Stupidest repair stories?

[MaryAnn]

I admit to never having had my french horn cleaned; I don't like the entire idea of a chem clean. I'd much rather have an ultrasound cleaning done. If you leave it in too long, I can't imagine any negative effect other than rattling its brains a little too much. It isn't full of green goo, so I figure we're ok so far.

My repair story is on an oboe....guy highly recommended by some, others a little askance about him; new in town. I took it in because the low Bb was not sealing well. He made a negative comment about the oboe and literally started tearing it apart. He got many pieces off of the top joint (nowhere near the low Bb) and then told me it would cost $500 for a rebuild. I told him to put it back together, which he sort of did, but it was un-useable because he had started "adjusting" the stuff he took off. I decided to buy another one. This was only last summer this happened. But....the oboe community is pretty close-knit here in town, and I doubt he ever got any more oboe business after that.

MA

[bttmbow]

Try doing it yourself, then you can stop blaming others for the work that they did that was BETTER than your own. FWIW

CJH

[MaryAnn]

What, you want me to work on my own oboe, when I don't even know how to play the thing? Do you have any idea how incredibly quickly you can mess up an oboe if you don't know what you're doing? Ask Bloke...I bet he's seen a few.
MA

[ASTuba]

I think he's talking in general, not directed toward you.

[eupher61]

Try doing it yourself, then you can stop blaming others for the work that they did that was BETTER than your own. FWIW

CJH

And I thought I've made some rude responses from time to time.

I'm with John_L if you bring your videotape to me to edit it, and I don't do it to your instructions or satisfaction, you have a right to complain*. If you order a pizza and it's not what you wanted, or cooked thoroughly, or has raw tomatoes on it, you have a right to complain.

You chose to have someone else do it because 1) you can't do it yourself or 2) you expect that the person you're paying has the experience, knowledge, and integrity to it better and properly.


*unless it's completely clear that it can't be done as you requested, and that's been explained to you.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Try doing it yourself, then you can stop blaming others for the work that they did that was BETTER than your own. FWIW

CJH

Man, care to share the bug that flew up your butt right before you posted that?

"It's better than you can could do" is a debate tactic best left on the elementary school playground. It's certainly not a standard that reputable instrument repair professionals subscribe to.

From a TubeNet contributor with "professional" by their screen name...ridiculous.

[ASTuba]

deleted because I was an idiot for writing this.

[J Stowe]

The purpose of this thread seems to be about oddities that happened to instruments or repairs that were obviously not well thought out, not complaints about concise repairs that weren't quite up to what the person expected them to be. There's so much hostility in miscommunication. I would agree that it's not fair to criticize a repairman if something doesn't look quite like you dreamed or some slides don't have the mobility that you would imagine; maybe it wasn't possible or you shouldn't have let it get that bad? Accidents happen, though, and definitely so do bad days. But reconfiguring an instrument into a lampshade isn't something a person can just cough up to a bad day. I don't know if there is a censoring for the forum, but $#*! happens.. You just need to be informed and thoughtful about how to fix it.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

If you can't do better than that yourself, realize it, chalk it up to a bad day, and get the person to fix their mistake.

I know that's all I ever expect of a car mechanic, tailor, jewelry repair technician, or anyone else who works in the service industry.

I have no idea what this means in the context of this thread. Are you saying that unless your skill level at fixing something is better than a professional's (when would that ever be true?), then any dissatisfaction you have with the final product should be chalked up to a "bad day"? What if you can do better than that yourself? Wouldn't you have fixed it yourself in the first place?

I'm aware that mistakes are made...believe me, I work in the auto parts industry. Most of my customers think I'm out to gouge them, or know nothing about auto parts (thanks, Autozone, Advance, and all you other chains that hire high-school dropouts with no experience).

I'm pretty sure the point of this thread was to share bizarre or funny repair stories, not bash the instrument repair industry. I just don't understand where the "if you can't do better than that yourself" argument comes from. Why do I need to be able to "do better myself" to recognize a mistake was made? Should I just be satisfied if a job is done "better than I could do it"?

I'm not attacking anyone, I'm trying to understand the point that a professional contributor was making. I'll happily chalk up the misunderstanding to my hard-headedness, if that's the case.

Todd S. "who finds 'stop blaming others' easy to understand and prefers expert repair to 'doing it himself' every time" Malicoate

[pulseczar]

As a member of the service industry, we can't do much if someone thinks our work sucks. I just heard a story of Keith Bowen (bassoon repairman extraordinaire) forgetting to properly fit a bell tenon after fabricating new mechanisms and cherrying the crap out of a bassoon.

