Band & Orchestra Instrument Repairs, Inc.

Jim Scimonetti Woodwind and Brass, standing
firm against the tide of low-end imports

Jim Scimonetti Woodwind and Brass Repair is a welcoming sight to musicians and students in Lancaster, California.

by Michael Gudbaur
Contributing Editor
 

On the far western edge of the Mojave Desert, about 60 miles due north of Los Angeles, lies the Antelope Valley. At its heart is Lancaster, population 118,000. Though less than an hour’s drive from the fabled glitz of Hollywood, this community still has deep enough agricultural roots to host the annual county fair and alfalfa festival. Yet with nearby Edwards Air Force Base and the Air Force Flight Test Center, Lancaster helped usher in the modern aerospace industry.

Perhaps this combination of simplicity and sophistication can account for the growing success of Lancaster’s only wind-instrument shop, Jim Scimonetti Woodwind and Brass Repair. While taking a highly personal interest in the concerns of its customers, the shop offers a wide and varied selection that more than rivals any metropolitan superstore, drawing a large number of high-profile musicians from Los Angeles and beyond.

Like many now-established stores, the Scimonettis’ shop sprang from a successful repair business. Jim senior, a seasoned saxophonist who played backup with groups such as The Platters and the Righteous Brothers, gained a reputation as a good saxophone and clarinet repairman, skills learned as a necessity out of years of hard gigs. His son, Jim junior, a talented woodwind player, cultivated his repair skills through apprenticeships in Lancaster, Los Angeles and with San Diego repair guru Jim Scarff.

Father and son eventually set up shop in their garage, taking on repair jobs for professionals, all the while building a working rapport with area band directors, who came to depend on the father-and-son team’s skills.

Later, at their clients’ request, the Scimonettis started to sell a few mouthpieces and other accessories. After two years, it seemed inevitable that they would open a retail establishment of their own, one that reflected their love of and dedication to wind instruments. But they knew theirs would not be a typical cookie-cutter full-line store.

A scene of what Jim Scimonetti describes as "a slow day at the store."

“In 2001, we decided to open up a store that handled nothing but woodwind and brass-- no guitars, no pianos. And that’s where we’re at now,” asserts Jim junior, with whom the Leblanc Bell spoke by phone.

Located on a strip mall on Lancaster’s West Avenue K, the shop occupies nearly 2600 square feet, a fairly large space for a fledgling store. “We’re about the same size or larger than a typical music store,” the younger Scimonetti reports, “but instead of guitars and keyboards, it’s all horns. When you walk into most music stores, you see a wall full of guitars. Here, you see a wall full of horns.”

One small portion of the Scimonetti "wall of horns."

This display perfectly illustrates the Scimonettis’ primary mission: “We’re trying to offer the same selection to horn players as guitar players are used to having.”

Their inventory is fast becoming legendary, with word spreading beyond the Antelope Valley. “It’s just amazing, the L.A. traffic that we get,” Jim marvels. “And now, we’re getting folks from way out of the area--Santa Barbara, San Francisco, even Phoenix. They know that they can come to our shop and find the selection. We can put them in a room with $100,000 worth of flutes and just let them play. Guitar players are used to that, but wind players normally don’t have that kind of luxury.”

A supplier for Scimonettis since they first opened, Leblanc is fortunate enough to be well represented among the store’s pro-horn selection. “I have all of Leblanc’s wood models in stock. I try to keep Opus II and Concerto II clarinets on the shelf, though they sell very quickly. Martin Committee and Holton MF trumpets are also popular.”

Along with instruments, Scimonetti makes sure to keep the store amply stocked with mouthpieces and other essentials. “My dad is a big proponent of having a huge mouthpiece inventory. We have hundreds to choose from.” Not surprisingly, the store loses little business to cataloguers. “We have as great a selection as most any catalog, and our prices are right in the pocket,” states Jim.

To emphasize their commitment to follow-up service, Scimonetti kept the word “repair” in the store’s name when they moved out of the garage. And in case anyone missed their point, the Scimonettis’ repair shop is in full view of the spacious showroom. “That’s really important to people. They see a huge inventory of horns, and they look behind them and see us all working at the repair bench.”

Left to right: James Scimonetti, Sr., James, Jr. and Clint Dragoo.

Jim is quick to credit the store’s small crew for their growing success. “When people walk in here, they see me or my dad behind the counter or at the bench, but it’s the people behind the scenes who keep the wheels turning.”

