Dubsek family business: Handmade brass instruments

It may be that non-musicians pass by the small shop in Andreas-Hofer-Straße in the Innsbruck district of Wilten, but for musicians it is "der Dubsek" one of the first addresses in Tyrol when it comes to musical instruments. The family business specialises in the sale, maintenance and repair of brass and woodwind instruments, guitars and percussion.

In the workshop Nora Dubsek makes trumpets, flugelhorns, tenor horns, trombones, post horns and tambour sticks. She tinkers with her brass instruments with meticulousness and passion.

Together with her husband Jared Egger-Dubsek, she took over the company from her father Karl Alois in 2016 and now continues to run it in the third generation. This was not clear from the beginning. It is true that Nora spent a lot of time in the workshop as a child and teenager. But it was not until she started playing the trombone at the age of 14 that her passion for brass instruments grew. After graduating from high school, she eventually completed an apprenticeship as a brass instrument maker. "My father never put any pressure on us. We children were able to learn what we wanted," Nora emphasizes. But of course he is pleased that she has taken over the business that grandfather Karl Adolf founded in 1947.

A photo of his grandfather hangs in the workshop, which is located a few minutes' walk from the shop on Peter-Mayr-Strasse. Born in Vienna, he had moved to Tyrol after the Second World War. There was a great need for brass instrument makers and repairers. After all, brass music is part of Tyrolean tradition like no other. Incidentally, it has its origins in the military bands. These gave public concerts, played in inns and coffee houses and thus enriched the musical life of the city.

"Grandfather went from band to band with his bike and toolbox to repair the instruments," says Nora Dubsek. Eventually he opened his own workshop in the Stöckl building at Peter-Mayr-Strasse 23.

Today, his granddaughter sits at the workbench, sawing and hammering, tapping and soldering. It takes many steps to build a high-quality instrument from sheet metal. Nora is happy to explain them. She shows the raw material, the cutting, the interlocking of the metal ends, the soldering seam, and demonstrates how the individual parts are bent, shaped and matched to each other.

Nora Dubsek not only makes brass instruments, she also develops them further. For example, she spent several years working with Craig Hansford, solo trombonist of the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra, on a new slide trombone. In addition to the Dubsek trombone, there are also concert flugelhorns, concert trumpets and tenor horns of the Dubsek brand.

Another speciality of the house are post horns. The instrument maker uses an original post horn from the k. u. k. Poststallhalterei 1866 as a historical model. And Nora trains apprentices. Lea Friedrich is in her third year of apprenticeship and will soon complete her training, Verena Fresner has recently started. Brass instrument making, as Nora Dubsek shows, also fits perfectly in women's hands.

Jared mainly takes care of consulting and sales, but also gives Nora a hand in the workshop and takes care of repairs. "We complement each other perfectly. I'm not so good at sales, Jared is a trained office administrator," says Nora Dubsek and laughs. How could it be otherwise, the two met in the music band.

On the first floor above the workshop in Peter-Mayr-Strasse, two years ago the two of them set up a Brasscenter set up a brass center. Musicians can try out various instruments here at their leisure - from the company's own production, but also from selected manufacturers. Trombones, tubas and tenor horns, trumpets, flugelhorns and french horns in various designs shine in competition.

In the shop in Andreas-Hofer-Straße, on the other hand, the focus is on guitars, woodwind instruments and percussion. Room temperature and humidity are adapted to the instruments. Because, what many people don't know, guitar wood reacts sensitively to temperature fluctuations or heat.
The more valuable a guitar, the more important regular maintenance and proper care are. It should be oiled once a year, otherwise the wood will crack over time. Underfloor heating, which is so popular today, is also not good for the instrument. "If possible, you should store the guitar near the wall, as it is less warm there," advises Jared Egger-Dubsek.

When buying an instrument, not only are there valuable tips, the instruments are also professionally maintained and repaired at Dubsek. "An online dealer can't offer this comprehensive service," he emphasizes. And that's what customers appreciate. They come from near and far to get advice and to have their individual instrument made.

Musikinstrumente Dubsek
Andreas-Hofer-Straße 19
Tel.: +43 512 587302
E-Mail: musik@dubsek.at
www.dubsek.at
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 08:30 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 18:00, Sat 09:00 to 12:00

Brasscenter Dubsek
Peter-Mayr-Strasse 23 (in the Stöckl building)
Tel.: +43 512 587302
Opening hours: by appointment

There are numerous other blog posts about exciting craft businesses in and around Innsbruck - such as here, here or here.

Photos, unless otherwise stated: © Susanne Gurschler