As a sidenote, I've noticed a trend of amateurs tending to the be ones who like to drop names around the shop and the pros just wanting the horn to be fixed.

As for my stupid repair story, I was grinding out rivets and I was facing the wrong way so thousands of metal shards were flying into my palm, creating a field of metal splinters which are 10 times worse than wood splinters. After taking out most of the splinters, I realized that if I stood on the other side, the shards can fly harmlessly out of my way.

After doing that, I rubbed my hand onto my apron and got even more splinters on my hand.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

BTW, Anyone jumping on CJH/bttmbow is missing his point.

Agreed...I know I'm not understanding it.

It looks like Chris was talking about someone or something in particular...I'll just make my apologies for reacting the way I did...sorry, Chris, for the harsh words. I thought you were talking to everyone regarding complaining about instrument techs in general. I have removed the bug in my posterior. I hope whatever situation prompted your post resolves itself well for you.

J Stowe was right on the money about hostility in miscommunication. Sorry, everyone, for the tangent.

Todd S. "guilty as charged" Malicoate

[Kayla]

Not so much as a repair story but a maintenance one.

When I first started playing tuba I took a valve out to oil it. I found the spring in it, and being a trumpet player and knowing very little about the tuba, I thought this was something stuck in it so I took the spring out. When I put the valve in, the valve didn't work. I was freaking out until I realized that the spring was a part of the valves. By this time, my baby sister had taken the spring and stretched it out while playing with it.


oopsy!

[Rick Denney]

The customer has an agenda outside of getting their horn repaired. They're bitter. They're jealous. They'd have no itch to scratch if a refund was received or additional repairs completed.

That is why I oppose using the forum to air complaints about specific situations. That is best left to established means of righting wrongs. The forum is not that. There are always two sides to every story, and always an ax to grind. The problem is that the balance of belief tends to go to the most articulate person, and repair techs and store owners can't respond in kind without the risk of a pissing match that makes everyone a loser. So they often have to keep quiet while the other party presents only one side of the story. Then, the forum behaves as forums always do, and jumps to conclusions, piling on without any notion of the true facts.

In the several cases about which I have had actual knowledge, the forum in question (not always this one) ALWAYS came to the wrong conclusion.

Rick "consistently arguing against using the forum to air commercial grievances" Denney

[windshieldbug]

By this time, my baby sister had taken the spring and stretched it out while playing with it.

And, I'll bet, she didn't even charge you for the lighter valve action...

[bttmbow]

The comment I made was not about a problem with one particular poster, or any of you.

I tried at one point to "repair/modify" a horn or two, and was not as good as I thought I might be.

My initial point was meant as,"Stop B*#$&ing about others' work, please!"

I hope this clears things up,
C

[mclaugh]

Try doing it yourself, then you can stop blaming others for the work that they did that was BETTER than your own. FWIW

CJH

Man, care to share the bug that flew up your butt right before you posted that?

"It's better than you can could do" is a debate tactic best left on the elementary school playground. It's certainly not a standard that reputable instrument repair professionals subscribe to.

From a TubeNet contributor with "professional" by their screen name...ridiculous.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Hey, mclaugh...I already apologized to Chris for my harsh choice of words. Are you trying to stir the pot by reposting them? You didn't even add anything.

I disagree with Chris' point that this thread has been "bitching" about other people's work...as long as we don't start pointing fingers at specific people, I don't see the problem with sharing stories. But, that doesn't excuse my original post in this thread...it was unnecessary, too acerbic, and not at all constructive.

How about we just let it go?

[Dan Schultz]

I've has several horns here for work that apparently have been 'fixed' by marching band dads. Some have had the dents filled with Bondo and then spray painted gold. I even had a double-belled euph here once that had Bondo in the piston casing knuckles!

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Alas, in this day and age it probably is best to at least ask if it's OK to take the horn to a rehearsal for a test drive...

Actually, quite the opposite.

In this day and age, it would seem to be the norm that people do what they want, what feels good to them, no matter what the consequences or effects on others.

In the "good old days," asking to use someone else's property was normal. Using someone else's stuff without asking would have been dishonorable at best, thievery at worst.

Right and wrong don't change...it's just as wrong today to do this as it was "then." Too bad so many folks don't appear to give a &*%#.

[iiipopes]

Remember, "freedom of speech" only applies when redressing grievances or preferences to government. And although it took an executive order to establish the internet, it is still basically private. We are all here only because of Sean's invitation and tolerance of us. He can shut down any post, any thread, any user, or even the entire forum at will at any time for any reason or no reason at all.

Please remember that the next time someone is about to lob the next salvo.