Among them are Lois, the family matriarch, who acts as bookkeeper, and Clint Dragoo, who takes care of much of the store’s administrative work. “He’s really the one who’s responsible for us going from the garage to the storefront,” says Jim.

In the repair department, Jim specializes in flute and saxophone repairs, while Jim senior focuses on saxophone and clarinet. “Spencer Hillard does fantastic brass repairs, and Jimmy Austin does great clarinet work as well,” boasts Jim. “Plus, we plan to hire two more repair techs for the coming rental seasons.”

Rental season for the Scimonettis is brisk. “Last I counted, and it’s definitely gone up since then, we had 139 extremely loyal band directors,” Jim reports. The directors’ fierce loyalty comes not only by virtue of the Scimonettis’ expert repairs, but through their highly personal and innovative approach to fund-raising.

“My dad plays in a 11-piece Latin-jazz band, and they play fund-raisers for the schools. They perform for free and sometimes offer a spaghetti dinner along with it, getting local restaurants to contribute the food.” Last year alone, they raised $50,000 for the band programs through these benefits.

The Scimonettis also produce a discount-coupon book for community restaurants and businesses, which is distributed only to band directors. “When you hire a fund-raiser,” Jim explains, “they’re doing it to make a profit. The margin that the school sees is very small. We solicit the businesses and print the coupons ourselves, so the band director sees much more profit from selling them.”

While they are considered essential to many school-oriented music-store crew, the Scimonettis have no roadmen on staff. “In this particular area,” Jim explains, “I get the feeling that roadmen can actually be an intrusion. Because of budget cuts, there can be one music teacher for every three or four schools. They’re on tight schedules and just don’t want someone dropping in. Besides, my band directors know that I’m just one phone call away.”

Despite financial woes, Antelope Valley school bands are, in Jim’s opinion, sounding better than ever, with some credit going to the Scimonettis themselves. “If you look in the band rooms now,” Jim states proudly, “you’ll see that most of the kids are playing brand-new instruments, and many of these are professional instruments. You’ll see open-hole flutes, at least a couple of wood clarinets, Holton MF trumpets in the section. That’s because finally there’s a store that provides good instruments to the band room.”

The Scimonettis are acutely aware of the crucial relationship between band director and music store.“Our band directors are our most valuable resources, and they've been a real support to us. That’s important, because we don't have guitar and drum sales to fall behind on. Our entire business revolves around serving their needs, and we are constantly trying to do whatever we can to make their jobs easier.”

While word of mouth has provided a solid base of school business, the Scimonettis, knowing that bigger is not always better, do not actively seek to expand their area. “We’re not out to conquer vast areas of California. We want to serve our community, and the Lancaster area and the Antelope Valley are the main responsibility. If a school 100 miles north hears about us and wants to do business, we’ll be happy to help. But if you start trying to take on more than you can handle, the repairs will suffer.”

But even the most talented technician can’t make a horn that is poor quality to begin with play well. “We don’t sell substandard foreign horns in our store,” Jim asserts. “We might lose a sale or two, but I feel that it's extremely important to support U.S. labor, and it’s extremely important for a kid to have a good horn to learn on.”

He continues, “Too many of these cheap horns are just built wrong and basically unrepairable.” Their band directors are supportive of the Scimonettis’ stance and are adamant about keeping low-end-market horns purchased at big-box department stores out of their band rooms. “I see those horns every single day, and it’s a good thing the discount stores have a good return policy. In fact, I don’t see big stores carrying those horns in another year because of the high return rate.”

When they do return their substandard instruments and seek out a quality instrument, Jim is ready. “The formula I’m planning for the next 100 years includes Leblanc’s plastic student clarinets. They’re just remarkable instruments. I went through I don’t know how many hundreds, and I’ve never had a problem.” Scimonetti’s has just begun carrying Holton student brass, and Jim was pleasantly surprised at their excepetional quality. “They’re so good, I use Holton student brass instruments as a step-up,” he reveals. “People love the way those horns play. I think it’s the best student brass on the market.”

Though the lure of a popular market might be tempting, the Scimonettis plan to remain steadfast to their “wind-instrument only” policy. “Selling pianos and guitars is easy. Selling woodwind and brasswinds—that’s where you really need the expertise and that commitment to service.” Even so, the team at Scimonetti Woodwind and Brass Repair is so sophisticated, they make it look simple.