Today is a big work day.

[bloke]

After driving twelve hours (automatic trans, but I never use the cruise feature) on Thursday and again on Monday, it caught up with me, and Tuesday I didn't do anything other than lay down and try to ignore a background headache and some background nausea.

Today, I went outside and worked until it was too hot, and I'm going to loop back and finish the BRASS instruments (half of them done before we left) for a university (yes: today).

I believe I have five sousaphones left to do (I tried to leave the five EASIER ones), two or three trombones, and two or three marching-whatevers.
Encountering some brand-new top-line USA-made instruments added to their fleet, this year ("legacy" models), I'm not particularly impressed...but the people I deal with there are nice, and they supply me with parts between really-quickly and fairly-quickly. "Legacy" models...Theirs sort-of remind me of the B&S ones...in-house knock-offs of amazing stuff they made decades ago.

I'm thinking that Mrs. bloke still has about seven or eight tenors, an alto, and three piccolos to complete for that university. I hope she doesn't need any help with the saxes.

We told them that we would bring back the other half (this half) on Friday or Saturday.

The only remaining school is a middle school. It's a large pile but the quotes we wrote down are all pretty low, so hopefully we can breeze through that one quickly.

The gigantic Z-Trak was repaired while we were gone so for the FIRST time this summer (this refers to about half the mow-able property) , I'll mow (after that middle school is done). On the huge mowing deck, a tensioner pulley and a guide pulley both sported shot bearings...so I figured out what all was needed, got the genuine JD parts, and asked a capable friend if he would install them for me. The symptom was that - in tall/thick grass - those two worn-bearings pulleys would rock sideways, the belt would drag against the top of the deck, and the blades would stop turning. I also went ahead and bought a set of "real" JD blades - as I had sharpened the previous ones down to c. half their original width (approaching "dangerous", as those several-inches-long thinner ends could possibly have broken off and been sent flying).

[bloke]

That large university’s instruments are done - except for one short action sousaphone that I thought had dirty valves, but once I took them out I could see that all three of them have been dropped, so I’ll be ordering new ones. Those things are extremely difficult to straighten, because of their diameter, and it’s just easier to go ahead and tell the school to spend the money on a new set.

We have one middle school – large repair order – to finish up, and just found out we have several extra days to get those done… Thank goodness, and now the latecomer schools are calling with their instruments: some more schools whereby the band directors are just now looking at their stuff, and that’s just fine. We need the dough. After the latecomers come the schools that have re-torn up their instruments during band camp.

[2nd tenor]

Just as a side bar I see that Bloke will be ordering new valves for a Tuba and that prompts a question. Short of finding a knowledgeable brass technician and taking their time to discuss possibilities, and perhaps so on a few occasions, how does one find out what parts are available? Google searches have produced nothing for me, but perhaps I’m looking in the wrong places or the information that I’m looking for isn’t meant for public viewing.

[the elephant]

…the information that I’m looking for isn’t meant for public viewing…

NOTE: This is for the archives, as people search this sort of info all the time. It is not aimed specifically at your questions but tries to answer a lot of questions that are posted here from time to time.

I think he is talking about ordering some new valves directly from the factory. You order parts from Conn-Selmer from their online parts catalog. You do not have to be a dealer or own a shop to access this, but as an individual, the prices will be much higher. Also, the catalog takes time to learn to navigate, as the interface is clunky, and parts are not described in any sort of meaningful or intuitive way; some instruments have exploded diagrams to help you, but many do not. Knowing someone there who can help you find what you need on the phone is almost a must if you do not already know the part number when you start your search.

So the answer to your other question (what is available) would be pretty much everything — if it is still being made. They stock parts no longer made, but when they run out they run out. Also, they periodically change a part to streamline production and costs, so a diamond-footed brace for one horn might be discontinued, only to be replaced by a round-footed brace of the same size from another horn. (This exact thing happened to me, mid-project. I ordered what I thought was enough of one style of brace foot, only to order more and discover that they had been replaced and what I had been using was no longer being made.)

You can order parts from most makers, but some of them are easier to work with or more responsive than others. Conn-Selmer is — at best — okay, while Miraphone can be really great, and will sell you anything they make or make anything to your specifications (within reason) if you have the money for it. Meinl-Weston will sell you anything and custom-make stuff for you, too — if you can get anyone there to answer emails sent to the correct account. If you need parts for a Chinese horn some of the importers stock (or can get) certain parts, but usually not all of them. It varies. You have to do a lot of calling around to see what your options are. And a lot of shops will not sell you parts; we are not parts suppliers, and selling parts is a time-consuming nuisance that is not free for us, and people gripe when we charge a fair price for our time and effort to source parts for them. If it costs us either in time or money it will cost the customer, too; it is unfair for people to get upset when efforts are made on the behalf of customers who then expect things for free or for below what we spent on them. And this happens often, so a lot of shops will not get parts for you unless you are paying them to also do the work.

So if you keep running into a blank wall when looking for parts — these reasons could be why. The best route is to establish yourself as a business and open accounts or establish a relationship with a local shop with a tech you trust, and then see about using him to get stuff. Remember that wholesale is usually half of retail, so if he can get it for $10 it will cost you $20, and this is to pay him for the time needed to make the order, which can be a PITA with some suppliers, and when it comes in he will have to take time to unpack it, too, which prevents him from doing other work that pays.

