Repair and the Intangible

Story and Photos by John M. Larsen

As David Sevy brought the torch down on the French horn, his grandson Caleb watched intently. Caleb had taken the horn apart to remove dents from where it was dropped on a concrete floor. Dave was now focused on soldering it back together into perfect alignment.

He used a technique known as sweat soldering, in which heat is applied in front of a seam to be closed, and the solder follows the heat.

The two are part of an unusual Idaho Falls family business that repairs all kinds of instruments. Dave’s son Jim specializes in stringed instruments such as guitars and Caleb works on brass and woodwind instruments. Last August, during my most recent visit there, a young apprentice named Sam Fielding was working on accordions.

I first met Dave when we were third-grade students at the now-defunct Edison Grade School, then located a mile west of Marsing. The school had next to no music, but Dave and I amused ourselves on small flutes called tonettes.

By tenth grade, we were both members of the Marsing High School Band and participated in annual band competitions. We also had fun in a polka group we formed with two others called the Achtung German Band (see “An Oompah Band,” IDAHO magazine, February 2024).