Handy hints section

This section of the site is devoted to a series of guides on woodwind repairs, which may help you maintain and preserve your instruments and carry out simple minor repairs to your sax, flute, clarinet....or perhaps even your contrabass bassoon.

But why should I give these secrets away? Why should I tell people how to avoid the repairer? Well, the information is out there in other places (not all of it from informed sources...) and there's a world of difference between being able to do the odd maintenance job and the ability to tweak and hone an instrument so that it gives its best.

So here you can find reliable information based on nothing more nor less than the techniques I use in my workshop every day. I'll also attempt to explain why things should be done a certain way and, where necessary, provide appropriately dire warnings.

Please note; whilst the techniques and methods described in this section are given in good faith, you should be aware that working on your instrument carries with it a risk that you may damage it, and in this respect I cannot be held responsible for any such damage caused. If in doubt, see a repairer.

For further information of a technical nature I thoroughly recommend keeping an eye on Matt Stohrer's Open Source Saxophone Project. This ever-growing project aims to cover all aspects of saxophone repair - and while it's obviously saxophone-specfic, a great many of the articles and techniques are relevant to most of the other woodwinds.