At Chimes, our staff can undertake some classical instrument repairs. We can restring orchestral stringed instruments, guitars and ukuleles, remove stuck trumpet mouthpieces, and fit adjusters on orchestral stringed instruments. Chimes staff can undertake:

• some basic adjustments to woodwind instruments (e.g. when a screw or spring has come loose)
• help with valve issues or a stuck mouthpiece on brass instruments.

All Classical Instrument repairs are subject to Chimes staff availability.  Our team of staff all have different areas of specialism within the different instruments that Chimes sells or rents.  Please phone ahead (Barbican or Kensington) to check if there is someone available to help with your specific requirements. Some repair jobs we can undertake in store as you wait or you can feel free to leave your instrument with us whilst you go for coffee or shopping locally. Some repair will require you to leave the instrument with us for a few hours, or even overnight. This may depend on the time of day that you come into one of our shops. If you need the work completing urgently, please contact us beforehand to avoid disappointment.

Unfortunately, there are certain times of year where we may be too busy to do drop-in repairs in store, because we we may be too busy on the shop floor. It's always good to contact us in advance to check that there is someone available to help.

Kensington Chimes: call or email  or Barbican Chimes: call or email

Classical Instrument Repairs at Chimes: Off-site

For more significant repair jobs, we send instruments to professional repairers who work off-site. We currently have repairers for the following instruments:

• String (violin, viola, cello and double bass on request)
• Brass (trumpet, trombone, french horn)
• Woodwind (flute, clarinet, saxophone)

Our repair team (who we also use to maintain our stable of rental instruments) can fix specific problems including cracks, stuck valves or keys that won't close, or provide a general servicing for an instrument in need of some TLC.

Quotations

We cannot provide you with a quote at the time of sending the instrument away, as this is dependent on an assessment from our repairers. A quotation for your repair can, however, be provided prior to the commencement of any work on request. You will be notified by Chimes before any work is started on your instrument, and, if the quotation provided by our repairer is not suitable for you, we will simply collect your instrument from the repairer. We will then notify you when your instrument is ready for collection, with no charge for this service.

How long will my repair take?

Depending on the amount of work required, as well as the repairer's workload, your instrument can be with our repairer for a varied amount of time. Please be aware that our repairers are particularly busy at certain times of the year (e.g. over the summer). We will endeavour to have your instrument returned to you within a week, but it may take longer. If you have a specific deadline, please advise us of this at the time of dropping the instrument off. We will liaise with our repairers as necessary, but cannot guarantee a specific deadline until we have communicated with our repairer.

Please phone ahead (Barbican or Kensington) or ask in store (Barbican or Kensington) for more information. If your instrument repair is urgent, we can ask the repairer to prioritise your instrument.  There may be an additional charge for this service. Each repair is taken on a case-by-case basis by Chimes.

Bow re-hair service

Chimes also provides a bow re-hair service, undertaken by our off-site string repairer. This is a fixed-price service, including delivery between our shop and the repairer. Please contact us for the current bow re-hair price.

Stringed instrument out of tune?

Whilst not strictly a repair, this is also something that we can help you with! Again, this is subject to staff availability, and we would always encourage our rental customers (whether it is you, or your child/children!) or those that have purchased a ukulele or guitar from Chimes to learn to tune your own instrument(s)!   After all, it's part of learning to play an instrument, but we do know it can be tricky and nerve-wracking in the beginning.

We can usually tune your stringed instrument (violin, viola. cello , ukulele or guitar) quickly, and briefly explain to you the process in order that you can understand how it's done and this service is free. We can also recommend electronic tuners which will help you with the process and ensure accuracy. If in doubt, please always consult your teacher- they know best.

Instrument Restringing

We also offer a restringing service, and can change individual strings or the whole lot on your violin, viola, cello, guitar or ukulele. This service is also subject to staff availability, and will usually require that the instrument is left with us for an hour or so as the process is more time-consuming than tuning. For this service, we charge a fixed price for each string replaced, in addition to the cost of the strings themselves if you are buying them from us. Please contact us for the current restringing price.

Popular pages:

- Back to Exam Essentials
- Back to Rentals
- Back to Resource Centres
- Back to Strings (Bowed Accessories) or Strings (Fretted Accessories)
- Back to Reeds
- Back to Chimes Guide to Choosing an edition