saxoasis.com in Boston Mass.

[les]

OK. My new site is finally up and running. It's small, but, like I told my wife, "don't worry dear, it'll get bigger". It can be found at www.saxoasis.com I'm in the Boston area. Check it.
Les Arbuckle
781-326-9557
les@saxoasis.com

[Kritavi]

Les Arbuckle has been my repairguy for the past 4 years. During this time he has overhauled a 10M, Buffet Dynaction Tenor and SDA Alto, Martin Commitee and Conn 6M for me. And partial jobs on a Couf Tenor, Bass Clarinet and a couple of clarinets. Obviously I am satsified with his work. I have an SML getting worked on now and will have more horns for Les.

I have no idea if he or somebody else is "the best". I just know that Les does very good work and gives very good service. The horns are done when he says they will be and his after overhaul service is first rate. He cares about his reputation and the quality of his work, and you get his complete attention when you walk in the shop and all your questions get answered.

If you are in New England this is one first rate source of equipment and repair work. I would even ship horns to Les if I had to as his shipping, service and communications are excellent.

Thanks for all the good work Les and good luck with Saxoasis.com.

Jim Warshauer

[Tharruff]

I live in northern New York but had a chance to travel to Boston a couple of months ago due to an unusual circumstance. I had heard about Les Arbuckle and Saxoasis through SOTW, and called and talked to him on the phone, Since I have recently moved and have not been playing much, I took my two main axes with me to meet Les and talk about having him possibly do some work on them.

I wound up leaving both of them. My Alto, (a 1963 Mark VI) I asked for a full blown overhaul. My Tenor (a 1940 Balanced Action) I asked for just keywork (slop) as needed...pads as needed...and key height adjustment as needed to help with intonation problems.

I went back to Boston just last weekend to pick my stuff up in person, since I used to work for UPS and know how boxes are treated regardless of whether they say 'Fragile' or not.

I was extremely happy with the work Les did and the attention and friendliness that he exhibited to me while I was there. I am not a pro player...just a weekend guy who likes to have good equipment in good condition.

Based on my experience, I would recommend Les to anyone on the east coast (particularly Boston...of course) and intend to continue to do business with him in the future despite the 6 hour one-way drive.

Thanks Les,

Tom Harruff

[Budget Explosion]

I first read about Boston Area repairman Les Arbuckle on SOTW. I live in NYC, but I was completely fed up with the NY repairmen after a couple very expensive but slipslod jobs (yes, I'll name names = Perry Ritter and Roberto) and I go to Boston once a month, so I finally visited SAX OASIS and dropped off my The MARTIN Tenor for some tender care...I was fearing that I would need an overhaul, but Les didn't think it was necessary at this time (phew!) He worked some magic on the horn and it is playing as well as it did 10 years ago when I bought it (used, of course) from Emilio at Rayburn. I highly recommend Les to anyone in need of sax repair.

Also, when I dropped off the sax, I ran into frequent poster here, Kritavi...which was an added bonus as last year I sold a sax to Kritavi on SOTW, but we never met face to face...I also say that Kritavi is good to deal with.

In case you don't have a car to drive to Sax Oasis (just outside Boston city limits and about 500 yards from Rte. 95), you can canoe to Sax Oasis from Boston via the Charles River.

[brianb]

In Response to Art Salt,
We're unhappy to hear that you were not satisfied with your repairs here at Roberto's. It is unfortunate, however, that we have to hear about it on your posting rather than from you yourself. We would have been more than willing to work with you to ensure that you left satisfied with you're repair. We have worked hard over the years to amass a clientele of some of the greatest musicians in the world and take great pride in treating every customer as such. Your post is not only unfair, but completely unfounded, especially since you made no complaint to us personally. My recommendation: spend half as much time practicing your instrument as you do browsing the web and you might become a great player.

Please feel free to call 212.391.1315 or email me at brian@robertoswoodwind.com

Regards,

Brian

[Budget Explosion]

Dude,

Roberto is a nice guy, but he did an unsatisfactory overhaul on one of my horns. It cost a lot of money. I brought it back. He monkeyed with it for a minute, blew into the horn very hard and acted like there was no problem. I brought the sax to another repair person, and he got the sax purring (and all the credit.)

to get back to the point of this thread, Les at Sax Oasis did a great job getting my tenor (btw, not the sax Roberto touched) humming.

[rispoli]

In Response to Art Salt,
Your post is not only unfair, but completely unfounded, especially since you made no complaint to us personally. My recommendation: spend half as much time practicing your instrument as you do browsing the web and you might become a great player.


I don't see why somebody stating he didn't like your work has to be labeled as unfair: just because he did't notify you? Come on...
And from his reply even looks like he did notify you in person.

Moreover, your recommendations sounds very arrogant and judgemental, I wonder what you know about how much time he spends browsing and how much practicing....
This is not in the spirit of this community, I think postings like this do not help your business.
It is my opinion that you might learn a thing or two from the sponsor of this forum about how to make proper use of discussion forums from a retailer standpoint.

[paulwl]

I've been going to Tony Salimbene at Roberto's (and before that at Sam Ash) for years. He does great work and he'll work with you to see that it's right, too.

Bill Singer on 43rd near 10th is another guy I'd trust with any of my horns.

[MJ]

It's none of my business, of course, but that old adage, "the customer is always right" goes a long way in building--or maintaining--a strong customer base.

[Hurling Frootmig]

I'm a little surprised by the arrogance of the comment from Brianb. It wouldn't really make me want to trust my horns to him.

[saxophrenic]

Brian B,
You have exposed your arrogance and contempt for your customers in front of 100's of saxophone afficianados. Jeez. Professional suicide!
The word will spread that you folks intimidate and belittle your customers. My, oh my. Where has civility gone? I can see why you get few complaints.
Most of us would prefer to deal with business people who have some respect and concern for us and our valued instruments.
I think you will reap what you sow.

[paulwl]

It's New York hardball. You trash people here because the competition is percieved to be cut-throat and you assume they'll trash you if they have the opportunity.

It's old established behavior, and it's difficult to get out of it when you enter the global village, where it does come off more like "peeing in the well."

[MJ]

Around here, "New York hardball" is the kind of game that would get a business handed its left or right ball, depending on the customer's preference.

[Mike Cesati]

Back to Les Arbuckle,

Top shelf, great work, fair man.


Highly recommended. 5 Stars

[Bob M]

I couldn't agree with Mike more! Not only is Les a great guy to deal with, but a visit to his shop is like getting a lesson too.

[HonkBopSax]

Agreed ... how many times I had to take my Couf into Les because it was knocked off a stand, or a pad split in the middle of a gig. Les was ALWAYS available, always did top shelf work, and always made sure the horn that I left with was tighter than the horn I walked in with.