough to chat with were amazingly on point. In fact, just talking with the students at Red Wing makes me think I wish I were hiring! Soon...

I really can't say enough about the atmosphere and the vibe at Red Wing, it truly is a learning environment where positive attitudes abide a desire to improve rages on. Bravo Greg, Lucas, John and all the students at Red Wing.

OK enough sentimentality. Lets talk about the shop! This place is repair tech's dream. Talk about tooling. I wish I had time to open every drawer and look in every closet.

Let's talk shop from one side of this multi-room mega shop that they have to the other.


The Brass repair shop. This place is so big I had to use the panoramic function on my camera! In this picture you can see a good part of the shot. In the picture is Nicole Roberts who lead the tour of the shop. Nicole has also taken it upon herself to organize and categorize parts, horns and repairs in the shop. Great job Nicole!




Starting on the far end of the shop is a buffing room to die for. When I took this picture, Greg said, "oh no the buffing room is a mess I hate to have people see it like this..." Man, if that's messy I wonder what clean looks like?




Here is the super organized and talented Greg Beckwith in his Brass repair shop. Greg is showing off a Baritone that they are about to repair. That's some job!



With so many horns to work on and so much work happening at Red Wing, I guess the ceiling is the only place to store the huge array of instruments they have. This is just one small section of what looks like trumpet bells which hang from the shop ceiling. Pretty cool to see really.



That's all the pictures of the brass shop I took. I wish I took more. There are soldering stations, dent tools, drawers and drawers of tools. It's a repairman's dream come true!


Leaving the Brass shop, there is an area in between the brass and woodwind repair shops that house several wonderful tools and supplies. Only a few of which I took pictures of. The picture above is a Hone used for brass valve casings. This picture does not do this piece of equipment justice.


For the shop that has everything... this is a hydrolic table. Someday I think those guys are going to be drawing tubing and making lead pipes on that. Wow.



Look at the tooling. Students that leave Red Wing know how to use these tools including the lathes pictured. I think that skill is invaluable in a world where repair parts are getting harder and harder to find.


Yep, they even have practice rooms.

OK, so even though I'm a woodwind tech, I didn't get any pictures of the woodwind shop. Sorry Lucas! You will have to go to Red Wing to see the super-cool woodwind shop complete with every tool under the sun, supplies and even an overhead camera on a remote where the profs can show the whole class a close-up shot of damage on a 3-48 thread from across the room!


After the advisory committee meeting, we took a picture. Note that The students Frankie Rodriguez and Nicole Roberts are in the picture. These two students are a shining example of the greatness that is happening at Red Wing. These two ran the tours of the shop attended the meetings and have absolute involvement in their education. Bravo you two, some employer is going to get a real treat when she hires you!


To all my friends at Red Wing:

Thank you so much for allowing me to visit. Being on the Advisory Committee of such a outstanding organization means a great deal to me and I look forward to watching, and helping you grow!

Bravo!

-Curt


If you want to learn more about the Repair program at Red Wing contact Greg, Lucas or John. You can find their info here:
http://www.redwingmusicrepair.org/

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 instrument and cause it to no longer work with the larger chambered mouthpieces for which it was designed. That said, something has to be done to these wonderful instruments to allow them to work with small-chambered modern mouthpieces. What I have done on my personal Baritone and for many of my clients is to extend the mouthpiece itself. This extension allows a player to use the modern mouthpiece without altering the instrument.

My personal mouthpiece is a Lawton 6, notice in the picture below the extension on the mouthpiece. -Also, if you're curious about the engraving, that was done by Eric Drake in CA. I was at IAJE with Eric Drake years ago and he happened to have his engraving tools, I happened to have my mouthpiece. As usual, Erics work is spectacular, even when done on a noisy trade show floor.

OK back to the extension, take a look at the extension I put on my Mouthpiece years ago.



You can see that this extension is nice and clean. Also the inner diameter is the same as the inner diameter of the mouthpiece's original shank.


OK, so that extension worked great for years with one flaw. I could not use my mouthpiece to test modern baris that came into the shop. This is (was) a real problem for me. I would have to use a more unfamiliar mouthpiece to test horns. Even though I like to use the players set-up to test a horn, it's always nice to play my set-up as well to be sure I'm not missing anything.