Since parts are a segment of a shop's business model, they are not always going to be free with information as to suppliers, too. Giving information like that away could harm their business.

[2nd tenor]

Many thanks for your in-depth reply.

[the elephant]

No problem. A lot of people are frustrated by how difficult it can be to locate bits and pieces for their projects… either used or new. If you need something specific, posting in this forum or in the WTB forum with photos or a very clear description of what you need can sometimes get it for you, or at least can put you on the trail to finding it. Also, if you don't know what you need, but you know what you want to do, some here are good at figuring stuff out for you and telling you what you would need.

[bloke]

I’m going to make a general statement that pertains to a couple of totally unrelated makers, and I’m not going to reveal the makers:

As far as pistons (low brass/school grade) are concerned, what I’m seeing are apparent attempts to tighten up tolerances, but without tightening up build quality, and this causes people like me to spend a lot more time repairing things that – in the past - may not have even been damaged with the same intensity of impact.

Just to brag on a brand that I sell – JP, when valves are seized in these instruments, it is also because of close tolerances, but - so far - I’ve not encountered a jacked piston casing or rotor casing – they were just “spit stuck” (rode hard, put away wet, never oiled) and I could free them on site at the schools, and hand them right back without taking them to the shop.

Parts on discontinued instruments:
When people are really generous with me regarding parts, I feel obligated reciprocate that generosity, but generally I’m pretty greedy regarding no longer available - yet still in demand - parts, because I feel obligated to keep them for my regular customers - rather than doling them out to people who are entertaining themselves in their garages.
Additionally, I just might need some parts myself in the future for my own (well…) entertainment.
I hope this makes sense.

[the elephant]

Yep. I don't buy parts for people and it takes something very interesting for me to trade parts. I almost never sell off stuff. I might need it someday.

[bloke]

' will push to finish up a middle school today (down to "trumpets/trombones", and Mrs. bloke is down to "flutes/clarinets").

' would like to drop them off tomorrow (an hour away) and visit a NEW customer school and hour from there (to pick up flutes/tubas/more) and return back here (equilateral triangle trip).

If no more add-on schools this year - nor too many torn-up-during-band-camp instruments (??), there are several too-messed-up-to-get-back-before-school-or-band-camp-started (various schools), and then HUGE house/property projects, and HUGE instrument repair projects...oh yeah: and gig-season is crankin' up (assuming no monkey-pox alarmism).

[bloke]

school repairs progress...

These are all of the SCHOOL-owned instruments that are currently in my shop: (not counting any woodwinds in Mrs. bloke's room)

- a TRASHED YBB-641 - "I'll see if I can sort of get it holding back together and working, but will stop at $300...I'll have to circle back on this particular instrument and look at it after I've taken care of all the other schools."

- an Eastman mellophone
"It will take a while to get a new mouthpipe...and it won't arrive by the time I've repaired all of the other instruments" (since received - now: doubling back)

- a Selmer Mark 7 copy Asia-made tenor sax
"low B-flat tilting spatula assembly missing, but instrument returned to the school completely adjusted without that part" (since have located a source - different brand name - for that assembly, and the assembly is on the way here)

- one year old Conn 20K
All three pistons were trashed (apparently dropped/dented bent...maybe: when trying to oil them standing over concrete...?? These are awkward to hold, and - particularly - if holding all three at once...NOT recommended), and a new set has been ordered from Conn-Selmer.

...so this is pretty good progress compared to (a couple of months ago) "stacked to the rafters".

If things stay sort-of "down to a roar", I'm going to try to go around the house and shop, repair things that broke over the summer (which we simply had to ignore/work around - water heater, utility sink faucet, etc.), do a (probably 2-weeks) shop clean-up/reorganizing, and get back to some of these huge projects and delayed customer repairs.

We made a huge circle, yesterday - dropping off repaired instruments at the last couple of schools.
On the way back, we were way over to the east in Jackson, Tennessee, and met a friend at his son's (a craftsman) house - so I could use his son's vice to hold dent repair tools: I removed some dents from my friend's recently-acquired Selmer (Paris) "K-MODIFIED" trumpet...amazing trumpets from c. 60 years ago. He owns the typical Bach/Schilke/Yamaha trumpets, but much prefers this - as his B-flat instrument.

Our son has been a huge help this summer (hauling the huge mower off to have big - worn-out bearings - pulleys replaced on the deck, tending to the garden, keeping the house clean, repairing fences, sadly: burying pets that died, and many more things.

I'm HOPING (sometime this week...??) to squeeze in the minor mod's that I've been wanting to do to my new-to-me very nice Miraphone model 98 kaiser b-tuba (#4 circuit slide bows replacements with new gold brass ones, #3 slide tuning range-increasing alteration, slightly raising the pitch of the instrument, and venting the rotors).

[bloke]

Here's my friend with the Selmer (Paris) K-Modified trumpet (on the left), and - on the right - is the young man who won that trumpet competition, is playing a recital (resulting from that competition) at Carnegie, and who has made such extraordinary progress - over the last four years.



The guy on the left (K-Modified Selmer) works like crazy:

He's a M-F (and Saturday night) band director, and is a policeman (weekday nights) and Saturday/Sunday (days)...full-time/full-time