Student clarinet NEEDED

[rvchat]

any place online (NOT EBAY) i can find a used one for kids learning?

 

[Perditamarie]

as always, check out Craigslist....also there are some new ones on Amazon for around $100 .... seems like a great price for new. also, i believe wwbw.com sells used instruments.....depending on brand, may be more than new. I bought a new trumpet at that site and am very pleased w/item, shipping, etc...look for online coupon code (w/code our shiny new trumpet was $90)...happy shopping!

 

[stm61]

I bought my daughter's clarinet in a pawn shop last year. The band director suggested we look there, since the rental prices were way out of our budget. He gave me a list of preferred brands, and brands to avoid. It took a few hours, but I found one. We lucked out that the store manager was a musician and looked it over himself before we bought it. He told me exactly what needed to be fixed and where to take it. I wasn't thrilled about paying over $100 for the clarinet and repairs, but it was way cheaper then renting. She's using it again this year and all it needed this summer was a piece of cork replaced. My daughter was 11, going into 6th grade last year when she started band.

 

[thebeesknees]

My Dad just got a trumpet for my son off of Craig's List. A college student was selling it and he got a pretty good deal on it. My son's trumpet teacher said to avoid music stores, as they will mark up the price 100%. He is actually the one that recommended we go with Ebay or Craig's List.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

also as simple as it sounds - ask around. You never know who (friends, family co-workers) might have one and be ready to sell (or give) it away. I know mine is in the garage waiting to see if DD wants to play it....if she doesn't show an interest at some point I will sell it.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

We bought our used instruments through craigslist and a local music store.

 

[Jessica527]

Not sure where you are from, But Zeswitz Music in PA has a great website with used items.

 

[richmond282]

as always, check out Craigslist....also there are some new ones on Amazon for around $100 .... seems like a great price for new. also, i believe wwbw.com sells used instruments.....depending on brand, may be more than new. I bought a new trumpet at that site and am very pleased w/item, shipping, etc...look for online coupon code (w/code our shiny new trumpet was $90)...happy shopping!

please, please, please, do not buy one of those $100 POC "new" clarinets off of any website. They are made overseas and can not be repaired once they break (and, yes, they will eventually have a bent key or a spring will fall off, or a pad will fall out, etc.) They also sound exactly like a cheap clarinet.

Buy a good USED clarinet. Brand names to look for are: Vito, Bundy, Jupiter (but only the newer ones, like made in the last 4 years), Yamaha. Don't buy off ebay unless 1) you are absolutely sure what you are looking for or 2) they have good return policy if it doesn't work upon receipt.

If you want new expect to pay at least $600+. For new, try www.wwbw.com (but not all the brands on there are good) or www.washingtonmusic.com.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm a band director.

 

[mickeytattoo95]

I second that! I'm music grad and purchased 2 clarinets and 1 saxophone from Washington Music center at nearly 40% off retail. They are wonderful to work with. If you can't find what you're looking for online, call and ask to speak to a woodwind specialist and they will tell you good student models to buy. I spent hours playing at least a dozen clarinets there one Saturday and they never rushed me or pressured me to buy a more expensive model.

Also, you could call the band directors at your local high school or a local college and see if they know of any students interested in selling their old instruments. I actually sold my saxophone through a band director who was excited to work out the deal for one of his students.

 

[Sadie22]

Wow! My son's private instructor checked out instruments for my son and went with me to Chuck Levin's to purchase a used Buffet instrument when my son needed to move on from a student model. I had no idea the store had such a widespread reputation.

 

[TallyTutter]

also as simple as it sounds - ask around. You never know who (friends, family co-workers) might have one and be ready to sell (or give) it away. I know mine is in the garage waiting to see if DD wants to play it....if she doesn't show an interest at some point I will sell it.

I agree, ask around. Someone on this board reading this now, who doesn't want to do anything against board rules, might have one they would part with (pick me, pick me!).

 

[rvchat]

I agree, ask around. Someone on this board reading this now, who doesn't want to do anything against board rules, might have one they would part with (pick me, pick me!).

yikes, sorry

 

[merekc]

Can anyone share a list of good trumpet makers to be looking for? Thanks.