So, I started talking to Matt Scott, the now-famous saxophone repair technician, about my plan to have a removable extension. Luckily Matt and I work together so we were able to plan and work at the same time. 2 days later Matt came to me with a few parts. In the picture below you can see the new part that Matt made on the lathe for my mouthpiece.



With these parts, Matt's plan was that I can unscrew my extension and remove it leaving the original, shorter, mouthpiece ready to be put on a modern instrument. The threaded part above was to be soldered to my mouthpiece allowing the knurled extension (threaded inside) to be screwed on.

As luck would have it we also just finished a MKVI Bari overhaul that needed testing. In just a moment I was able to unscrew my extension and play the VI, then screw my extension and blow a few notes on my 12M.

This is what the mouthpiece with the removable extension looks like complete. Note that I will someday send it off to be plated properly.






Thanks Matt!



-Curt

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 or any Soda-type can. Tip the can over and mix your epoxy in the concave bottom of the can. If you need to heat the mixture the can will hold a little heat for you and the sides will cool much faster than the epoxy -so you have a place to grab the can.

I heat the can with a hot air gun.

Note: I never checked on the health implications of mixing epoxy on a can or even heating it up. Do this at you own risk and if it's a beer can, do it at you leisure.

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 for him to return to work to tell you about the show.

Now we're getting ready for the Navy Saxophone Symposium. Matt Scott and I will be exhibiting and checking out as many concerts as possible. We're both playing a gig on Friday night so we're planning to drive to the show in VA after the gig. Should be a late night but it will be worth it. The Symposium is always a great time.

I'm planning to bring our new Cebulla Straps for players to try and our other accessories. I'll also bring some Gloger and Goodson necks for you to try if you have time.

I'm toying with the idea of setting up a bench at the show but I'm not sure I will have time to organize it. If there is something that you want me to bring, drop me a line and I'll throw it in the truck.

See you in VA!

http://www.navyband.navy.mil/saxophonesymposium.shtml

-Curt

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 the whole gang are; especially considering the ongoing renovation of, and upcoming move into the new MusicMedic building. My noggin is STILL reeling from the staggering size of the project! I cannot over emphasize how awed I am with the work that is taking place on that venture, and I cannot wait to see the finished product! As with all of your endeavors, this too will certainly be an ENORMOUS triumph!

After our visit I started to shuffle through my memory a bit. My last visit to your shop was before the RSQ’s workshop in Fredonia. That would have been July 06. Since then “our” baritone has seen action on four continents, in about twenty five different countries, in approximately 175 concert performances and in roughly 20 radio, television and CD productions. It has logged bucket loads of frequent flyer miles and European railways points. It has dealt with the freezing temperatures of cities like Tromsø, Norway, the extreme humidity of places like Seoul, Korea, and the intense heat and sunshine of locales such as Palermo, Italy.

Add to all that more than a few practice and rehearsal hours and I guess you could say that it has had a pretty strenuous workout these last two-and-a-half years.

Considering such a work load, and taking into account that the horn is pushing 60 years old, I am amazed at how well it has held up and how relatively little “tuning-up” was needed. This is obviously the result of the superior WORK, CARE and COMMIMENT that you and Matt have dedicated to this instrument as well as the others in my collection. I am well aware of the finely detailed and creative work that you and your team have invested into my instruments. This alone is, to say the least, remarkable. However I am just as impressed with how DURABLE the work has been. Simply amazing!!!

Curt, all the seasons that I have had performing with the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet have be tremendous and special, however I truly believe that the seasons since January 2005 (this was when I first started using saxophones blessed by MusicMedic in concert) have been my most successful and certainly most enjoyable. Truly, a priceless gift!!!

Many people ask me why I travel to western North Carolina to have my instruments overhauled. I always tell them that it is the same reason I like to visit Asia to have my clothes made. The nicest Hugo Boss off the rack pales in comparison to the fit of a finely tailored suit made just for me. You and your team’s tireless efforts and remarkable results surpass the finest tailors that I know.

Yours, with utmost respect, undying gratitude and unwavering friendship,

Kenneth Coon
The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet"