Turn around time was excellent, went in, had my Buescher TT alto checked and PR gave me a quote for an overhaul.. I decided to get a patch job for the meantime, his service was excellent. One day to the next, the fastest turn around time I ever experienced. I asked him a few questions about gear and man... he is an encyclopedia! Gave me recommendations for some of my gear. Got my TT, plays beautifully! I can imagine what an overhaul would do to this thing.. WOW! read more

Excellent repair of my tenor sax. Perry was informative, friendly, and completed the work quickly. Very reasonable price.

I've brought several of my saxes to Perry for mild repairs over the past few decades, and he has always come through.

Legend. He put new pads on, fixed up everything and threw in a new neck strap for the tenor. Very quick and good price. Thank you PR! read more

Perry is a great go to guy! He's a fabulous repair guy. My son's clarinet was not working and he had his concert coming up...he fixed my son's clarinet in a day! Just in time for his concert. Mr. Ritter, you were a godsend! Worth every penny!! read more

Perry is the man! I am leaving on tour next week and, of course, my tenor cork cracks at the last minute. So I bring it and my clarinet (in need of a new pad) in to Perry on a tuesday morning, worried whether it would be ready in time. He said, call me tomorrow morning, and boom! he had it ready the next day! Even replaced a few pads I hadn't realized were faulty. He let me test it out in store, and boy, did it sing! His price was very fair, especially for such short notice work. I will definitely be coming back when I need more work done. p.s. the block of 47th his shop is on is hilarious! such a street has surely not changed much since the days of the silk road...you'll see what I mean read more

Perry is one of the most OUTSTANDING repairman on the east coast which is why Michael Brecker always had his horn fixed by Perry. If you need a horn repairman and live on the east coast you will not be disappointed. Perry truly cares and takes pride in his work! I am very picky about horn repair as I've been in this industry for over 35 years. Keep up the great work Perry!!!!! read more

He does shoddy work and then wants you to pay again when you bring it back for him to correct. terrible, overrated. Never let him touch your horn. Go to Tony Salimbene or Roberto instead. read more

I need to preface this by saying if you know me personally or read my other reviews you'll know I am a stickler for stars and rarely if ever give anyone 5 stars. As of August 2015 this is the first and only place I feel deserves it. The good: I have what I thought was a crappy old 80's Selmer Bundy student alto sax that I picked up a few months ago for under $300 to re-learn sax after a nearly 20 year hiatus. It played sort of OK but try as I may I couldn't hit anything under low D unless I overblew and gorilla gripped the keys. It also had little squeaks all over the place in the upper notes. The keys just felt loose, clattering, and clunky. It didn't have that comforting "tom-tom" noise when you pushed the keys down without blowing. The neck was loose too. The G# table key was sticky. I knew I was out of practice and it wasn't a $6000 horn but I also knew me nor the sax were THAT terrible. My down and dirty at home leak test revealed at least 2 leaky low note pads. Perry offered to examine it free of charge to give an honest opinion on whether it was worth fixing so I went in and he performed a leakdown test. He diagnosed it with 2 considerably leaky low notes and a few random misfires on the upper notes. He actually talked me out of replacing the neck cork when I was convinced it needed replacement, gave me a good price estimate for the work, and told me to come back in a day to pick it up. You think Sam Ash will do any of that? Great conversationalist too. I can stand there and talk to guys like that all day long because there's not many of them left. Guy is like a saxophone encyclopedia. Has a hilarious story about loads of people refusing to buy a soprano sax when they found out Kenny G once owned it. He even let me test my alto in the shop after the repairs and the very first thing I did when he handed it to me was close my eyes, pray, and go straight for the low Bb. It worked like a charm. What I thought was a crappy, leaky, old little student horn with a dim future now absolutely SMOKES! Neck joint is nice and tight, no more squeaks anywhere, no more loose clattering keys. He changed one pad, re-leveled a tone hole, adjusted all the spring tensions, and replaced most of the little corks. Plays like a dream. He told me it was not just some crappy 80's horn like I thought and was actually an all original Bundy/Buscher from the 1960's in surprisingly good shape for its age given its still glistening original lacquer, original Bundy case, original Bundy mouthpiece, lack of moisture damage, and all original pads from the 60's still in good shape (save the one low C pad he changed). His prices were absolutely fair on both the work he did for me as well a horn for sale I was eyeballing. The bad: I don't think I have anything bad to say! I think my neighbors would give Perry 1 star because I'm about to make up for nearly 20 years of lost sax time! Oh well! The ugly: I guess if you don't like the smell of the chemicals he uses in his shop you might get overwhelmed upon walking in. To me, it smells like victory. In conclusion: This dude is ON POINT. Any time you walk into a place and see walls covered in saxes, blackened hands, and stacks of instruments awaiting work it's a good sign. I wouldn't trust my sax to anyone else after dealing with him. read more

Amazing amazing work of the kind that I assumed left the city years ago. I had an old student flute that I wanted to get tuned up so my niece could play it in school. Perry did the repairs seemingly overnight--replaced some leaky pads, removed the tarnish, etc. When the Eb key fell out of line, I went back and he fixed it on the spot in 5 minutes so it could be on its way. read more

