About Us

Our Story

ABL Double Reed is a small, independent workshop led by Alex Laubin, a third-generation double-reed craftsman.

Alex started working in his family business in 2003, where he trained under his father, Paul, in the tradition established by his grandfather, Alfred. After making his first oboe in the early 1930’s, Alfred grew his brand from a basement workshop into one of the most respected names in American oboe and English horn making. Along the way, he established a standard of quality and accountability that continues to inspire musicians and craftsmen.

Alex worked with his father for nearly two decades, learning not only the techniques of woodwind instrument making, but the habits and values that define lasting work: integrity, consistency, and attention to detail.

At ABL Double Reed, Alex continues the Laubin family tradition in a new setting. The focus is on hand-crafted bocals, accessories, and instrument customizations, all made with the same attention to detail and commitment to quality and reliability that characterized the workshop of Alex’s father and grandfather. The company’s small scale allows for flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of its customers.

ABL Double Reed exists to continue a family tradition of making beautiful, reliable tools for musicians - crafted by hand, guided by tradition, and made to last.

Our Values

This is a family business. Our customers are part of our extended family.

It’s an underdog story. It has been from the beginning. We’re here to prove that craftsmanship and traditional values still matter, and still deserve a place of respect in the music industry.

Integrity is our core value. Integrity basically means “wholeness.” Honesty is part of it, but not the full meaning. It means we keep our word: we do what we say we’re going to do, and we stand behind our work. We don’t have double standards. We treat others with fairness. We treat others how we would like to be treated. We do the best we can, and expect others to do the same. When something goes wrong, we don’t look for someone to blame; we take responsibility and do our best to correct the problem

Our other values:

• We care about our work and about people. We treat our customers with kindness. We strive to create excellent products that people can enjoy and rely on. We care enough about what we’re doing to take pains to get it right.
• We listen to our customers and to each other. This relates to both care and integrity.
• We care enough to pay attention to detail. This should be reflected in pretty much everything we do.
• We care enough to communicate with clarity, and to ask for clarification from customers and each other.
• We are mindful to have some humility and gratitude. We are humans doing challenging work; we are not perfect, but we learn from our mistakes. We are privileged to be able to make good things for good people.
• We are practical, resourceful, and inventive. We are generous and egalitarian. We are unpretentious. We think musically and artistically. We believe there is art and beauty in good craftsmanship. We believe in harmony and balance.

We value quality over quantity. Reliability is a critical part of our definition of quality.

We value substance over style. We don’t try to make our products appear more impressive than they really are. Our products speak for themselves. This is part of our integrity.

We put the musician first. Playing a double reed instrument is difficult enough. Our goal is to make the musician’s life easier.