Question 1

What is the single biggest suggestion you would give to someone wanting to get into this career?

John · Accepted Answer

“The biggest thing is don’t try and cut corners. When someone brings in something that looks like a basket case, anything can be fixed. But you should be able to explain why it’s costing this much and [let them know] ‘you have to realize this is a $100 trombone and it’s going to cost $400 to fix.’ They need to understand that and be able to communicate that to the customer.
“Taking a shortcut, going ‘oh well, it’s good enough for a kid’ — that’s backward. You don’t want to just fix it [to] ‘good enough’ unless that’s what the customer asks for. You want to fix it so anybody would be happy to pick it up and play it. That means maybe the first seven or ten tries won’t be perfect, so that’s why it’s a good idea to practice on an eBay horn, not a client’s instrument.”

Question 2

What’s the #1 mistake people make when trying to get into this career?

John · Accepted Answer

“Anybody that really wanted to do it [this job], did it. Anybody who didn’t really, really want to do it quit pretty quickly. In any of the repairs, there are a whole lot of tools and a whole lot of space required, and you should figure out pretty quickly that ‘Uh oh, I’m in pretty deep here.’
“I do woodwork and all kinds of things. I pretty much can maintain my home, because it’s all mechanical. To me, it all relates. If you don’t have the mechanical ability and you’re young, you might be able to get it — but you should start digging into it right now.
“Honestly, I have a friend who got into repair and he did just what I said; he started buying eBay horns, fixing this and that, and putting them on eBay again. He started making money from that and pretty soon he opened a shop. He had no formal training. I had very little, but I always had people I could call and ask questions.”

Question 3

What is one thing I should have asked which I didn’t?

John · Accepted Answer

“A couple things. There are different levels of repair. What most music stores do is called play condition and that’s just making it work. There’s very little in the way of cosmetic repair. Then there’s doing professional quality; it may not be absolutely perfect (like an overhaul), but it’s absolutely the best it can be mechanically and mostly good cosmetically.
“Then there’s the overhaul, which is a complete reconditioning of everything. There are people who do overhauls but they do it so badly that they shouldn’t. It’s one of those things that looks good if you squint from about ten feet away, but it’s not a good job. It’s probably more damage to the instrument than helping anything.
“A lot of people will say ‘I want an overhaul’ and I’ll say, ‘No you don’t, you just want me to fix this and this.’ People ask for overhauls all the time, and you know, if they did that with their car, for example, they’d be broke. You kind of have to interpret for the customer what they ask.”

Question 4

If you could describe in one word what makes you successful, what would it be?

John · Accepted Answer

“Fun.“

Question 5

Are there courses you can take to become an Instrument Repair Tech?

Alison Stolpa · Accepted Answer

Yes! There are only a handful of schools offering courses in Instrument Repair Tech training for band/musical instruments: Minnesota State College Southeast, Western Iowa Tech Community College, Renton Technical College (Washington), Badger State Repair School (Wisconsin), and Colorado Institute of Musical Instrument Technology.

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Instrument Repair and Restoration Specialist