Rent to own a musical instrument

[Tammysue5]

I agree with the PPs that said to ask around. You might be surprised at the students or teachers that have instruments they are not using and would be thrilled to sell or rent them to another student.

Our son wanted to play drums... we rented the drum pad 'thing' for 1 yr... we told him if he practiced and still liked them after 1 yr we would buy a set of drums. While I really did not like paying rent for 1 year,,,,, it gave our son something to work for and we knew when we bought the drum set that he was serious about playing. He just graduated this year and traded his set for a bigger set. (LOVES IT!) and had enjoyed playing all the percussion instruments. His band instructor advised us to NOT buy the cymbals for a couple years...so when we bought the drum set (in 6th grade) the band teacher allowed him to borrow a set of cymbals for 2-3 years. (The Crash and High hat cymbals can run quite a few hundred dollars alone. )


When Adam gave back the cymbals he had borrowed the teacher passed them on to another serious student.

DD10 decided on her instrument... guitar. (acoustic) Of course this and piano are not done at school band. That was alright w/her so we bought her a nice guitar for about $300 (In pink) and she started lessons at the beginning of summer and loves it. So, she is not is the school band but has already learned a couple easy songs she will play at church. (our church encourages the kids to sing, dance, play intruments during church services (considered special music) The kids love the opportunity to play,,, the other kids love to see each other play (and it gives them courage to do it ) and the adults Love to see the special talents. (DS 18 played drums in 3 different churches and it gave him some wonderful opportunities)

Sorry I got off topic there!

 

[pednurse]

I must say, that after hearing how much people are spending, that we really lucked out. My DS has just started 6th grade & joined band. He is in percussion......we were supposed to buy drumsticks, stick bag, practice pad, and practice bells (or rent those last 2....still would have to buy the sticks & bag). We lucked out in that my BIL played drums from 6th grade on & had the practice pad, practice bells, & full drum set +.....which he did not have room for in his apartment or the house he just moved in to. So we "inherited" them for free. All I had to buy were the sticks & stick bag (totaled about $80). He is taking lessons as well, and so far really likes it. Much different story than the acoustic guitar he wanted to learn to play in 1st grade.....still have the $90 1/2-size guitar we had to buy for that....that he only played for about 10 months. lol
Don't know what DD will do in 4 years when she reaches middle school. She's been playing piano for 1 1/2 years so far & really loves it. Will be interesting to see if she picks up a different instrument to join band in a few years..... (and at least I didn't have to buy a piano for her.....already had the one my folks bought for me when I was 9....I've been playing for 29 years now!).

 

[MinnieFlute]

Hi!

Well, I will tell you that I am pretty shocked that there is not a school-owned oboe available to you. I'm a band director and we rent the more expensive instruments to the kids ourselves - because a good oboe (as mentioned) can be very, very expensive.

Our school has Yamaha and Fox oboes, and they hold up pretty well. I personally think they're better than the Selmers. We use plastic models for our junior high kids. The high school has wood Loree oboes.

A rental oboe from a music store would make me nervous, especially if it was a wooden oboe - they warp easily and cannot be patched to their original condition like other instruments can. Maybe rent a plastic one for now (and I promise, a well-made plastic one can function nicely at the younger grade levels) but I would be aware that if your child sticks with it, a wooden oboe will likely be in order later. And those can run $8K+, and you will HAVE to purchase one - no rental available on those.

I would HIGHLY caution all band parents about online instrument sales. You just never know what you're going to get. If you choose to get an instrument online, make certain that it is the same brand/model that your band director recommends - and don't buy it if you can't return it!

Also, PLEASE do not buy a cheap horn. A beginner horn is one thing, but a cheap, poorly made one is another. Off-brand instruments can break easily and many music stores will not work on them, since they may not have the parts and don't want the liability of maybe breaking the instrument more. Plus (and here's the part that breaks my heart ) the kid is a LOT less likely to be successful - and then they think "band sucks" and quit. It really makes me sad - I've seen it happen several times, and I'm only in my third year!

Good luck!

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

You have gotten lots of great advice, and this thread is recycled every Aug./Sept., so you can do a search and read some more!

I felt that renting was highway robbery in that if you buy after a while, you will buy an overpriced instrument.

We did the "unthinkable" and bought off eBay for an alto Sax about 4 years ago. Worked out great for us as hubby is a saxophone player, and we also had it checked out at the music store where DS took lessons. Bought it from a fam where the kid played for a year and lost interest.

