Repairing Ourselves Out of a Job?

Or why bother, it's only for a beginner?  Part One: The Philosophy

As a charter member of NAPBIRT, I can remember conversations with some of the early members, many of whom are no longer with us, for what ever reason. Many of those conversations revolved around the issues of quality and technique. As NAPBIRT was making it's beginning, I too was making a beginning. I started my own store called Desert Winds Music Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. While the focus was primarily on repair of wind instruments I felt I needed to rent instruments to make more than a technician's living. The rental program I chose to use involved my company buying new and used instruments and taking a tax credit and depreciation on the investment. This arrangement precluded me from selling the instrument on a "rent to own" as is customary in our business because upon sale the tax credit and any depreciation taken would need to be repaid to Uncle Sam. I also chose to receive payment for the school year in advance with no refunds (typical $80 for a clarinet) at a discounted rate with the payment applying to an again discounted price of a new instrument. Since most of my friends back home in North Dakota were music educators they encouraged me to buy only instruments made by well know manufacturers. They also applauded me on the plan as it encouraged students to stay with the instruments for at least one year reducing the 50% plus dropout rate experienced by most retailers to more like 20%. Then reason? Mom and dad did not get that monthly bill for rent (we affectionately call it the "invitation to quit") from the dealer asking for their $15 or return the instrument. We all know little Bobby and Suzie want to quit after two months don't we? Well, if the parents paid in advance and couldn't get a refund most would make damned sure they got their monies worth and made the kids stick to it for a year. After all it is a class, why should they be allowed to quit before school year is finished?

I also knew that to be competitive in a new market (I had only been in Phoenix 3 months before starting Desert Winds and knew no one!) I asked my old friends what it was about rental instruments that frustrated them the most. The answer was instruments that were delivered in an unplayable or barely playable state and dealers suggesting it was the child taking the instruments out of the case and not handling the instruments properly. Undoubtedly this was as significant problem. However, many of my old buddies were themselves good musicians and conscientious educators and began to play test instruments before they gave them to the student and found significant problems with both new and used instruments right from the dealer. Most of the problems were with woodwind instruments and I asked what their expectations were. Basically they wanted all instruments to play reasonably well in tune, not have pads and corks falling off prematurely and be adjusted with minimal lost motion. Instruments should come equipped with a decent clean mouthpiece with no chips. Flutes and saxes should be able to play at least to low C without embouchure adjustment and clarinets should be able to play across the break easily from the left as well as right hands. In addition woodwinds should be set up so the student does not have to use undue pressure on the keys to get notes to respond. All of these problems can lead to bad habits down the road which are hard to break and discouragement and a desire to quit on the part of the student.

Wow, a seemingly tall order for so little a rental income per instrument. However, my four year apprenticeship training with Leroy Abbott (a true woodwind master who now lives in the Pittsburgh area) at Central Music in Syracuse, NY left me with some basic concepts with which to build upon. One, Leroy hated soft, mushy pads that were installed with a deep creases on uneven tone holes, adjusted with a mallet, and delivered (or held in the store until time of delivery) with keys blocked down with corks to keep adjustments in place. He felt this was a cop out in the name of money on the part of both the dealer and the repair tech. The dealer liked the idea of paying less to keep his instruments out and the repair tech didn't want to fix the horns so good they would rarely come back thus repairing himself out of work.

I thought long and hard about what my educator friends told me, what Leroy taught me and listened to conversations of technique and quality at early NAPBIRT meetings as well as attending meetings of music retailers where I asked questions and listened thoughtfully as I pondered the dilemma of profit versus quality. I came to the following conclusions which have become the basis of my business and personal philosophy in regards to repairs instruments.

• A beginning student has the right to AND the need of a fully functioning instrument as does the professional musician
• A beginning student should be supplied with an instrument that has the same or as close to the same fundamental scale and pitch tendencies of a professional quality instrument. 
• A beginning student has the right and the need to have an instrument that mechanically is as strong as possible and is set up using the same quality parts, supplies and techniques as a professional instrument.

My reasoning was based on several assumptions, one being if I was soliciting work from schools and individuals and my work load grew (which it did) I would be put in a position to prioritize between my rental, the school's and the private customer. During busy times this could lead to some awkward moments and temptations to do quickie repairs to make someone happy. My experience with quickie repairs is they offer temporary solutions that usually come back at you sooner rather than later. I felt if the instrument was set up right in the first place it would come back for two reasons damage (not my fault) or minor adjustments that would be considered warranty. I also know from personal experience it is to pay to have something fixed and be forced to either live with it or take the item back again. In the case of instruments taking it back again may mean the player missing a recording, having to dig up a loaner which may be as bad or worse than his horn, or missing that band concert or in the case of a beginner missing one or more very crucial lessons. I did not want to be put in a position of looking at an instrument that had just been in my shop and be faced with a myriad of problems that should have been fixed the first time. I don't like pressure and this was one I didn't want. Furthermore, those instruments I was renting I OWNED and I didn't want to see them coming back. The more warranty work one does the less money he makes. The more classes a student misses the easier it is for him or her to get discouraged and quit. The more times mom or dad or the band director or the pro is forced to come back, the more of an opportunity you give them to consider the competition. My goal was to keep them coming back. Whether it was a pro or a beginner.

Yes, repairs like I'm taking about take more time and time is money. With my horns I didn't care. My rental rates were more than my competitors. They were my horns and I felt spending more time and money on them in the beginning was worth it due to savings in future maintenance costs and warranty re-do's. As for the customers someone early in the game who now is CEO of one of the largest retail school music chains in the country once told me "just remember, you're not going to make every sale", and I didn't. Sure some people think only in the short term and went elsewhere but most liked my philosophy. Some of those that went elsewhere came back after they got tired of situations I mentioned earlier.

Some of the things I looked for when I bought new or used instruments. These are in the order they came to mind as I write but not necessarily the order of preference:

• Tapered pivot screws whenever possible. We will not buy new instruments with cylindrical pivots and we pay $60.00 less for a used instrument with cylindrical pivots.
• Only silver plated or solid silver flutes (we never buy nickel plated flutes as we find most private teachers think they are too slippery and don't like them.)
• Dropped power forged keys
• The four trill keys on the upper joint of clarinets should be on four separate screws rather than three, with the top two sharing one screw.
• All models of instruments considered for purchase new and used must pass a test for the acceptability of the response, scale and pitch tendencies of a particular instrument by a board of advisors consisting of the best private teachers in our area. All of whom are specialists on that instrument and have at least a bachelors in music ed and still actively play and teach that instrument. Clarinet specialists who double on sax are not eligible to cast votes pertaining to saxophones no matter how good they are. Vise versa sax specialists who double on flute and clarinets are only eligible to cast votes pertaining to saxophones.

Instruments that are accepted are added to our internal list of approved instruments which is NOT AVAILABLE for distribution because even though we may be able to defend ourselves against a lawsuit, we don't want to have to pay for it. The above list of guidelines as well as their justifications are distributable as long as brand names are not used.

This is part one of a four part series. The future articles of which the titles follow will cover what it is we do to instruments to make the repair as reliable and long-lasting as possible.