sax repair in San Francisco

[MandoPaul]

Lee Kramka @ SaxWorx has a great rep but is quite buried in repairs it seems. Who else in San Francisco (or within easy walk of BART) does good work? Good prices would be a bonus but I've given up on seeing that around SF. :)

[aanz]

Best Instrument Repair
564 14th Street
Oakland, CA
510-832-2452

They've worked on all my horns, always do a great job, from regulation and adjustments to full overhauls. Very nice and clean dent work too all at resonable prices and turnaround times.

[MandoPaul]

Thanks aanz. Anyone in particular I should ask for?

[dingfelder]

i concur with the good assessment of their work. They did a complete overhaul of my zephyr bari and it honks. It had some major dents and the did a nice adjustment as well. Pricey but good work

[Jazzed]

When I was in the Bay Area, Best Instrument Repair did great work on my horns. Jeff was the guy who worked on my horns.

[Gregg W. Jackson]

Bob Gross at Best Instrument Repair worked on my Mark VI tenor. He did a great job -- the cleanest soldering that I've seen this side of the factory. And he was quick in reasonably priced.

[aanz]

Bob runs the place, I think Jeff Hobbs does alot of the work. It's a cool place, in the basement, horns and parts hanging all over the place. It looks like the shop has been there since time began, although it's only been a few years.

[Gregg W. Jackson]

aanz, yeah. And the posters in the hallway and the staircase that looks to me like it should lead to a church basement. That shop has character.

[mark_m]

Has that shop really only been there a few years? Feels like you've walked into the 1890's. Amazing. Kinda like the Pelican Inn up near Muir Beach - feels like it's 150 years old but it's quite new...

[recreational player]

Hi, can someone recommend a repairman in the south bay or all the good ones in Oakland? thanks

[kingperkoff]

Bob is The Man at Best! Sally is good as well, she did a 6 overhaul for me and Bob has done 3-4 overhauls for me. They've been there at least 21 years (I first went there in 1982) but probably longer. Bob & Dick Akright are the owners. Dick is the man for Brass work. Both are really nice guys and very knowledgeable.

[mark_m]

A bit confused... There is A&G, with the Best repair shop in the basement. This is on 14th near Clay.

Then there's Best Instruments Repair, or something similar, on Broadway near 17th.

Which one are y'all using? I've used the former, which meets the descriptions above...
?

[kingperkoff]

Best Music moved to Broadway from 14th st. and Best Repair stayed in the basement. Dick Akright opened A&G Music (Akright and Gross) in the old Best Music space upstairs. They also own Union Music on Golden Gate St. in San Francisco.

[mark_m]

I thought Union Music was on Bush street. But thanks for the clarification, so there really is only one Best repair shop... I like that place and I always end up spending about an extra 20 minutes looking at the posters:)

[dingfelder]

the best repair on 14th is the one I used

[Flatted 5th]

Hello, just found this great site.

Union Music used to be on Golden Gate ave. 34 Golden Gate. It was connected on the side of the Golden Gate theatre and run by a great repairman by the name of Dan Regan. It opened up in 1922 and serviced all the bands that came through the theatre as well as a retail place.
I spent many a year hanging out there, using the practice area in the basement. (You could hear the stage plays going on in the theatre from the air ducts while you practised! And I am sure the theatre people could occassionally hear a ghostly note or two.) I received a free music education in the place talking to all the musicians that were passing through, and listening to all the stories from the old-timers. It had great ambiance with the great posters and pictures on the walls, mint condition sheet music decades old, and cheap prices for everthing, I still use the Mark vii I bought from Dan in 1980.

A few months before Dan passed away, Union Music was sold to Best in 1990, it stayed at the 34 Golden Gate location for a few years then moved to it's present location on Bush street.

Eventually the Union Music store and the next door dry cleaner store were boarded up and painted over, so if someone goes down to that area now there is no trace of the history that was that place.

[mark_m]

I also recently used Steve Deutsch in Oakland; he works out of his home. Super nice guy, he just did some minor tuneup stuff for me but I have a really good feeling about him. Actually he nailed some leaks on my C-melody that Best missed.

[Kritavi]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Walter at House of Woodwinds in Oakland. What a fantastic guy and great repairman. I live in New England now but when in the Bay Area he treated me amazingly well. An outstanding technician. I know Steve Deutsch and honestly never found him close to the man or repairman that Walter is.

[mike]

Please note: Walt sold House of Woodwinds to Dick Ackright (the guy who owns Best Repair on 14th) and they closed the Oaland House of Woodwinds.

The last time I spoke with him, Walt was working part time out of the San Ramon House of Woodwinds. He doesn't have a full shop out there, and any major dentwork, for example, gets sent to Bob in Oakland. I agree, though, Walt is the man.

