Pasadena Musical Instrument Repair: Oboes at RDG Woodwinds

RDG Woodwinds repairs oboes, clarinets, bassoons, flutes and saxophones at 535 East Walnut Street, Suite 101, in Pasadena's Playhouse District, and every repair is by appointment only. The store itself is open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm, but the repair page says there are no walk-ins, Saturdays included. For anyone searching for musical instrument repair for a double reed in Los Angeles County, that rule is the first fact to plan around.

The about page tells the origin plainly. In 1949 Robert D. Gilbert was a senior at the University of Southern California with an import and export assignment to finish. A clarinet and saxophone player himself, he imported a box of reeds from France, saw the demand, and RDG, Inc. was born. He ran it for more than fifty years. In 2004 Gilbert retired and sold the business to Nancy Huang, a longtime employee and manager, who renamed it RDG Woodwinds, Inc. His office name plaque is still on display in the store.

Unlike most shops, RDG does not run one shared repair queue. Each technician books their own schedule. John Peterson and Jennifer Spier specialise in oboes. Scott Dagg handles clarinets, flutes, oboes and saxophones. So Kanazawa takes bassoons and oboes. The repair page lists a phone extension for each, ext. 4 for Peterson, ext. 5 for Spier, ext. 7 for Dagg and ext. 8 for Kanazawa, and Peterson also offers online scheduling. Pick the person who matches your instrument. A bassoonist who calls the general line and asks for anyone will simply be routed again.

The shop says it regularly services instruments for members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Opera, as well as Hollywood studio musicians. That client list sits alongside students and amateurs, since the same technicians also see school-age oboists and community band clarinetists. It also explains why the calendar fills. Studio scoring seasons and youth orchestra audition months both send a wave of instruments through the same four technicians, so the busiest weeks are hard to predict from the outside.

Some jobs are priced per job and others by the hour. The repair page gives an hourly rate of $100 to $120, varying by technician, and a minimum repair charge of $50 for any work that is not billed hourly or at a set job price. The staff will talk through your instrument's condition at the appointment and quote more specific prices there. That structure rewards preparation. If you know your oboe needs a single pad and a regulation, say so when booking, because a vague request can turn into a longer, hourly session.

The site is candid about timing. A typical appointment lands two to six weeks from the day you book it. True emergencies can sometimes be seen sooner, but the definition is strict: the instrument must have been serviced regularly and be in good playing condition before something sudden, such as a crack, stopped it working. Instruments that have not been serviced regularly can never be accommodated on an emergency basis, per the repair page. The honest takeaway is to book routine maintenance before audition season, not the week of the audition.

The store's Saturday hours are shorter, from 10 am to 3 pm, and even then repairs need a booking. The site also posts closures in a banner at the top of the page. In October 2026 it flagged that RDG would be closed on Saturday, October 17. Check that banner before driving across the county with a bassoon case. If you are shopping rather than fixing, the store also sells oboes, clarinets and bassoons, reed-making cane and supplies, and it offers in-store trial appointments for instruments.

A double reed instrument tells a technician a lot if it arrives as you play it. Bring the reeds you actually use, not a fresh one from the box, because a leak that shows up with a soft reed can hide behind a hard one. Swab the bore but do not oil it the night before. Write down which notes misbehave, whether the problem changes as the wood warms up, and when the instrument was last serviced. That last detail matters here more than at most shops, because RDG's emergency policy depends on a record of regular maintenance.

The site has a separate page about shipping an instrument to RDG, which matters for players outside Southern California. Orchestral oboists and bassoonists elsewhere in the country already send instruments to the same four technicians. If you are local, driving in is simpler, but shipping is an option when an appointment slot opens before you can get to Pasadena. Ask your technician by email about packing and timing before you send anything. A crack in a wooden joint can worsen in a cold cargo hold, so pack the instrument with care.

RDG works on oboes, clarinets, bassoons, flutes and saxophones, but the repair page notes it does not take non-orchestral wind instruments such as recorders. Brass players should look elsewhere. String players in the same part of the county can try Callier-Scollard Violin Shop in the Green Hotel building in Old Pasadena, which publishes bow rehair prices and needs no appointment during business hours. A guitarist with a broken headstock is better served by Modern Guitar Tech in Boyle Heights, which posts a full setup and refret price list online.

The shop sits a few blocks from the heart of the Playhouse District, so the walk after an appointment is easy. The Pasadena Playhouse, the state theatre of California, is on El Molino Avenue just to the west. Vroman's Bookstore, an independent bookshop that dates to the 1890s, is on Colorado Boulevard a short walk south. Lake Avenue has coffee and lunch options. If you came by train, the Metro A Line stop at Lake Avenue is within walking distance, which spares you Pasadena's metered parking.

• Address: 535 East Walnut Street, Suite 101, Pasadena, CA 91101. - Store hours: Monday to Friday 11 am to 6 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm. Repairs are by appointment only, with extensions for each technician. - Rates: $100 to $120 per hour depending on the technician, with a $50 minimum repair charge. - Wait: appointments usually two to six weeks out. - Instruments: oboes, clarinets, bassoons, flutes and saxophones. No recorders. - Use the Karpo APP to find lunch on Lake Avenue after your appointment.