The HWC
Clarinet Workbench
The clarinet division at HWC is lead by shop owner and head technician Chris Howard. Chris's craftsmanship is seen in the finishing work on every clarinet that passes through the shop. With extensive experience as both a professional player and technician, he excels in overhauls and restorations, ensuring each instrument meets the highest standards of performance.
Services Available
The Clarinet overhaul includes a complete replacement of all pads, key corks, and tenon corks. Tone holes are resurfaced, wood is cleaned and oiled, and key work is tightened and polished.
Clean-Oil-Adjust (COA)
Our Clean-Oil-Adjust service, often referred to as a "COA" is all about preventative maintenance and keeping your instrument in peak performance condition. An annual COA is the best way to protect and extend the useful life of your instrument.
The New Clarinet Setup is the recommended service for all professional clarinets that are 'fresh from the factory.' This service is complementary with all new clarinets purchased directly from Howard Woodwind Company.
Our overhaul service is available for all professional bass clarinet models. The services involved parallel those of the soprano clarinet overhaul, but at a larger scale. Pricing varies for low Eb and Low C instruments.
The vintage restoration process is similar to the clarinet overhaul; however, older instruments often require significantly more time and care with regard to wood conditioning, tone hole resurfacing, spring replacement and tightening of the key mechanism.
Tuning and Voicing Work
Tuning and voicing of the clarinet is addressed in many ways. Key heights can be raised or lowered, register tubes changed or modified, and bores adjusted. Tone holes can be undercut, reamed, or contoured in various ways. This work is very personal to the player and is best done with the player present.
Hourly Service Appointments
As needed playing condition repairs are commonly addressed on an hourly basis. Contact us to make an appointment to work with you directly and address your specific needs.