Introduction I suppose!

The postings here will be an ongoing documentation of various musical instruments that I repair, sell, trade, buy, what have you.

A brief introduction might be helpful.

My name is Mark E. Kaylor and I've been a musician and lover of musical instruments (especially old vintage instruments) for many years. Technically I'm a drummer but have a deep fascination for all instruments, even more so what one might call "band instruments"......woodwind, brasswind, percussion.

I also have a deep itch for fixing things, playing with tools.

Lucky for me I was able to work at a buy/sell musical shop while living in Portland Oregon where I was able to learn ALOT about the world of instruments, value, repair, etc.

Now I'm in Philadelphia and have a workshop set up that allows me to do a variety of repairs to any instrument that comes my way. I buy more tools and acquire more skills along the way.

I specialize in finding instruments that have been long neglected and bring them back to life.

I'm a special kind of restorer: I'm not the guy who buffs keys to a shiny finish or spends all his time making an instrument worthy of a museum collection. I do whatever is needed to make them play, within my ability, and pass them on to the next person.

I've been able to work on all sorts of instruments in recent history, upright basses, clarinets, saxophones, guitars, wooden flutes, drums you name it.

And just in the last month, this:

I picked up a large lot of old wooden clarinets and flutes (and parts!) from an old Philadelphia musical instrument distributor.

We're talking piles of instruments and parts in boxes, dirty dirty dirty, destined for the dump!

I'm bringing these instruments back, which is part of why I started this blog for documentation.

Alot of these instruments are extremely rare, old, and amazingly beautiful handmade American and European instruments!

I fell an overwhelming sense of wonder whenever I'm around these, working on them, organizing, I'm a custodian of neglected instruments of musical creation!