Testimonials

Back in early 2004 I was in a jam—a serious jam. My old Heckel was not behaving well; the intonation was somewhat off and the response seemed not quite right, no matter what adjustments I made to my reeds or setup. I determined that the wing joint was leaking but I couldn’t find the source. I called my friend and bassoon guru Jim Kirker, who cleared his schedule for me (during the holidays, no less), and off I drove to Boston.

At this point I have to make some painful admissions. This issue of playability had been creeping up on me—it’s amazing what you can get used to over time—and I chose to ignore it. I had been a bad boy and was not having my bassoon serviced on a regular basis. In addition, I was overextended at the time, touring simultaneously with the Borealis Wind Quintet (my regular gig) and the Dorian Wind Quintet (a one-year position) and not taking good care of my instrument.

When I arrived with my bassoon, Jim took a quick look and discovered the problem. At some point, one of the water tubes had a pinhole drilled into it, most likely for tuning purposes. This pinhole was exposing the inside of the wing joint—bare wood—to moisture on a regular basis. The joint was literally rotting from the inside out! Decorum prevents expressing my reaction here because we’re talking about potentially catastrophic damage to 100-year old Heckel that was rebuilt by Heckel. The implication: either they did the deed themselves or missed it during the overhaul. Argh.

Although I was a wreck, Jim remained calm throughout and sent me home with a loaner instrument while he crafted a solution. He called me the next day with a plan that involved injecting a sealant into various areas of the joint to arrest the damage and solidify the joint (yes, with a syringe). In addition, he strongly recommended replacing all the water tubes—after all, there may be other pinholes. This was going to be a methodical process, but he assured me that I would have my bassoon back in time for my next tour.

I agreed to everything and Jim went to work. Two weeks worth of meticulous effort paid off, as Jim’s plan did the trick; not only was the damage repaired, but the installation of the new tubes also improved the intonation—an added bonus. Ten years later, my bassoon is still leak- and rot-free and solid as a rock. And yes, I’ve learned my lesson—my old Heckel now gets scheduled visits to Mr. Kirker’s shop.

Get your horn checked out regularly by a pro, and if you’re in New England (or if you’re inclined to ship) then get it to Jim Kirker—the man who saved my bassoon.

Wayne Hileman
Borealis Wind Quintet
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I own a Puchner bassoon (circa 1962). It was time for some maintenance and I contacted Jim Kirker to have water tubes installed. After discussing the work with him on the phone, we agreed on the work to be done and a date to ship my bassoon. After he received my bassoon we conferred again and he did the work. It was expertly done for a reasonable fee, fixing several intonation problems I had had for years, and promptly returned to me. After the return of my instrument he contacted me to be sure that I was satisfied with his work and discussed my instrument with me. I was without my instrument for a minimum time.

I would give my highest recommendation to Jim Kirker.

David Kohler.
Lambertville Michigan
============================================================================================================================ I have taken my bassoon to Jim Kirker ever since I landed in Boston to attend NEC for graduate school in 2008. His reputation among bassoonists in the area lead me to him and the work he has done for me and my instrument keeps me sending my bassoon back years (and many miles away) later. In addition to excellent upkeep work and adjustment, Jim has done some special modifications for me. He introduced me to a lovely 6000 series Heckel in his shop, and that bassoon is now my very own. He made some important upgrades and modifications to it to bring it up to spec, and to give me an assist of sorts. Jim installed water tubes, removed some strange metal plates that surrounded some of the boot joint tone holes, fixed and beautifully refaced the tone holes, added a boot joint guard, and modified the left hand ring key to better fit my finger position. In addition to the water tubes, the more complex work he did really enabled me to play this bassoon with ease. I had an incredibly difficult time reaching the pinky F# key and asked Jim what could be done. His solution was to replace the touch pieces for all of the right pinky keys and to extend the F# key down into the F key. The resulting key looks like a puzzle piece and works brilliantly. The key is creative, smooth work, and was the perfect solution for me and the bassoon. Kirker Bassoon Repair has always gone above and beyond to give me and my bassoon excellent and fair work, and I give him my highest recommendation.

Rosalind Buda
Pan Harmonia
Asheville, North Carolina
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Just wanted to thank you for installing water tubes in my 9,000 series Heckel. The intonation has been greatly improved due to your impeccable craftmanship. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!

Becky Eldredge

Vermont Symphony Orchestra
Smith & Amherst Colleges
Deerfield Academy & NMH School
CMSS & NCMC
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Jim is the absolute best!!!!!!! Thank you for everything you have done for my bassoon and my students!

Katherine Williams McWilliams