My Experience with Custom Music in Michigan

[octopeart]

Hello! This is my first post here. I play lots of woodwind and brass instruments and I’m hoping to get a tuba at some point. I recently stopped by Custom Music in Farmington Michigan to check out some tubas and had quite an interesting experience, so I wanted to share it with you all. Before visiting, I had seen some very odd stories about this place online, so this may be nothing new.

Firstly, I had trouble even finding the store. The address on Google Maps is different from the one on the (very old-looking) website. Furthermore, the building has no signage of any kind, but has a mailbox with the address number on it. The only sign on the door indicates that you need to ring the doorbell to enter. I looked through the windows and could only see flowers and random decorations so I initially assumed I was at the wrong place and turned around. I double checked the address and eventually tried the doorbell just to see what would happen.

I was eventually greeted by a guy and I told him I was looking for Custom Music. He ushered me inside and asked if I was looking for a “B flat or C flat” tuba. The only other guy in the building seemed to try to hide away when I walked in. The first guy led me through a messy showroom full of fake flowers and autumnal decorations to a section of around 40 tubas sitting out, unprotected, on the floor standing on their bells. This place looked like a bunch of grandmothers loosely compiled their Fall decor into a storage unit and then randomly left a small corner open for tuba storage. I saw a few instrument cases lying around that all seemed to be trombone cases.

I was looking for a CC tuba, which he had exactly one of. He said it was German and it cost $5000. With a few exceptions, every other tuba there seemed to be a “Sanders” stamped BBb tuba with four rotary valves. The Sanders tubas were all marked at $2500. They all seemed to have one sizeable dent at different places in the tubing, which he said was from when he would take them to trade/exhibition shows.

Reading about the various valve configurations of tubas online can be confusing, so I had some technical questions, and I assumed talking to someone who (supposedly) demonstrates these tubas at trade shows would be a great person to ask. I asked if four valves on a CC tuba makes certain notes like low Db unplayable without false tones, and he immediately said he had “no idea.” He said all the tubas’ valves were sticky (as in, they needed oil) and that I’d have to take them to a “tuba repair specialist” to fix them. He said the valves get sticky when they’re left out during the winter, so presumably some of these haven’t been inside a case for quite a while. I asked about piston vs rotary valves, and he said they’re both the same but that German-made valves never get stuck, regardless of type.

I asked if I could play one and he said I could if I had a mouthpiece, which I did not, because I don’t play the tuba. He said he might have one in the back but made no effort to get one, and said I could come back at any time with my own mouthpiece to play one. He said that Covid “killed” their business and that they’re just selling off what they have and are not getting any new inventory. I don’t know how they plan to sell these tubas if their store has no sign and their website is outdated. I did not ask about why the tubas were sitting out unprotected in a dilapidated fake flower showroom and he made no attempt to explain it. I don’t plan to go back.

[Schlitzz]

I don’t believe you. I found the place just fine back in 1985, before your parents started dating.

[bloke]

[the elephant]

That’s nothing. Try getting anything useful from them on the phone. Omg…

[russiantuba]

I paid a deposit on a F tuba in 2009 and went another route. When I got my refund, it was from another company, Custom Music International.

The name change to “international” voided their exclusive contract with many horns, including B&S. When this happened, other businesses could import. I visited and finally got to play a B&S PT6P, huge dent in the side and many issues that made me decided to not get one of these. Since, I’ve played several they play remarkably better

I heard the business was sold and bought for a kid from China for his birthday. I don’t know the validity of that. I do suspect that Neal or Jeff no longer work for them and without the artist base to promote the horns, plus Bob Tucci and Dan Perantoni selling their own mouthpiece line independently, that the OP’s experience of them trying to sell off inventory could be correct. All new models are sold via the Buffet Company Showroom.

[MiBrassFS]

Like Joe, “I like cheese.”

[Grumpikins]

I went there shopping for a Cc tuba in 2001. I recall no signage as well. We walked in and someone popped out of a back room and said something like 'there's the tubas. If you need anything, we'll be in the back.' I wandered around and tried the models I was interested in. Freaked out at the sticker prices, and left. I remember really liking the PT 6, both piston and rotary. But not the $13,000 price. I probably could have walked out the door and been 20 miles down the road with a free new tuba before anyone noticed. The advertisement in TUBA journal touted that shoppers would get personal assistance from a tuba pro when visiting the showroom.

[Mary Ann]

There are all kinds of people in the world. Some of them have given up trying to live in society. Those people have my sympathy.