Business
Windy’s Winds repairs your brass and woodwind instruments
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| REGINA FORD | GREEN VALLEY NEWS Windy Shaffer is the owner of Windy’s Winds Brass and Woodwind Repair in Green Valley. She also plays the tuba in the Green Valley Concert Band. |
By Regina Ford, Green Valley News
Windy Shaffer is more than a musician. She knows her instruments inside and out — so much so, she’s now an expert in brass and woodwind repair, working locally from her home-based shop.
Shaffer, 33, started in 1992 at age 17 as an apprentice in the instrument repair business in her hometown of Flagstaff, Ariz.
“I took a saxophone into a shop to be fixed and became so engaged in conversation with the man in charge, I volunteered to clean trumpets,” Shaffer says. “Eventually, I started doing paperwork, taking shop inventory and other jobs. Then one day he handed me a piccolo and asked me to take it apart and put it back together and then said he would teach me to fix it.”
The rest is history. Shaffer started her business, Windy’s Winds, in 1995, becoming the sole instrument repair business in Flagstaff.
In high school she started playing cello in the orchestra and became very active with her musical friends.
“I just fell in love with it,” she says. “Now, I’ll play in whatever orchestra will take me, just for the joy of it.”
Shaffer eventually picked up the tuba, an instrument she plays in the Green Valley Concert Band, where she is starting her second season.
Shaffer has an array of instruments she owns herself, including a cello, which she plays when asked.
Because she’s a stay-at-home mom with two children, her band involvement is somewhat limited, she says, but her instrument repair work can be done on her own time.
Shaffer, who says she attends church on a regular basis, uses her alto flute for services, an instrument she says is very versatile.
She later studied at Northern Arizona University for two years in the honors program and started her business “out of necessity,” later attending Red Wing Tech School in Minnesota where she spent a year honing her repair skills.
“Even though I had the hands-on experience from running my own repair business, the tech school was so intense because you had to memorize all the parts and how things work,” she recalls. “It was very hard and we only had about nine months to learn everything.”
A tuba player herself, Shaffer has extensive knowledge of the brass instruments, but repairs woodwinds, too.
“On woodwinds, the pads wear out,” she says. “Corks, which hold the joints together on certain instruments, also wear. Instrument maintenance is as important as car maintenance.”
“Each instrument is unique has its own issues and problems,” she adds. “A lot of people have had their instruments since their school years and they are never really repaired properly. If you have an quality instrument that has been repaired and maintained, it will operate for a long time.”
Shaffer’s shop is stocked with a wide assortment of parts and tools. She orders anything else she may need to repair a specific instrument.
“I care most about the quality of my work and I price the job according to the complexity of the repairs needed,” she says. “I take great pride in doing a good job.”
Shaffer can be contacted at Windy’s Winds Brass and Woodwind repair at (888) 773-0104 or by e-mail at: BenandWindy@Gmail.com.
rford@gvnews.com | 547-9747
Shaffer, 33, started in 1992 at age 17 as an apprentice in the instrument repair business in her hometown of Flagstaff, Ariz.
“I took a saxophone into a shop to be fixed and became so engaged in conversation with the man in charge, I volunteered to clean trumpets,” Shaffer says. “Eventually, I started doing paperwork, taking shop inventory and other jobs. Then one day he handed me a piccolo and asked me to take it apart and put it back together and then said he would teach me to fix it.”
The rest is history. Shaffer started her business, Windy’s Winds, in 1995, becoming the sole instrument repair business in Flagstaff.
In high school she started playing cello in the orchestra and became very active with her musical friends.
“I just fell in love with it,” she says. “Now, I’ll play in whatever orchestra will take me, just for the joy of it.”
Shaffer eventually picked up the tuba, an instrument she plays in the Green Valley Concert Band, where she is starting her second season.
Shaffer has an array of instruments she owns herself, including a cello, which she plays when asked.
Because she’s a stay-at-home mom with two children, her band involvement is somewhat limited, she says, but her instrument repair work can be done on her own time.
Shaffer, who says she attends church on a regular basis, uses her alto flute for services, an instrument she says is very versatile.
She later studied at Northern Arizona University for two years in the honors program and started her business “out of necessity,” later attending Red Wing Tech School in Minnesota where she spent a year honing her repair skills.
“Even though I had the hands-on experience from running my own repair business, the tech school was so intense because you had to memorize all the parts and how things work,” she recalls. “It was very hard and we only had about nine months to learn everything.”
A tuba player herself, Shaffer has extensive knowledge of the brass instruments, but repairs woodwinds, too.
“On woodwinds, the pads wear out,” she says. “Corks, which hold the joints together on certain instruments, also wear. Instrument maintenance is as important as car maintenance.”
“Each instrument is unique has its own issues and problems,” she adds. “A lot of people have had their instruments since their school years and they are never really repaired properly. If you have an quality instrument that has been repaired and maintained, it will operate for a long time.”
Shaffer’s shop is stocked with a wide assortment of parts and tools. She orders anything else she may need to repair a specific instrument.
“I care most about the quality of my work and I price the job according to the complexity of the repairs needed,” she says. “I take great pride in doing a good job.”
Shaffer can be contacted at Windy’s Winds Brass and Woodwind repair at (888) 773-0104 or by e-mail at: BenandWindy@Gmail.com.
rford@gvnews.com | 547-9747
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