These days I would do Craigslist (since it is local) and find a way to meet them at a music store or something to have the instrument evaluated. I am currently looking for a tenor sax which new would be around $2000. I am finding that there are plenty of good quality used for $500 or so.

Of course, the oboe is unique as everyone has mentioned.

 

[drinkme]

When do you know your child is ready for a better instrument? DD10 started band last school year. I thought for sure she would last about a month and then complain about practicing, etc. However, she loves it (clarinet), and practices alot. She is pretty good at it, and wants to stick with it even though almost all of her friends dropped out already. She is excited to be starting band this year. When her clarinet was being repaired last year, she got a great loaner and she said it made such a difference in the sound.

So, do we look into renting a better clarinet? or should we just keep renting this one and look into renting a better one next school year? Right now we pay $35 a month for the rental.

TIA

 

[Cindy B]

Hi!

Well, I will tell you that I am pretty shocked that there is not a school-owned oboe available to you. I'm a band director and we rent the more expensive instruments to the kids ourselves - because a good oboe (as mentioned) can be very, very expensive.

Our school has Yamaha and Fox oboes, and they hold up pretty well. I personally think they're better than the Selmers. We use plastic models for our junior high kids. The high school has wood Loree oboes.

A
Good luck!

There is no school owned instruments around here in my neighborhood. When I worked in an urban school, there were donated school owned instruments.

The bassoon was part of another school agreement-- the kids father was a band director in another district and arranged it. However he did buy his own later... to the tune of a 5 digit number...

You can not rent wooden oboes. We bought our oboe from a former Philly orchestra member who now deals and sells them.

 

[okeydokey]

OP here, the school does have one Oboe to rent but another student a year ahead of us is already re-renting that one. They have one more at the shop and should know by Monday if it will fixed properly on time. IF so, my DD has told the band director that she is interested in it. I hope so because I would rather rent one from the school at $30 a year to see if she really going to like it. Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate all your advice.

 

[richmond282]

My DD(10) is in 5th grade this year and just started beginning band. We went Monday for her to pick out her instrument. She decided on the trumpet. I had to drop $50 that night for a deposit and another $35 a month for the rental agreement (It's rent to own if I choose, but I was told that it retails for about $800, so we will be paying on it forever if she decides to stick with it). When I got home I looked up trumpets on e-bay and several were selling in the $100 -$200 range. What is the big difference in trumpets. She's only 10, she's just learning, I don't think she'll be playing professionally for quite a while. If she does she is super gifted and will make us rich anyway so we won't have to worry about the $$$$. For those who have been in this situation, would one of the cheaper trumpets do? Also, what is involved in the upkeep of a trumpet. I never played anything but the radio!

I will reiterate a PP's answer, NO!!!! The "cheaper" instruments are made out of thinner metal. It may look great and play fine, but when it needs to be repaired, no repair shop will fix your cheapo instrument because the metal will snap in half if manipulated at all. Then you have a "good deal" that will have to be completely replaced. Not such a good deal now.

Can you find some decent stuff on ebay? Yes. But you absolutely must know what to look for. For a trumpet, you want to look for the name brands: Yamaha, Bach, Conn, Olds, Jupiter, or King (Those are the main ones.) You want to check for dents, make sure the slides move, and the valves move. Those are the main things.

As for an oboe, OP, I would ask again if the school has an oboe to use. They are very expensive. For a decent beginner oboe you can expect to pay at least $2500 for your instrument. Insist your band director find you an istrument to use or choose a different instrument. That is too much $ to fork out for your kid to "try" a difficult instrument. I have taught beginner band for 11 years in 4 different school systems and I have always found an oboe for beginners to use!

 

[singnring]

When do you know your child is ready for a better instrument? DD10 started band last school year. I thought for sure she would last about a month and then complain about practicing, etc. However, she loves it (clarinet), and practices alot. She is pretty good at it, and wants to stick with it even though almost all of her friends dropped out already. She is excited to be starting band this year. When her clarinet was being repaired last year, she got a great loaner and she said it made such a difference in the sound.

So, do we look into renting a better clarinet? or should we just keep renting this one and look into renting a better one next school year? Right now we pay $35 a month for the rental.

TIA

Wow! $35 / month?!! In just ten months you could have put $350 towards a good instrument!

If your daughter loves it as much as you say, and even she noticed a big difference in sound quality with the loaner, I would definitely look into a good wood clarinet for her.

The better her instrument sounds, the better she will feel about her abilities.
THe better she feels, the more apt she is to stick with it.

Rentals are fine to test the waters, but once they are tested, it's time to move forward.

