Better Than New Band Repair

After a gig in New Orleans with my band The Everymen, my alto was all messed up and unplayable. We pulled into Austin, TX for SXSW a few days later, expecting to find no one who would be able to fix my sax in time for our week of gigs. Not only did Travis get my alto back into beautiful playing shape in about 10 minutes, it was incredibly inexpensive. He also gave me valuable info on how to spot check my sax keys on how well they’re sealing or not. Great people and great service. Can’t say enough about my brief experience with Better Than New Band Repair. I might just have to intentionally injure my bari just to have an excuse to bring it into them too! =)

Simply the best service in town! We just finished paying off the rent to own contract on our son’s clarinet from another local music store, and it had just come back from a VERY lengthy repair (that cost him a UIL competition). Anyway, within a week or two of getting the clarinet back, it broke AGAIN. We went to Better Than New, and not only did they fix the broken key on the spot, but used metal parts instead of the plastic parts VIR used. Then, my husband inquired about a different reed, and they let my son try out the reed on his newly repaired clarinet before he bought it. No one has ever done that before! These people care about instruments, and it shows.

My son got his slide cleaner stuck in his trombone only 2 days from district band auditions rendering it unplayable. He was worried about having to try out on an unfamiliar trombone so a super quick fix was paramount.
I dropped by Better Than New & they had it fixed while I waited in only 10 minutes. Plus they didn’t even charge me! Very friendly and knowledgable staff. I will definitely be back anytime I need a repair. Highly recommend them!

They won my business over the phone when I called them in panic about a problem with a flute. Right away they knew what the problem was and how much it was going to cost me. Amazing people and very reasonable prices. Oh, and did I mention they are quick too? They are. I really love it when we have a local businesses like this one that I can honestly give them all of the stars you can possibly give. They have my full local support.

My 6^th grader got a little overzealous with the trumpet I had purchased for him before he knew what he was doing. I found Better Than New on the Internet and took it in. The woman at the counter performed what was thankfully a super easy fix while we waited, gave my son advice about handling his instrument and threw in a case tag for him! They have won my business for the next (hopefully) many years of band we have ahead of us! Thank you!

This place is the best! They have fixed bent keys on my son’s clarinet three times now and always try to NOT charge me anything. This last time I demanded (nicely) that they charge me something! With two sons in band, I think we are going to be here a lot and I am thankful we found them.

Recently I needed repair of a trumpet after an unfortunate accident resulting in a dent and two twerked keys. (I was afraid valves may have needed replacing.) The sudden nature of this event resulted in my (slight panic and) calling Better Than New Band Repair on a rainy evening around 5:30. Travis answered my call and said I could bring it right up.
Once I arrived Travis examined the trumpet and offered to fix it while I waited. He was done in about 15 min and we could even watch the process. Excellent.
Now. Get this. He refused to accept payment. Yes, for real. He simply asked that we remember them when next we need a cleaning, maintenance, etc.
That is some seriously superior customer care! I will absolutely recommend these folks for your instrument repair and maintenance. I won’t hesitate to return to them at the drop of a trumpet.

We found them when we lived in Cedar Park in 2009 and now we live in Dallas. We have 2 beginner saxes, 1 higher-​end sax and a trumpet. I have tried to find someone in Dallas to work on the instruments to no avail. Everyone else wants 2 weeks and a lot more $$.
They are TOP NOTCH. Karen has always taken care of the saxes. As someone else said, she shines light in front of you, and shows you leak points and fixes them fast and fairly — often if it quick, she’ll make an adjustment while you wait. Although I live in Dallas, I take the saxes there annually for her to check out the corks, pads, loose screws, spring adjustments, and anything else she sees to put it back in good shape. She is EXCELLENT.
This was the first time I have taken the trumpet in for work — it was bought used and is a marching instrument. Twylia fixed 2 welds, gave it a once-​over, took care of some dents, cleaned and lubricated everything, and who knows what else! My son says it’s the best it has ever played.
They are worth the drive!

This place is fabulous. If you are ever needing your instrument serviced or repaired, this is the place to go.
I’ve had my son’s saxophone repaired here many times. I went to ‘another place’ and paid over $ 100 dollars to get it repaired. The ‘other’ company spent over a week with it and when we got it back it still didn’t sound right. These guys shined a light in it right in front of me, showed me all of the holes going on and was shocked that I had just received it back from repair!
Well these guys fixed it up in two days and have been my go-​to shop ever since.
They are straight with you on the price, time it will take and the necessity of the repair.
These guys have excellent service, a reasonable price and are very nice people on top of it all.
Now if only they could get my son to be more careful during marching season!

Best band repair shop! Fast service, good quality work, good pricing and nice people.

I totally agree with Karen W’s review. We also had a horrible experience with the «other» music company in Austin. After 18 months of horrible service and constant repairs with the Austin company, we returned our instrument and went to Better than New Band Repair. The name is a little misleading because they do so much more than just repair. They have everything you need!
We are totally happy with our new rental instrument. The service was wonderful. We actually felt like they cared about our experience. They also don’t charge you a co-​pay for repairs. The Austin company nickel and dimed us with each repair by charging us a co-​pay even though we had the insurance.
I am totally happy with our decision to switch companies even though we lost about $ 800 in rental credit from the other store. That tells you how bad that service was!

Unbelievable service! Straighter with you than that ubiquitous «other» merchant in Austin! After being sold an instrument by a store clerk that I thought was an expert at that «other» place and then bringing the instrument in repeatedly for the same repair, I had to do something different. Even if it meant a drive straight up I35 to Round Rock. I never get out to that area but I’m so glad I took the risk. It was worth the drive!
This small shop is a collection of craftsman, actually craftswomen, who obviously love what the do, are competent, and NOT big-​box-​store, pass-​the-​buck kids who don’t know one end of an instrument from the other. You’ll hear and see instruments actively being repaired by the same ladies who welcomed you through the front door.
My oboe — fixed! $ 10 and 20 minutes here did what multiple trips and many dollars could not do elsewhere.