• Original G. Henle Music Engraving Plates Available for Purchase
• 15% Music Teacher Discount on Most Music
• Over-Stock Blowout
• I’ve Never Seen This Before

Original G. Henle Music Engraving Plates Available for Purchase

G. Henle Vertag no longer hand-engraves their printing plates as computer notation programs have advanced. However you can own a piece of history. G. Henle is selling their vast inventory of Lead Engraving Plates. Retailing for $91.00 each plate is unique, however, you CANNOT order a specific title. You get whatever they send.

15% Music Teacher Discount on Most Music

Did you know that Music Teachers get a 15% discount on most music that we have in stock or order for you? 

• Band Arrangements
• Choral Arrangements
• Method Books
• Supplementary Materials

Plus we never charge shipping on orders we deliver by van to the school.

Stretch those budget dollars!!!

Over-Stock Blowout

Trumpet Valve Cleaning Rod

Retail Price = $5.50

Normal BD Price = $4.40

OVER-STOCK PRICE = $2.99

While Supplies Last

I’ve Never Seen
This Before

Trombone comes in with a plastic Kelly Mouthpiece broken off in the mouthpiece receiver. Customer should be glad it was a trombone with a straight shot up the slide…a trumpet, baritone, tuba with limited or no access from the other end would have been MUCH harder to remove, which also meant it would have cost A LOT more t0 fix.  Even with straight access on this trombone, I had to be EXTREMELY careful not to damage the tapered leadpipe in the receiver side of the outside slide. 

• Summer Repairs
• Over-Stock Blowout – Evans 14” Snare-Side Head
• Strange but Real – War Tubas
• Repair Tip –  What I Would Put In A Band Director Repair Kit
• Repair Tool of the Week  – Jett Sett

Summer Repairs

Summer Repair time is right around the corner. It’s hard to believe, but we (Salisbury Music) only have about 7 weeks from the end of school until summer band camps start, so, here’s some hints to make the process go smoother:

1. The earlier the better
2. Be specific on what type of work you want done
3. If certain instruments are needed sooner, let us know that
4. Instruments you aren’t currently can be brought in before school ends

Over-Stock Blowout

Evans S14H20 Snare Head

Retail Price = $18.95

Normal BD Price = $15.16

OVER-STOCK PRICE = $11.50

While Supplies Last

Strange But Real – War Tubas

Japanese War Tubas – Actually a type of Acoustic Locator for detecting aircraft before the invention of Radar. (I don’t have a dent ball that big)

Repair Tip –  What I Would Put In A Band Director Repair Kit

In my opinion, most band director repair kits have a lot of what you don’t need, and not much of what you do need. Here’s what I would put in a BD Repair Kit:

1. assorted screwdrivers – slotted & Phillips
2. mouthpiece puller – fairy costly, but indispensible IMHO
3. plain ordinary glue sticks – can be melted with lighter or torch, to put back pads that have fallen out
4. white Teflon tape – for tenons, neck corks, flute head corks
5. good quality black electrical tape – for broken/unsoldered braces, covering tone holes, leaking water keys, etc.
6. spring hook – for putting springs back in position (I can get this for you)
7. rubber bands
8. small cable ties – for attaching key guards that are missing screws(better than paper clips)
9. pipe cleaners – can be used for attaching key guards, as well as cleaning our hinge tubing before re-oiling
10. key oil – with needle applicator
11. lighter – although flame dances around a lot
12. pencil torch – be EXTREMELY careful if you go this route. VERY HOT  – will melt plastic in a hurry, singe corks, surrounding pads, etc.
13. reed & brass mouthpiece brushes
14. valve cleaning rod – looks like a flute cleaning rod, just shorter with a loop at the end
15. flute cleaning rod
16. rags, etc. (I also cut paper towels into 6 pieces, which give me a 4"x6" mini towel)
17. pliers – whatever you use make sure they have smooth jaws
18. clear finger nail polish – for screws that keep backing out

Repair Tool of the Week – Jett Sett

Jett Sett is a heat-malleable ceramic plastic. So, what does that mean? Basically I can heat up Jett Sett in hot water, form it into whatever shape I wish, then after use, it can be re-heated and used again and again. At room temperature, Jett Sett is hard as a rock, but heated up in hot water, Jett Sett has the consistency of modeling clay.

In the pictures below, I’m using Jett Sett to make a mold of the inside of a stuck tuning slide. After the Jett Sett hardens, I can then use a hammer to safely hammer the slide out. The mold provides equal support around the radius of the slide, preventing any damage to the slide itself.  (Just a note, there’s a few things I’ve done to the slide to help loosen the corrosion prior to hammering out)

This is very cool stuff!

• DINKLES Shoes HOLD Prices for 2009
• Dead Stock Blowout – Yamaha Bari Sax Mouthpiece
• Flute/Clarinet Repair Clinic Recap
• Contrabass French Horn Video
• Repair Tip –  Clarinet/Sax  Mouthpiece Nicks
• Repair Tool of the Week  – Leak Lights

DINKLES Shoes HOLD Prices for 2009

For those of you using the Vanguard, the Glide, or the Formal, Dinkles is holding price levels for 2009 at the same level as 2008, so Salisbury Music will hold prices on these shoes as well.

DINKLES are currently being used by :

• The Holy Name Cadets
• The Blue Coats
• The Crossman
• Spirit of JSU
• University of Maryland
• Westchester University
• Plus Many More

Dead Stock Blowout – Yamaha Bari Sax Mouthpiece

Retail Price = $59.95

Normal BD Price = $47.95

BLOWOUT PRICE = $39.99

Only One Available & MP Only

Flute/Clarinet Repair Clinic Recap

As I told you last week, I was invited to speak to the Instrument Methods Class at Salisbury University last week.  I talked with the students about many aspects of repairing flutes and clarinets. At point’s I covered other instruments, but kept the talk mostly to the upper woodwinds. Below is the hand out I gave out. Feel free to download. It is a PDF file.

Contrabass French Horn Video

YIKES! 5 Valves no less!

Repair Tip – Clarinet/Sax Mouthpiece Nicks

Ever have a clarinet or sax play GREAT one day, then almost totally not play the next day?  One of the things I always check on clarinets and saxes is the condition of the tip of the mouthpiece. It is amazing how a small nick or chip in the tip of the mouthpiece can dramatically change the playing characteristics of an instrument. Mouthpieces get dropped, and often the result is a chipped or nicked mouthpiece tip. Chips or nicks in the rail(s), the flat sides running down to where the reed clamps on, can also have an effect, but not nearly as much as a nick in the tip. Solution? Unfortunately, replacement of the MP.

Repair Tool of the Week

– Leak Lights

My collection of Leak Lights

Leak lights are used in woodwind repair to detect pad coverage problems. The light is inserted into the instrument, so that we can see where the pad is not properly covering the tone hole. Where light is leaking out, air will also leak out

Leak Lights

• Top 2 – Blue Neon bulbs used for flutes and piccolos. The light intensity is dramatically less than fluorescent bulbs, which can bleed through white flute pads. These neon bulbs are actually under-dash car neon bulbs used in high-end car audio customizing shops.  The repair guys at Music & Arts clued me into these.
• Middle – 12 Inch Fluorescent saxophone leak light. This is the staple of the industry.  They also come in 6” & 20” versions.
• Bottom 2 – Old School incandescent bulbs. I still use these for bari saxes (bari’s have no access at the top to insert a long bulb)