The yearly check-up includes:

• Checking the seal of the instrument. Fixing any leaks in the body of the bassoon
• Replacing pads, refacing and sealing tone holes where necessary
• Fixing any loose posts
• Cleaning out water tubes, high D, C and A/Bb pips
• Oiling the bore when necessary
• Oiling and quieting of the mechanism
• Adjusting the mechanism
• Replacing tenon corks and wrap when necessary

Repad includes:

• Complete disassembly of the bassoon
• All loose posts are secured
• Body of instrument is cleaned
• All cracks in the body of the instrument are sealed
• Leaks in the body of the instrument are sealed
• Keys are buffed if asked for
• Bore is oiled when necessary
• U-tube bracket is sealed when necessary
• U-tube cork is replaced
• Tone holes are leveled and refaced where necessary
• All pads are replaced.
• Regulation corks and felts replaced as needed
• Mechanism is oiled and quieted
• Mechanism is adjusted and spring tensions are adjusted for ease of playing

Refinish-replate includes:

• Complete disassembly of bassoon
• All keys, posts and bands are stripped of old plating. All scratches and pitting are removed from keys. Keys, posts and bands are buffed to a high sheen and replated with a triple coat of silver or, if asked for, gold plating.
• All leaks in the body of the instrument are sealed
• Wood is stripped of old finish. Scratches are removed from wood. Tiger striping is available if asked for. Wood is stained the color of choice. Entire body of bassoon is finished with 100 or so coats of shellac using the French polishing technique. Finish can be made full gloss or any degree of satin wanted.
• Posts and bands are reinstalled along with a complete repad as listed above

Refinish wood includes:

• Same as refinish-replate without the work on the metal parts

Replate keys and posts includes:

• Same as refinish-replate without the wood refinishing
• Some keys will have nickel plating on them which requires a chemical strip. I have to send keys with nickel plating out for the chemical strip. The price will increase according to what this process costs me.

Maple tenon cap: (click on blue hotlinks to view pictures)

• This is the best way to fix severely cracked tenons on the long joint or to get rid of those ridiculous metal tenon caps that always seem to come loose. (at least here in New England) When finished, this tenon cap is not noticeable unless the cork or thread wrap is removed from the tenon. It also makes the tenon much stronger and crack resistant than a tenon with a metal cap or no cap at all. The maple I use for these caps has been seasoned at least eight years and treated with a special wood treatment to help stabilize the wood once the cap is in place

Replace wood rot in boot with liner:

• When a bassoon has not been properly swabbed out over the course of several years severe wood rot in the boot around the u-tube will occur. This is fixed by removing all the rotten wood with a special reamer and replacing the wood with a liner made from aged, treated maple with the bore reamed to the correct dimensions.  The maple I use for these liners has been seasoned for at least eight years and treated with a special wood treatment to make the wood stable and water resistant.

 

Specialty keys: Plating these keys is extra. Plating costs are determined by the plating company.

• Double High E Key. In my opinion the double high E should be the default high E on all bassoons. It adds versatility to the high E because it now can be played with the middle finger as well as the index finger. No more blips when going from high C# to high E in the slow movement of the Ravel piano concerto. The conversion costs from $500.00 to $600.00 plus parts.
• Low F/Ab/F# Conversion. Older Heckels often do not have rollers where bassoonists these days like to have them, one place being the keys operated with the right hand pinky finger. The touch pieces on the low F, the pinky Ab and F# keys can be converted to a roller system which many find easier to operate. This conversion costs from $300.00 to $500.00 depending on whether posts need to be moved, whether adjustments needed to the F touch piece, plus parts.
• High D key. Adding a high D costs from $350.00 to $450.00 depending on work needed to the high C key.
• One piece Left Hand Pinky Whisper Key (French). This key closes the whisper key using the left hand little finger. The one piece French whisper key gives a much more positive feel when closing the whisper key than the traditional two piece French whisper key. Adding this key costs between $600.00 and $700.00.
• As well as the keys listed above, I will make keys for special circumstances, such as keys to aid bassoonists with smaller hands or keys for people suffering from arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. These specialty keys often require a lot of hand work as there are usually no “stock” blanks made for them, so time for design must be a consideration.

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