 

[linnylu]

My Dad just got a trumpet for my son off of Craig's List. A college student was selling it and he got a pretty good deal on it. My son's trumpet teacher said to avoid music stores, as they will mark up the price 100%. He is actually the one that recommended we go with Ebay or Craig's List.

We bought ours at a local music store and got a great deal. It was used and the store cleaned it up before selling it to us. We also could bring it in 1 time after 6 months for the store to look it over for free. In fact, we have bought 4 used instruments from our local music store and have been happy with all of them.

 

[PinballFamily]

Just wondering...why not ebay?

We bought our daughter's student flute off there years ago (from a family whose kid was really serious about it and moved up to a pricer flute) and it has worked out great for us. Going strong more than seven years later and has a lot of music left in it! Recently, DS decided to stop playing his Vito clarinet (bought new via the school district, rather than renting it) after two years and we are planning to list it on ebay at some point if it looks like he really isn't changing his mind. We've found when we REALLY read a listing, ask questions of the seller, etc., we've never been disappointed in a purchase and have bought more than 1,000 items over the years...eek! And we've had equally good luck selling - we are brutally honest and detailed in our listings, so that probably minimizes any problems.

The Amazon/Costco etc. student instruments seem really crappy. And I truly love Amazon... In any case, good luck!

 

[rcraw45425]

We bought our younger daughters oboe off of eBay, but it was a special case. I was able to determine from the user name that the seller was a local pawn shop and we were able to go and check it out before doing buy it now. Hubby is an oboe player so he was able to determine that it was in excellent shape (only needed a cork gasket) and we got a good deal on it and were able to take it with us then. We have leased clarinets and a saxaphone from our local music store, mainly because they maintain the instruments and provide a loaner during the lease period.

 

[mrseace711]

Pawn Shop has lots and Craigslist =) We bought DD9s off Craiglist for $40 bucks..... Dropped it off at a repair shop to clean and ended up paying $175 in repairs Good news is its as good as new, bad news we could have purchased a nice plastic one for cheaper.... GOOD LUCK

 

[rcraw45425]

Pawn Shop has lots and Craigslist =) We bought DD9s off Craiglist for $40 bucks..... Dropped it off at a repair shop to clean and ended up paying $175 in repairs Good news is its as good as new, bad news we could have purchased a nice plastic one for cheaper.... GOOD LUCK

You COULD have bought a plastic one cheaper but be advised, you get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap instrument just because it's cheap, nine times out of ten you get a cheap instrument that sounds like crap. Some children come in the first day of band with those cheap $200 clarinets and they sound terrible. They are also next to impossible to repair, in most cases it's cheaper to buy a new one. I can probably guarantee you that your $225 investment yielded you a much better quality instrument than one of those shiny cheap new ones!

 

[richmond282]

Can anyone share a list of good trumpet makers to be looking for? Thanks.

Bundy
Yamaha
Bach
King
Jupiter (again, newer ones)
Olds

I'm a trumpet player so PM me if you have any specific ?s

Just wondering...why not ebay?

We bought our daughter's student flute off there years ago (from a family whose kid was really serious about it and moved up to a pricer flute) and it has worked out great for us. Going strong more than seven years later and has a lot of music left in it! Recently, DS decided to stop playing his Vito clarinet (bought new via the school district, rather than renting it) after two years and we are planning to list it on ebay at some point if it looks like he really isn't changing his mind. We've found when we REALLY read a listing, ask questions of the seller, etc., we've never been disappointed in a purchase and have bought more than 1,000 items over the years...eek! And we've had equally good luck selling - we are brutally honest and detailed in our listings, so that probably minimizes any problems.

Nothing against ebay specifically. In fact, if you're looking for a brass instrument, check out the name brands carefully and go for it on ebay. The problem with woodwinds is it is too difficult to tell the condition of the pads, springs, key height, bent keys, etc. etc. in an ebay picture. Unless you as a buyer and the seller know a lot about the instrument specifically it's too much risk to take IMO.

 

[TnTWalter]

I made the mistake of buying a $99 or whatever deal on internet. Not a good deal. There was nothing on craigslist at the time and we needed it fast.

So I'm checking ebay and see a vito for $100. Is this a good price for used? What do I look for. Thanks so much.

Trish