A really great place, the owner has a great selection of vintage saxophones, and is very knowledgeable about all of them

Perry Ritter is the real deal, a master mechanic, and the ABSOLUTE fairest businessman. His prices are so reasonable, I actually forced him to take my money today because he wasn't going to charge me this time, since I had the same horn worked on relatively recently! That is unheard of these days. Unlike some other mechanics right down the street (hint hint), Perry will never do repairs that aren't necessary. All the rest of the NYC mechanics constantly try and "sell" you into getting an overhaul for upwards of $1000, Perry Ritter has twice told me it's not necessary, and each time I bring in my Mark VI or Yamaha it's only like $150, and every time I get back my horns, they are in SMOKIN shape. Oh, and HE DOES EVERYTHING HIMSELF!!! No apprentices at Perry Ritters! When you take a horn to him, he does all the work. Love this guy! Wish I could give him 6 stars. read more

Perry is courteous, fast, and efficient. Often one can expect a 24 hour turnaround. I always feel good doing business with someone I know that: has a lot of experience in his field, takes pride in his work, and leaves you with a comforting and genuine smile as you walk out the door, rest assured that your instrument is in good hands. read more

Just wanted to say thank you for the Bass Clarinet repair. I swear it plays better now than when I bought it. The second register from D up to G used to be so stuffy and now it plays freely. Jumping registers down to the lowest notes used to be a struggle when playing forte, making sure the notes don't crack, and now it's nearly effortless. I'm not sure what magic you did, but it sure worked. read more

I was very impressed with Perry's professionalism and courtesy. I will definitely seek his services the next time my clarinet needs work!

Perry is my repair guy for saxophones. I have tried others, but I find he is by far the most professional one. He is very knowledgeble and very kind. Thank you Perry! read more

I was a bit intimidated to go here as my sax looked more like a lobster than a sax. it was old, tarnished re lacquered, brass. It's a" New Era " handcraft stencil. My playing was no way to judge the horn fairly,so I decided to put $ into it and ask a pro. When my horn was returned, the cost was right on the estimate. But what he gave me back was priceless. The horn was fine tuned, and the sound was sublime. It has to take experence and someone who knows what their doing to accomplish what he was able to do. Thank you Perry Ritter! read more

Brought in my flute for a repair and tune up - got it back in 24 hours! Thank you to Perry for helping me out in an emergency, doing great work & giving me storing advice for my instrument. Great atmosphere in the shop as well. read more

I will simply have to agree with all the other positive reviews and confirm that Perry is an expert in his field, and a very nice person to do business with. Pleasant experience! read more

Go to Perry for work on your horn. Don't go for an appraisal. Perry did a fantastic overhaul on my mid 60's King Super 20 tenor. However, I brought him my 1955 Mark VI low A Bari for an appraisal. My potential buyer happened to bring him the horn 2 weeks later and the appraisal was $3500 less. Clearly for the $25 fee he was just telling me/us what he thought I/we wanted to hear despite my asking him point blank "what should this horn trade for"... read more

My family always goes to Perry Ritter. He is a great repair guy. He is also quite friendly. For about 8 years every year we bring in clarinets, saxophones and flutes usually right before my son goes to music camp. We bring everything in. I love his location and hours. I can easily take the B train get off at 47th Street walk up the stairs and a few steps and he is right there. Since he opens at 6 am you can do this easily and still get to work on time. I like how he tries to get most work done the same day or by the next day. This really works for me. He only replaces what needs to be replaced. This also works for me. His prices are quite reasonable. Once we had to bring something back he had worked on only because of personal preference for the height of the keys and there was no charge. Perry has helped us in emergency cases when we needed a horn fixed for a show that night. He seems very honest. Woodwind instruments need lots of attention especially in the extreme cold winters and hot humid summers. It is nice to know there is someone out there who will take my horn without an appointment. One time I brought in my husband's sax that someone had accidentally knocked over right before the show was going to start and wouldn't play. I told him the story. He was amused as all he had to do was make a quick adjustment. He told me there would be no charge for this. I think most repair men would have told me to leave the horn and pick it up later and there would have been a fee. I got mine fixed for free within minutes. Just recently he fixed a Yamaha flute which was in sad shape, Buffet professional bass clarinet to low C, Gemeinhardt piccolo, Buffet RC prestige Greenline clarinet (beautiful horn I bought on EBAY but all the keys were out of whack), alto flute, Selmer alto sax, and Guardala tenor sax. Most of our instruments are professional ones. It is nice to know I have a professional who is capable of fixing them without over charging me. More importantly he always does his work in a timely manner. I have never had to wait for more than a day. He allows us to test out the horns before we leave to make sure we are satisfied. I have no patience for those who keep me waiting for days or weeks to get my instruments back. I highly recommend him. Also he has a nice selection of horns that he sells and seems to offer good advice on selling and buying instruments. I usually call him before I make a major purchase as I trust his opinion. From his advice I bought a Leblanc paperclip contra bass clarinet. Perry did a beautiful job restoring it. He also restored a vintage C saxophone I bought and a Fox bassoon. These items are priceless and look and play beautifully now. So don't take my word for it just check it out. Bring in one instrument and see how it goes. I bet you will go back and bring in more horns. read more