Welcome to my online resource for advice, care, repair and maintenance for woodwind instruments.
Whether you're interested in buying an instrument, maintaining your flute or clarinet, hints on saxophone repairs or just plain curious about woodwind - you'll find something to interest you here, presented in a clear and relaxed manner.
If you require further information or wish to comment on anything on the site ( or just fancy sharing your experiences ) there's a contact link on the left.

Winter 2011

Have you got your copy of the Haynes Saxophone Manual yet?
If not, why not?

An impertinent question perhaps, but if you take a quick look around you you'll probably spot any number of household items that come with an owner's manual. Your phone, your laptop, your television - even the toaster comes with one.
So why don't you have a manual for your saxophone? After all, it's a complicated piece of kit and unlike your electrical items it seldom suffers from that familiar "working one day, dead the next" syndrome. It's more like your car...it works fine for a while and then slowly seems to fall prey to a collection of niggling faults, before finally coming to a complete standstill.

"Aha!" you say, "If my car goes wrong I take it to someone who knows how to fix it!". Well yes, and so do I, but that's an expensive business and everyone knows that a little home-maintenance goes a long way to extending the time between garage services. You check your oil and top it up, you check your tyres for pressure - and every time you drive your car you're always aware of those little knocks and rattles that might mean something's wearing out.
A few pennies spent early on can save pounds later down the line - that's what maintenance is all about.

What makes your saxophone rather different from your car (aside from that fact that it has a lousy 0-60 mph time, and won't carry passengers) is that you probably don't know whether it's working properly or not.
If your car drifts to the right every time you brake or takes half an hour to start, you know there's something wrong...but what if you can't play those bottom notes, or hold the tuning over an octave? Is that you...or is it the sax?

Wouldn't you like to know? Wouldn't you like to find out if there's something simple you can do to check - and even better, put it right? Go on, you know it makes sense - and the best news is that you don't have to rob a bank to do it. You can pick up the Haynes Saxophone Manual at almost any large bookshop worldwide from as little as around £11 - or you can get it online from a simply huge number of internet retailers. Amazon, Bookdepository, Barnes & Noble, WH Smiths etc., and if you fancy something a little special you can get signed copies via this website, and join the many thousands of readers who have made the Haynes Saxophone Manual one of the best-selling saxophone books ever.

Clarinettists will be pleased to hear that work continues on the forthcoming Haynes Clarinet Manual - so keep an eye out for it in 2012.

In the meantime I've still found some time to do a few updates to the site - and what a treat I have for you this time!
There's a triple bill from Cannonball, a very nice flute from Beaumont, a decent Ultra-Cheap alto from Gear4Music and a truly astonishing tenor from Trevor James. Also on the bench is the TJ Alphasax, an alto sax purposely designed for very young players.
As if that's not enough there's my Frankfurt 2011 show report (about time too!) and another article in the Jazz Etiquette series...Musical Admin.
I spoil you lot, I really do!

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So, what's on the site?
There's the Handy Hints section, which contains pages of advice and hints to enable you to care for and perform minor repairs on your instruments. It's worth checking back from time to time as this is likely to be an ever-growing section. For those looking to have an instrument repaired, there's a basic guide to the various levels of servicing.
Latest update: Making custom key risers.

The Reviews section is the place to find the bottom line on that horn you've had your eye on.
As and when instruments come through the workshop ( or rather, when I have the time! ) I'll post my comments about them here. The emphasis is more on the mechanical side, given that playability is very much a subjective matter - though if I find issues that may affect this significantly I'll comment on them. There's also a section here which offers some advice to those of you about to buy an instrument, new or secondhand - perhaps for the first time, plus some notes on the vintage/modern saxophone debate, and some hints for choosing a pro sax.
Latest update: A trio of saxes from Cannonball - hits or misses? Beaumont make their debut with fine student flute. Gear4Music get their act together again. Trevor James hits the big time with the Signature Custom Raw tenor, and their unique Alphasax makes light work for little fingers.

The Misc. section is where you'll find all the articles that don't quite fit anywhere else, including the infamous Black Museum. In this update I bring you my show report from the 2011 Frankfurt MusikMesse.

In Testing...Testing I'll be examining in more detail some of the commonly held ideas appertaining to woodwind instruments. For example...people 'say' you should use a Pad-Saver...but why? And are they right?
Latest update: Kangaroo skin pads and Noyek Reflectors...Hype or Hooray!? And at last, the above-mentioned pad saver test!

In the Glossary you'll find explanations for a great many of the curious words and terms used throughout the site. If you're very new to musical instruments it might help to open this section in a separate browser window so that you can refer to it as you read other sections of the site.
Latest update: A complete revision of the point screws article (nice new piccies!).

Notes...from a small workshop is a place where you can get the low-down on workshop life, a chance to pull up a seat and share a cuppa whilst the great issues of, well, anything I fancy really, are mulled over. I won't often publish detailed update notices here...so just drop by and peek in from time to time.
Latest update: The fourth instalment of the Jazz Etiquette series - musical admin.

All material on this site copyright Stephen Howard Woodwind, unless otherwise stated. 28/11/2011

Haynes logo copyright Haynes Publishing Group

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