Lawler Shutting Down

[officermayo]

From his website:

"I will be retiring
at the end of December 2022.
After 42 years in the brass instrument business 37 of them making my own name brand,
I want to thank all my customers for their loyalty and encouragement over the years.

I will make 10 more trombones by the end of Dec. They have already been sold.
Roy Lawler"

[tbonesullivan]

Yeah, I remember this being talked about in the "Boutique Trombones" thread a while back. It's a shame but sounds like he wants to relax now. No idea whether the ever increasing brass prices and inflation had anything to do with it. I know a few people who used to make custom guitars, did it for 20 years, but eventually they fell out of love with the building aspect. They still love and play the guitars they built.

[herrerabone]

I play a Lawler and had an incident with the lever of the spit valve--anyone know how to get in contact with Roy now to get a replacement? I haven't been able to reach him at the old email listed on the Lawler site. I took the slide to a brass repair shop and they said the spit valves on Lawler slides are truly unique and I'd have to get one directly from Roy, none of the spit valves the shop had were the right size.

[ithinknot]

I play a Lawler and had an incident with the lever of the spit valve--anyone know how to get in contact with Roy now to get a replacement? I haven't been able to reach him at the old email listed on the Lawler site. I took the slide to a brass repair shop and they said the spit valves on Lawler slides are truly unique and I'd have to get one directly from Roy, none of the spit valves the shop had were the right size.

If he's taken down the website and abandoned the email, you either need to phone, or take a hint.

It's an unusual design but not complicated. The right person could fabricate a replacement quite easily, but the right person might not work at your local shop.

[tbonesullivan]

I was curious so I googled a bunch, and I have seen Lawler trombones with several different types of spit valves, so the design was changed over the years. It may just be that it was easier to use available spit valves for a time, and then at other times he decided to make his own.

How damaged was the spit valve? I can't imagine much that would happen to it that wouldn't also damage the slide.

[Matt K]

Didn’t lawyer use Saturns? Or am I mixing that up with someone else

[ithinknot]

I assumed we were talking about the Martin Committee-style lever on all the recent horns

[Matt K]

I think I might have conflated Butler with Lawler for some reason with regards to the water key.

[Mikebmiller]

Glad I got mine! I had to send it to Roy for some work last summer and he turned it around in less than a week.

[Enartselim]

I'm really late to this post. Sorry to hear Roy has retired. I bought a .525 Big Boy from him during the height pandemic and returned it within his guaranteed return window. Beautiful horn and great craftsmanship. The horn sounded absolutely fabulous but the .525 just wasn't quite right for me. I'd planned on making a trip to his shop for a more personalizing fitting for another horn but never got around to it. I really wanted a Lawler bone. I guess everyone has the right to hang it up when it's their time but I'm sure disappointed I didn't get a chance to meet Roy in person and have him build my custom horn. Wish him well in his retirement though.

[herrerabone]

I was curious so I googled a bunch, and I have seen Lawler trombones with several different types of spit valves, so the design was changed over the years. It may just be that it was easier to use available spit valves for a time, and then at other times he decided to make his own.

How damaged was the spit valve? I can't imagine much that would happen to it that wouldn't also damage the slide.

What had happened is the spit valve lever snapped in half - not really sure how. Maybe the previous owner of the horn took the spit valve apart and put it back together in a way that put too much pressure on it?

J Landress Brass sorted me out, they were able to make a new lever for me based on the old parts. It was indeed the case that no other lever they had fit, they said Roy used non-standard spit valve dimensions.