Time Out has teamed up with emusic to offer our readers 40 free music downloads and a free audiobook
Specialist musical instrument shops
-
By John Lewis. Photography Rob Greig
Posted: Tue Mar 6 2007 
TW Howarth specialises in woodwind instruments The woodwind specialists
TW Howarth & Co
Chiltern Street has a reputation for music shops but daddy of them all is TW Howarth. The store is divided into three shopfronts: one for clarinets, one for saxophones, another for bassoons and oboes. The meat and drink of the shop’s business is mouthpieces, reeds and sheet music, and four members of staff handle repairs. Yamaha is market leader but the best saxes and clarinets are French (Selmer, Buffet, Leblanc), bassoons tend to be German (Gebrüder Mönnig, W Schreiber and Püchner) and oboes a mix of German, French and American (though Howarth’s own student instruments are excellent).
Feature continuesAdvertisement
Howarth’s was boosted by recent Government policy encouraging students to play traditionally unpopular (and expensive) orchestral instruments like bassoon and oboe. ‘They need a lot of work,’ warns the store’s Nigel Clark. ‘The average student has to bring their oboe in every couple of years. It’s like servicing a car.’
TW Howarth & Co, 31-35 Chiltern St, W1 (020 7935 2407/ www.howarth.uk.com) Baker St tube. Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm,
Sat 10am-4.30pm.- Add your comment to this feature
|
|
More ways to enjoy Time Out
-
Weekly London newsletter
The best of London in your inbox
-
Time Out Widgets
|
|
6 comments
hi i wouid like to vusit ur shop would like to c indian instruments like sruti box n harmoniums n i can export sruti box n harmoniums in a large scale thank u
Don't forget Phil Parker's on Crawford St for brass instruments. Been going for generations and every brass player in London if not the country shops there. Lovely, helpful staff too.
Hello there- I am writing this in the hopes of finding either an Octave Mandolin or Bouzouki made by Stefan Sobell....a great Engllish Luthier. I expected your site to have unusual or hard to find instruments. Well, I hope that someone out there may know of one that's in the market for sale. I live in the US, but I have someone coming over here for Xmas that could possibly deliver to me. Thanking you in advance of some good news?
Please send me information about grandpianos.I go to London in August and would like to visit your shop, without others and thank you Jessie De Bellis
www.yellowpagesspain.com/piano
Astonished that the article omits the French horn shop Paxman's, distinguished for many reasons; e.g. a British specialist manufacturer still in existence and a famous shop patronised by the famous names in British horn playing.
Duke of Uke has a wide variety of soprano ukes, concert ukes, altos, etc. And they're honest, nice people.
Warning: cheap ukes are often crap; good ukes cost a lot. The £25 ukes sound pretty bad, probably can't stay in tune. £35 will get you ok tone, and some tuning problems. £45 for nice tone, good tuning up until the 5th fret (and problems higher up). Next step up is a great uke for £135.