Repairs: Other Services…

Taylor Historic Music can also accomplish many other types of repairs:

• We can repair damaged tenons and sockets using any of the methods for body cracks which are suitable, plus lining with a sleeve and backing up or sandwiching with a membrane.
• We can restore some chips. We can touch up minor cosmetic damage.
• Bassoon webs can become damaged over time. We can repair or restore them using several methods, including gluing, gluing with a membrane, lining sockets in brass, or mortising out the old web and installing a new one.
• We can cover cornetti or cor anglais and corno da caccia in leather, or repair or replace bagpipe bags.
• We have replaced missing mouthpieces, and can fabricate stocks for bagpipes.
• We can plug pinholes in bocals, resolder split seams in bocals, or patch larger holes. Or, I can drill whisper holes.
• We can fabricate missing rings or solder split ones.
• We can swage the tuning slides of early (Irish and simple system) flutes to tighten them up.

We can probably undertake any other repairs you may need. Please with your questions.

Specialized Repairs

Some repairs are quite unique one from the other. These include items like chipped or cracked edges, edges which have been warped down, windways which have been gouged up, and heads which have been chewed by dogs or children. The conditions necessitating these repairs are both (1) nearly fatal to the instrument and, (2) not 100% repairable.

Because they affect portions of the instrument which are critical to the instrument’s performance, and usually are also quite thin or sensitive to small changes in dimension, even the best repairs of these types usually result in a less than complete restoration of an instrument’s playing characteristics, and may not be stable after they are done. PREVENTING THIS KIND OF DAMAGE IS FAR BETTER THAN REPAIR (for example, don’t put your finger in the window to blow out moisture, or anything in the windway).

However, there are times when it is appropriate to attempt to repair a fine instrument which has been damaged. And, as long as the repair remains stable, the result can be worth the effort.

Repairs of this type are wholly dependent upon the nature and extent of the damage. I can steam warped edges back into something approximating their original place, rebuild broken edges and windways, build new plugs by hand if necessary, and undertake other work as appropriate. All of this work is taken on a time basis, although I can estimate my cost and will often cap a job which would otherwise be unreasonable.

Please if you have any problems not found described elsewhere in this site.