Hampton Bays Music and Arts Has it All

At , Mark Schumacher presides over a veritable cornucopia of new and vintage musical instruments including guitars, violins, violas and cellos.

But Schumacher wants people to know that his store is much more than the rows of stringed instruments that greet the customer. There's the sheet music too, not to mention equipment rental. Schumacher can also provide links to professional music teachers. And the store specializes in musical instrument repair and refurbishment – an increasingly rare commodity in a throwaway world.

"It's a full service music store," said Schumacher. "I've been a music technician for 35 years, tuning and rebuilding pianos and guitars. We also have technicians on Long Island and in New York City who work on other instruments."

The store opened its doors in 1925 with original owner Harold Hornbeck specializing in selling and servicing pianos. It transformed itself into its present incarnation in 1975 when it went full service and added guitars and sheet music to its offerings. The store also offers accessories like guitar strings and picks.

The in-store music lessons are another innovation. Students can specialize in piano, guitar, violin and cello, band instruments, percussion, and vocal training.

And in the event music has turned out not to be a customer's thing, Hampton Music and Arts will even sell his instrument on consignment.

But among this dizzying array of services, it is the repair and rebuilding of musical instruments that seems to interest Schumacher the most. An avid collector of musical instruments, Schumacher  specializes in guitar intonation, woodwind repairs, piano restoration and bass guitar maintenance.

"Maintenance is really important," he said. "I frequently find I'm working on instruments that have never been serviced since the day they were purchased. And if you think you don't play well, it could just as easily be the instrument not performing to its potential."

Over the last three decades Schumacher has serviced instruments for such luminaries as Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and Liza Minnelli.

"I once tuned Sting's piano too," he recalled.

But one of the most unusual assignments Schumacher can remember was a 1860s pump organ that he wouldn't normally repair because of its bellows.

"This was just a strap to the bellows so I did it. That was last year and I'm still wondering how long it will last until the bellows collapse from old age!" he said.

The pump organ was probably the oldest instrument Schumacher says he has worked on.

As far as pianos are concerned Schumacher has rebuilt instruments ranging from contemporary all the way back to 1870s and guitars dating back to the 1890s.

That some of the instruments Schumacher has worked are more than a hundred years old and still providing pleasure is perhaps the best advertisement for regular and skilled maintenance. And in that regard, Schumacher wants people to know some very simple rules for preserving the life of your instrument.

If your guitar won't stay in tune or if the strings are too far from or too close to the neck, it is giving you a signal that it needs the services of a technician, says Schumacher.

"Pianos should not be located near a heat source and should be kept out of direct sunlight. And call me for a regular tuning!"