About Rachel Britton-Treadwell

My interest in musical instrument repair started in high school. I did a brief apprenticeship at that time with Sean Randel in the Tuscon Unified School District. After finishing my degree in trombone performance, I traveled to the bay area and started training at Best Instrument Repair in Oakland, CA, learning under Bryan Morgan and Dick Akright.

I worked at Best for over 10 years, and through that time I was lucky enough to get experience doing everything on brasswind instruments, from basic services, soldering, and brazing, to overhauls, valve jobs, and fabricating custom parts… As a trombonist myself, I have a special interest in custom trombone work. I’ve repaired cracked/torn off knuckles, modified and fabricated new levers for valve sections, designed open wraps and counterweights, and rebuilt countless handslides.

Sadly, in June of 2024, Best Instrument Repair closed its doors after almost 90 years serving bay area musicians. This lead to my decision to travel back to Arizona and open Britwell Brass, bringing the custom repairs that have been common place in the bay area to the southern Arizona music scene.