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I moved to NW Missouri in the fall, and I'm sensing that I may need to get my F tuba worked on, nothing major...new valve guides for a meinl Weston 45slp, and they may need to be lapped. Any suggestion on reputable repair people in the Kansas City/St. Joseph MO or Omaha NE area.

Thanks in advance!

Nate....Edwards? In Omaha, but I haven't heard anything about him in a long time.

If Topeka isn't too far away, Ken Emde at Emde Music. Great repair tech, great guy. Crazy enough to try anything, good enough to put it back the way it was if it doesn't work. Ken was my go-to guy for 20+ years.

In KC, johtuba works at Heritage Instrument Repair. I'm going to say it...the owner of Heritage screwed up a horn of a friend BIG TIME, and 2 mouthpieces for me. I've not had johtuba do any work on my horns, but I daresay he won't screw things up.

BMC Horn Doctor in Olathe, KS (SW KC suburbs). A big shop, generally good reviews. They worked on my F helicon, actually did too much work for what I approved, and charged me to my approval amount. It did take too long, but the work was very, very well done.

eupher61 wrote:Nate....Edwards? In Omaha, but I haven't heard anything about him in a long time....

That would be Nate Griffith. Rather than to post all of his contact information here... please email me.

thanks for the save, Dan!

eupher61 wrote:BMC Horn Doctor in Olathe, KS (SW KC suburbs). A big shop, generally good reviews. They worked on my F helicon, actually did too much work for what I approved, and charged me to my approval amount. It did take too long, but the work was very, very well done.

He did the worst work I've ever seen on an instrument I sent him for repair. Big globs of solder holding things that didn't quite fit together, buffed through silver plating on brand new parts, things installed so crooked I couldn't even move the tuning slide, half-*** ultrasonic cleaning. And he charged a fortune for it. And it took at least 10 phone calls to get one returned. Stay far, far, away.

Lee Stofer is not close to your part of the state (Maryville), but if you can swing the 5-6 hour drive to his place it will be well-worth your while. Drop him a line. Lee drove half-way to Atlanta from his place to meet me (in Paducah) when I bought my Kanstul last year.

davidgilbreath wrote:Lee Stofer is not close to your part of the state (Maryville), but if you can swing the 5-6 hour drive to his place it will be well-worth your while. Drop him a line. Lee drove half-way to Atlanta from his place to meet me (in Paducah) when I bought my Kanstul last year.

I can attest that a 6 hour drive one-way is well worth it. My last visit was all too short because I was picking up my new Kanstul 33-S and dropping off on consignment a couple of tubas that I never play. Visiting with Lee while he works is one of the highlights of a trip to Stofer Music.

And, I must make a correction to my comments above. Heritage Instrument Repair in KC no longer has any association with the previous owner. johtuba has filled me in on things I wasn't aware of.

I still can't vouch for any of their work, but Joseph is a class guy, and he is a tuba player after all. I'm now sorry that my past experience kept me away from new ownership and techs. It goes to show the effects of bad service, but also blind grudge holding.

I no longer live in the KC area.