Page 1 of 2

*

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 7:39 pm
by arpthark
*

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:23 am
by Bill Troiano
Years ago, I sent out a school tuba to have a patch put on the bell where there was a crack. They used a door hinge for the patch. I complained to my director and he basically said, yeah, well they won the repair bid. The store didn't remain in business for too many years.

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:11 pm
by MaryAnn
I have boycotted a well known and well advertised local music store for years after they a) used pumice inside a (french) horn because I had asked them if they could get the "old brass instrument stink" out of it; and b) returned it with one of the valves in backwards, which was obvious just looking at it. And they DID work on brass instruments. None of mine, ever again, even if I have to drive an entire day to get to someone who isn't an idiot.

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:16 pm
by arpthark
*

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:18 pm
by 8vb
A wise man once told me "never order steak at a seafood restaurant, and never order seafood at a steak joint."

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:02 pm
by arpthark
*

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 2:20 pm
by timothy42b
8vb wrote:A wise man once told me "never order steak at a seafood restaurant, and never order seafood at a steak joint."
Best hamburger I ever had was at an Italian restaurant. It wasn't on the menu but I couldn't understand anything on that, so I asked for it.

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:13 pm
by bort
the elephant wrote:
8vb wrote:A wise man once told me "never order steak at a seafood restaurant, and never order seafood at a steak joint."
Mexican and Chinese places always offer chicken tenders and hamburgers so that parties with members who do not really want Mexican or Chinese that day can have something to eat, therefore they do not lose potential business.

Sometimes these are really good, but most of the time they are terrible.
Once in NY, we ordered delivery from a Mexican restaurant. However, we didn't realize that it was Mexican / Chinese.

My wife's burrito had broccoli in it.

You can imagine how the rest of the meal was... :roll:

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:29 pm
by toobagrowl
Bill Troiano wrote:Years ago, I sent out a school tuba to have a patch put on the bell where there was a crack. They used a door hinge for the patch.
WTF, why would they even think of doing that? :shock: Solder or epoxy would have been much better and easier to cover that crack as an easy 'crap repair'. And you can Dremel or sand solder and epoxy to look decent enough -- especially if you spot-lacquer over it -- if on a lacquered horn :idea:

I seem to remember someone on here talking about a repair they saw once that involved a tuba bottom bow that was riveted in place instead of being soldered on :lol:

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:55 pm
by timothy42b
When I was in highschool (late 60s) the local body shop did a nice job on a fiberglas sousaphone bell. I guess they worked on Corvettes a lot.

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:09 pm
by Three Valves
There was a restaurant around here called The Golden Bull with a great big plastic cow on the roof.

My co-worker (company dinner) asked me if I was going to get the fish. :roll:

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:38 pm
by TheTuba
well if bloke asks :idea:

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:16 pm
by Tubajug
timothy42b wrote:
8vb wrote:A wise man once told me "never order steak at a seafood restaurant, and never order seafood at a steak joint."
Best hamburger I ever had was at an Italian restaurant. It wasn't on the menu but I couldn't understand anything on that, so I asked for it.
I lived in Puerto Rico for two years and I found that some of the best Puerto Rican food was made at Chinese restaurants! Other than the home-cooked stuff of course...

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:32 pm
by paulver
Learned to get "really picky.... .really fast" with repair shops. A lot of people use a guy at a very well known music store in the greater Pittsburgh, PA area. I won't!!! He's good, but......... just not good enough for me!! Used him for quite some time when I got a teaching job in the area. Before that, I used an old guy about 45 minutes away from where I lived. He was great. Music store guy....... not so much. I have another guy that I use almost exclusively now. Reason for "almost" is that I have different places for different instruments and different repair jobs. Some jobs simply require perfection, not "that's the best I can do!" It's like going to a doctor. Pick the very best you can afford right off the bat, for the serious issues. You're gonna end up there later, anyway!!!

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:52 am
by greenbean
paulver wrote:Learned to get "really picky.... .really fast" with repair shops. A lot of people use a guy at a very well known music store in the greater Pittsburgh, PA area. I won't!!! He's good, but......... just not good enough for me!! Used him for quite some time when I got a teaching job in the area. Before that, I used an old guy about 45 minutes away from where I lived. He was great. Music store guy....... not so much. I have another guy that I use almost exclusively now. Reason for "almost" is that I have different places for different instruments and different repair jobs. Some jobs simply require perfection, not "that's the best I can do!" It's like going to a doctor. Pick the very best you can afford right off the bat, for the serious issues. You're gonna end up there later, anyway!!!
This ^.

Trust me, I won't take my bassoon to a brass tech for any reason. Ever.

Re: Tuba repair at a non-tuba shop: a cautionary tale?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:22 am
by timothy42b
paulver wrote:Pick the very best you can afford right off the bat, for the serious issues. You're gonna end up there later, anyway!!!
And here's why. When I supervised maintenance, I always sent my worst plumber first. If he could fix it, I was way ahead of the game, saving my rare experts for the really tricky jobs. If he couldn't fix it, I'd send the next worst, until I got it done. You never have enough of the top skills so you have to carefully use them.