Wind Works — Local services in Burton

I bought a used Selmer oboe for my 5th grader that was playable but needed a good cleaning in August. They took two weeks to clean it and replaced one pad-over 300 dollars. Well, this was less than two months ago. My daughter told me that her oboe wasn’t working correctly a week and a half ago. She took it into band and when her band teacher looked at it, one of the keys had completely fallen off along with the rod and he said he had to tighten 9 other screws on the oboe. I took it back to show them the key and they have spent the past week looking for the part, but the they cannot locate a replacement part. They were going to charge us for the missing key and repair-even though there is no way a reputable instrument brand and decent Selmer instrument should not be falling apart 6 weeks later after getting a complete overhaul by them. I had to call up there for updates on the oboe over the past 8 days-I never received calls from them even though I was told when I dropped it off that it should only take a couple of days to get the part. When I expressed my frustration-the owner explained that he thought that another middle school student tried stealing the key because that Selmer model is no longer made, and that is the only explanation he could come up with and there would be no other reason that the instrument was coming apart other than somebody tampering with it. (My child keeps her oboe in a locked locker and there are no other oboe players in the entire school.). I then said I thought it was sad that he would rather blame other people than take the responsibility of acknowledging that the instrument fell apart so soon after they took the entire instrument apart. I told him that screws can also loosen if they are stripped and I had to have a screw replaced on my flute because of that-and he said, “See! Isn’t that suspicious that somebody is messing with your instruments?” I said, “Sir…that is when I was going to college for music 20 years ago. Nobody is messing with our instruments.” Please do not take your woodwind instrument there. They are so delicate. Save yourself the time, headache, and money and...

I've had Luke and Misty work on my (many) instruments for almost 25 years. They have worked on my sopranino sax, two (2) alto saxophones, two (2) tenor saxophones, three (3) baritone saxophones, a flute, and a piccolo. I have even done some consignment sales with them. They do top quality work and charge very reasonable prices. You can not find two more qualified and reputable people in the business world. I know many members of the Genesee Wind Symphony, the Flint Concert Band, the Flint Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the Genesee Valley Concert Band, and their reputation, workmanship, professionalism, and honesty are second to none among Flint area musicians. I highly recommend The Wind Works for any instrumental music needs...

I've known Luke since 1984, and he's been honest and knowledgeable since before. My high school band director was learning instrument repair from him, and that saved me quite a bit of money. Luke taught this even though it was a business-reducing "shoot myself in the foot" move, probably so he could do more serious work, like to refinish my 1937 Selmer Balanced Action professional alto saxophone; he did...