Howarth of London

Howarth’s is a London institution. If you’re looking for first-​rate service from genuine woodwind enthusiasts, you need look no further.
Tucked just behind Baker Street, the store offers a comprehensive range of woodwind paraphernalia, including second hand /​vintage instruments. They also do repairs and servicing too: they’re not the cheapest, nor the quickest, but I’ve found their workmanship to be unsurpassed.

Being a reed instrument player, I’ve often found that Howarth’s woodwind specialist, more often than not, comes in handy. The store, albeit a little out of the way, is divided into various specialist sections over three top floor rooms ranging from saxophones, clarinets, oboes, flutes, bassoons, and so on. Downstairs, furthermore, contains a large selection of antiquities and second hand horns to feast your eyes on.
The staff a generally polite and (all of them being players themselves) no quite a lot about what they are doing. The prices are quite varied, but you have to remember that woodwind instruments are often going to extremely expensive. They also have all the accessories one would want for their instrument, and a repair service is offered, although I’ve often found it cheaper to do this privately.
If you’re a beginner, it’s good to know that Howarth’s deals with renting instruments as well, but if you’re an experienced player it’s probably a good thing to know this place exists for all of your instrument needs.

I have rather a soft spot for musical instrument shops, and Howarths is no exception. It specialises in woodwind instruments, and as an ex-​Oboe player I get rather excited when browsing the shop window and checking out the workmanship. Oh dear.
However, if you’re keen to start playing a flute or other such instrument, or buy one for your child, I personally would suggest shopping around as even the second hand instruments start at £600, and that’s a lot of money to pay unless you know you’ve got a budding musician on your hands.