As to all of the bad hype about Ebay, yes, there are bad sellers out there.
But there are also a lot of good ones.
I purchased a professional level clarinet a few years go for $650 and I love it!!

I had been playing a cheaper model I also purchased from Ebay, but when I realized I would be playing long-term for church, I chose to make a good investment. We had a pro musician join us once and he couldn't believe the deal I got on my clarinet.

You just have to ask a lot of questions. Once you get the instrument, take it to be evaluated at a music store YOU TRUST, and if it isn't as the seller described/portrayed it, file a dispute if they refuse to refund your money.

I bought one for $850 on Ebay before my pro model, and when it arrived, it was cracked. I filed a dispute, had all of my correspondence w/ the seller to give as evidence of their condition report, and I got my money back.

The key is to ask a lot of questions. If they have nothing to hide, they'll answer. Then keep the emails/messages to cover yourself if it's bad.

But I definitely think you should step your daughter up to a good instrument, no matter where you buy it.

My dad bought me a quality wood clarinet from day one (30-some years ago when I started in 7th grade!!)and it made a big difference in how I felt and how I played.

 

[toledo13]

Ahhhh yes... this question pops up on the Budget Board every year. I am a music teacher, and here is my $0.02...

Oboe is one of those instruments that is VERY hard to start on, and in fact, I'm very surprised that the teacher IS having your child start right on that, rather than switching to it in a year or so from Clarinet, Flute, or Sax. That said, it is what it is, so we'll go with it. I WOULD rent for the first year. If your child then wants to stick with it, you can buy it (expect an oboe... a good PLASTIC Yamaha, lets say, to be somewhere in the $900-$1200 range... before reeds ($12-$18 a piece for cane... DO NOT BUY PLASTIC. Yuck). If your child doesn't want to stick with it... no real harm done. Sure, the argument could be said that 'oh, well you could sell it to someone else if you buy it and the student wants to stop'. Yes, that's true, BUT let's be honest- an oboe is not really a hot ticket item.

As far as if you DO buy it, you want to look for a reputable brand. At this age, Yamaha would be my top choice, but other makers like Selmer make ok instruments too. The most important thing is the reed. It needs to be soft, and it needs to be Cane. The oboe is VERY difficult to play... and having the right reed will be key.

Good luck!

 

[momxx5]

I am sorry I have not read all the replies, but I am here to tell you......ask around and tell everyone you know that you are looking for a certain instrument. Many, many people have unused instruments in their closets and have not had the thought or time to sell them. I am so thankful that after months of asking that I have found a schoolmate's sister who had a clarinet in the closet and not using it. I took it into the school to have the teacher look at it.....excellent condition worth at least $200 used! She offered to sell it for $50 because she understands our current finanacial hardships, I am giving her $75 and she is thrilled. This is the time of year that instruments are talked about so please start asking around. Best of luck.

 

[Cindy B]

As for an oboe, OP, I would ask again if the school has an oboe to use. They are very expensive. For a decent beginner oboe you can expect to pay at least $2500 for your instrument. Insist your band director find you an istrument to use or choose a different instrument. That is too much $ to fork out for your kid to "try" a difficult instrument. I have taught beginner band for 11 years in 4 different school systems and I have always found an oboe for beginners to use!

It all depends on your area. In this area (Northeast) no suburban schools have "free" instruments--only the struggling inner city schools have a few and many districts don't have any.

In our area there are no school district supplied oboes. We looked and asked around. No district anywhere in this area has any unless you are in the urban city.

 

[EMom]

Sheesh! After reading this, am I ever glad my school always paid for our instruments. We had a huge storeroom, (several, actually...divided by type of instrument) and from 6th grade on, you got your instrument from there. Yes, the upper grades got first pick, but that was fair. If you found one you liked, you could keep it all through school. We had to pay for our own reeds, but that was about it. When you graduated, the school got the instrument back. This was a blessing for the kids, because whether your family had money or not, you could play any instrument so long as you had the talent. And if you turned out to be crappy at your first choice, you just tried another. No harm, no foul. After reading all this, I'm sure the school had a small fortune tied up in their collection.

 

[TOTMGMWDW]

I work part time at a local music store doing the rental accounts. Because our store is the only local one around, the owner only sells and rents quality instruments. At any time, if the customer wants to apply their rental credit, which is 80% of the monthly rental fee, to a brand new instrument if they want. Your local music store is trying to compete with the larger companies who buy and sell the cheaper instruments to people who don't know what they are getting. But, yes, there is a huge mark up. We offer a hefty discount if you want to purchase the instrument outright. Call them and ask what kind of discount you can get and tell them you would like a brand new instrument.