[mark_m]

Walt may be less engaged now than he was, in that case. I brought him a couple of my horns a year or so ago and one of them was less playable when I got it back than when I gave it to him, in fact it was unplayable. This is just my one-person's-experience... My impression is he's semi-retired at this point. Perhaps those with an existing relationship will get better attention.

I feel like finding a good tech is like finding a good mechanic for your car. It seems like half of the equation is trust and respect. I've gotten some very poor work from some of the most highly-regarded techs, which only makes me feel disrespected, and low on trust, unfortunately.

Steve Deutsch paid attention and trusted my comments on the horn and took the time to go after and kill some leaks and tweaks that Best and another extremely regarded SF tech missed or overlooked, and he charged minimally for his service.

I didn't mean to propose that he's the best; who knows who the best is, and I believe it's different for different players. Certainly I've gone in the past to some of those recommended on this forum as the best, and have not gotten their best work. So, the best is only the best for a particular person if that person can get the best work from that tech.

[Kritavi]

I appreciate your comments Mark. People and their circumstances change. I knew Steve quite a few years ago and can only assume his work has improved with time. Perhaps the converse is true with Walter. My belief is that too many people make too much of going to the "best" repairman whoever that is. I think it is enough to go to a solid pro and have a good relationship with them.
Now that I am in New England I met Les Arbuckle and he treats me right and so he gets all my work. I know, like and respect some other more famous repairmen around here but it is not always possible to get the time and attention I want.
Just as an aside a friend had a 10M done locally by Skip Drinkwater and he can't stop raving about how great the work and service was. Find a guy (or gal) you like and stick with them and you can't go wrong.

[DAC]

I want to post a great recommendation for Steve Deutch in Oakland. Mark_M recommended him on this forum, so I looked him up on the web made a phone call, set an appointment for after work (a real convenience), and took my Jupiter tenor over to have the neck tenon resized as it was loose. While I was there I had the Jupiter 787 neck recorked, and at my request he went through the whole horn from top to bottom, and adjusted everything. Even leveled a tone hole. One hour later, I felt like I owned a whole new instrument! It played completely different than it did prior to the work he did. it sounded great from top to bottom. As he works out of his home in a residential area, parking is no problem, unlike the commercial stores, and Steve is a really nice guy too.

The phone number is (510) 533-6750 he can also be reached at steve@mcn.org, and his website is www.stevedeutschmusic.com

If you need your sax repaired in the bay area check him out. This was a last moment same day thing and Steve was very accommodating.

[mark_m]

Really glad to hear that worked out for you. Always a bit hestitant to make recommendations after my experience based on the recommendations of others.

Things change over time, and the hot tip one year is not necessarily so a few years later. F'rinstance 20 years ago everbody told me I should go to Berkeley for grad school 'cause it was the happening place for sculpture (which I happened to be studying). Turned out the reputation was rooted in a scene which had dissipated 10 years earlier and the place was dead as a doornail.

But that's how I transplanted from PA to CA, which seems to have worked out in the long run.

Didn't quite mean to diverge like that, I will recap by saying I had similar experiences with Steve and am glad I'm not the only one.

[Lenny]

Ken at Best Music (17th St - not Best Instrument @ 14th St) seemed pretty competent to me though I haven't had any work done except fitting a few necks which he did a great job on.
Their brass guy is a genius at fixing dents.

[JayMan]

I had Steve Deutsch work on my horn based on the recommendations I found here, so I think it's fair I share my experience. He actually did a good job, but he talked to me as if I'm a kid who needs to practice every day. I'm 30+, have a life and a career, and I'm just happy to have any time to play at all.

Bottom line, he was rude and unprofessional. I don't know if it's because he happened to be slightly drunk when I got my horn back or if he's always an a**hole. Either way, he ain't getting my money again.

[CardinalRule]

Another repair guy to consider would be Eric Drake at Sax Craft in Berkeley (1956 University Ave.). He's super nice and very meticulous. A friend had his BA tenor overhauled there and it came back in beautiful shape.
He also does mouthpiece refacing and has a great collection of vintage pieces on hand and does engraving too. I just had a mouthpiece refaced by him and it's a better player than before

[whaler]

I had Steve Deutsch work on my horn based on the recommendations I found here, so I think it's fair I share my experience. He actually did a good job, but he talked to me as if I'm a kid who needs to practice every day. I'm 30+, have a life and a career, and I'm just happy to have any time to play at all.

Bottom line, he was rude and unprofessional. I don't know if it's because he happened to be slightly drunk when I got my horn back or if he's always an a**hole. Either way, he ain't getting my money again.
Sounds like he studied with Sol Fromkin.

[tanbark813]

Hi, can someone recommend a repairman in the south bay or all the good ones in Oakland? thanks

Well not quite South Bay but the tech at Allegro Music did a great job with my alto. I forget the guy's name though.

http://www.allegromusic.net/

He also gave me a nice deal on a Meyer mouthpiece.