Customer Reviews

I can't say enough about the two horns I've gotten from Matt. Both are 1930s Conn Transitionals and are amazing!!! When I got them from Matt they looked brand new. Unbelievable!! And they play and sound beautiful. This guy does outstanding work :)

http://www.bryanmurray.net

I just took my Mark VI in for a its FIRST checkup 5 years after your overhaul. The two techs there were shocked that it had been 5 years. The pads were grimy, but still sealing and the keys are still pretty quiet. No tech visits in 5 years and I'm picky. That's impressive.

I sent Matt a challenging Mark VI overhaul and I couldn't be more pleased with his work.

I've seen (and played) great work by several other top-shelf repairmen on both coasts, and Matt's standards meet or exceed all of them. The key-fitting on my horn is as tight and perfect as a brand-new Yamaha or better. The spring job (and the pad job) is the best and most consistent I've played. My Mark VI really feels like a brand new instrument, as opposed to a perfectly restored vintage one.

I went into the overhaul expecting to pay a high-price for the best quality work, but at the end I found his rates to be quite reasonable. I have been gigging on the tenor almost daily for about a month now and it is a complete joy to play.

A little more than one month ago, I needed my horns (soprano and alto) to be adjusted, right before a tour. Both haven’t been adjusted for a while and the alto even fell down on the sidewalk, hopefully in the case, but was slightly damaged.
I’ve heard some very goods comments about Matt’s work earlier and I confess, I was curious to meet him and to discuss with him about my Rampone-Cazzani saxophones.
I play their soprano for about fifteen years, the tenor and bari for about ten years and I switched my alto from Buffet-crampon Prestige to Rampone three years ago.
After the small polemic around Rampone after the article Matt posted on his blog, I wanted to know more about his position, but also about my horns.
Matt did a great job, totally respecting the philosophy of these particular but fantastic instruments.
He made them very balanced, the key response accurate and comfortable.
It was a great pleasure to play the horns again after his work, thanks Matt !

http://www.laurentestoppey.com

I wanted to post a hearty endorsement and thank you to Matt Stohrer. I have purchased two P. Mauriat horns from Matt, a PMXT 66RCL tenor and a PMXA 67RS alto. They arrived on schedule, very well packed and subperbly set up, and they are both great saxophones. I should add that I am a new, late-blooming but very enthusiastic player, and I found Matt to be exceptionally friendly, helpful and responsive to my emails and questions. Matt recently overhauled another horn for me, a PMST 60NS tenor, which I purchased used elsewhere. It was gummy, sticky, clicky, yucky and very hard to play before he worked his magic on it. When I got it back, I did not recognize it as the same instrument. It is responsive, free blowing all the way up and down, and sounds and looks just beautiful. I am so glad to know about him and I highly recommend him as an honest, extremely knowledgable, talented, personable technician (magician!) who is a real pleasure to do business with. Thank you, Matt!

I would like to give a heartfelt and sincere " Thank you " to Matt Stohrer for the mechanical overhaul he performed on my Selmer SBA alto. I had originally contacted Matt about playing a P. Mauriat alto. I was unhappy with the way the SBA was playing and was in the market for a new horn. Matt let me play test the P. Mauriat and evaluated the SBA for me. Matt explained that many of the problems I had with the horn were due to mechanical issues. I had had re-pads and other work done on this horn in the past,but intonation and other issues still remained. Matt was able to recognize and understand what the real problems were, and explain them to me. I'd always loved this horn's sound and tone. Matt was able able to breath new life into a horn I was ready to give up on. I have never played a horn that plays so well, or so easy ! I am thoroughly satisfied and grateful for my experience with Matt.

Scott

I'd like to give a shout out to Matt Stohrer, saxophone repair specialist. I am very, some would perhaps say extremely, picky when it comes to my horns, and have always gone out of my way to find the best technicians available to overhaul them. I began my collaboration with Matt in summer of 2011, and he has now overhauled 3 of my horns, and is now working on the 4th.

Matt's overhauls are the best, most problem-free overhauls I have ever had, with the possible exception of an old master in the Lexington, KY area named “Clyde”, who overhauled my Selmer Mk VI when I was in college. That overhaul lasted several years without a single trip to a repairman. I haven't had any of Matt's overhauls that long, so the jury will be out until I have.

Back to Matt. Upon receiving my horns back from overhauls, I usually find several things that are not quite right, which I then have to take up with the repair tech. This has been the case even with businesses reputed by some as being among the very best in the world.

Try as I might, it has been difficult to find fault with Matt's work. On two of these overhauls, I haven't been able to find a single flaw in adjustment, padwork, or anything else. On the third, I may have found one flaw in the octave key adjustment, but I'm not sure yet. So Matt promises top-shelf craftsmanship, and delivers on that promise. It's safe to say that many of his competitors do not.

You can't offer this kind of service without understanding what the client's wants and needs are, and Matt will spend as much time as is necessary discussing the repair work to be done with his clients. I have never felt rushed or importunate when discussing repair work with Matt. He takes the time to understand.

Matt is eager to learn, but he also has a lot of confidence in the expertise he has acquired and the methods he has developed. All this means that he approaches your work with a definite point of view, and is very articulate about his views. Consequently, he won't just say "yea and amen" to any request. If he feels that an approach is not the best for your instrument, he will tell you. A few people might then choose to go elsewhere, but I for one am happy to have access to such a forthright, honest, and articulate repairman.

I have just used the words “forthright" and "honest”: these qualities extend also to money matters. Matt's communication on pricing is always clear and unambiguous. That is so refreshing! I can't tell you how frustrating it is to deal with a repair shop that doesn't conclude its deals clearly and cleanly.

My advice to Matt is simply this: keep on providing uncompromising quality, never get complacent, never think you know everything, and always listen to your customers. That last injunction is extremely important. Wherever I have seen repairmen dismiss the concerns of competent players, it has been the sign of decline.

Mat:

My sax rocks! I just played it at the Nationals Stadium for the Night of Hope event, I will tell you I was the envy of all the horn players and the band. Your work is better than fantastic, it plays better than when I bought it new. Please don't ever stop working on saxes, you are a master craftsman.

Dave

I recently bought the purple label Yamaha YTS-62 that Matt had listed for sale here. Over the course of many emails and phone conversations, Matt spent probably hours discussing my preferences and educating me on what to expect. Not to mention the many hours he spent working on the horn itself. The process ended up becoming a bit more involved than Matt probably expected, but throughout it all, he was beyond professional. He clearly stands behind his work and his word, no matter what. As a beginning player, and especially making a fairly significant purchase sight unseen, I can't overstate the value of Matt's integrity.

And as for the sax itself: it's wonderful. Just as Matt promised. The action is smooth and silent, yet still light and springy. Now that I've settled on the right mouthpiece for me, this horn as the deep, rich tone I was hoping for.

So thanks Matt, and to anyone reading this and wondering about undertaking an expensive purchase or repair from a distance, I'd say you can trust Matt implicitly. Give him a call and you'll see.

Allo
I had the chance to have my soprano Yamaha Purple Lable 62 repaded by Matt in December 2011.
The work would have been done in Montreal Longeuil,but when I made a trade with a guy in NY ,he highly recommended Matt Stohrer to do the work on it!
When I got my soprano,from first blow I was amazed by Matt s work!Also Matt was just great with communications,as e mails were replyed the very same day!
My soprano plays like a dream!

Again Matt ,I can t thank you enough!

All the best from Ontario Canada,

Mario