 

[Kimmumum]

DS#2 was in 5th grade band last year. He played the trombone and quit after one year. We did the rent to own. We rented to own. We paid $16/month for 8 months of band. We could return it an any time with no additional fees. We could keep it until we paid it off and then own it. As long as we rented or bought it from the school selected music vendor they would fix it for free as long as we owned it.

Our school also has instruments at school for the students to use so that they do not need to bring their instruments back and forth on the bus. They just had to bring their own mouth piece. This made their lives much easier!! Since we only used our rented instrument to practice and for 4 recitals I started asking around and found out my neighbor played the trombone in HS and still had her instrument. We returned the rented instrument and borrowed the neighbors trombone. Saved me a bunch a money. She thought it was cool they we borrowed it. We bought a small gift and thank you card at the end of the year.

 

[Cindy B]

I am sorry I have not read all the replies, but I am here to tell you......ask around and tell everyone you know that you are looking for a certain instrument. Many, many people have unused instruments in their closets and have not had the thought or time to sell them. I am so thankful that after months of asking that I have found a schoolmate's sister who had a clarinet in the closet and not using it. I took it into the school to have the teacher look at it.....excellent condition worth at least $200 used! She offered to sell it for $50 because she understands our current finanacial hardships, I am giving her $75 and she is thrilled. This is the time of year that instruments are talked about so please start asking around. Best of luck.

The oboe is not one of those instruments that is in peoples closets due to its specialty factor and cost. Clarinets, saxes, trumpets, flutes are all fairly easy to come by...

 

[mom_2_boys]

Band director here . . . . . . . these are my thoughts

Each year, I host a band night and our 5th graders come and try out the beginning band instruments. I also invite parents that have an instrument that they would like to have their student play to bring that in for me to look at. Every year, I look over at least 10 of these instruments, everything from mom of dad's old trumpet to things bought at garage sales and off of ebay. (Heck, I bought my own trombone at a garage sale!) There are usually some that work and some that don't. If you have an instrument like this, ask your child's band director to take a look at it. That is free and we can give you advice on how to proceed.

I like to compare renting or buying and owning an instrument to buying and owning a car. To a large degree, brand is important in both. Would you invest thousands of dollars in a car that was a brand no one was familiar with and there were no replacement parts for? Many instruments are made in China today and stamped with all sorts of different names. These are unknowns in the instrument world. Repairs are very difficult to make because the quality of the materials is substandard and these companies do not offer repair materials. Brands that have been around a long time (and most likely, the ones that the band director is recommending) like Yamaha and Selmer, are excellent for beginners. So much frustration can come from having an instrument not work properly for a new student. Who would want to play an instrument that was broken or that even the band director could hardly make a sound on?

Your car needs routine maintenance and so does an instrument. There will be minor wear and tear and things will go out of adjustment and need to be repaired. No, your student is not abusing the instrument, it is just the nature of the beast. Your car needs an oil change, your instrument will need repairs.

I have kids and I know that things are expensive and we are all trying to save money. So get some advice from the director to look for bargains. We have had high school students sell instruments to beginners and this works well for us. Do your homework and look at Craigslist for deals in your area. You can often buy instruments from online music stores for a discount as well. As far as renting, you really are pretty much limited to your local music store. And yes, those instruments are marked up for the store to make a profit. (It is a business.) This is really the best option, at least for the first few months, to see if the instrument is a good fit for the student and if they like it and are going to stick with it.

Music is a wonderful gift to give your child. Good luck!

 

[okeydokey]

OP here. Good news for us tonight. The middle school has an Oboe we can rent for the school year for $30. We'll have to pick up the mouthpiece part when needed. If it looks like she will stick with it we will look for one to buy but this at least gets us started. Thanks to you all for the great advice.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

If the school has an instrument - that is the way to go - our rental (bass clarinet was 35.00 a year) - however the reeds were expensive

When daughter was playing clarinet for marching band - she found the plastic reeds worked just fine for the football games but used the good reeds for competitions - there was a sound difference but cheaper on my wallet

Her senior year for marching band she played a bartione for the half time shows and all competitons and since she was doing the band a 'favor' - the band director waived the rental fee on the bartione.

One thing we ran into here with a couple of the music stores, if they knew you were in a marching band, they would not do loaners or rentals to you, so for repairs we went to the other store here - his prices were a few dollars more in repair fees but he would have a loaner to use - or at least in clarients - worth it so she wasn't on the side lines during games/competitions