Student saxaphone rental or purchase

[okeydokey]

We just got back from band instrument night at the Middle School. My son is a first year student interested in Sax. All students in this band start on Alto Sax and move to others after 6 months or a year if they wish. My family has a Tenor Sax that my brother played in band for many years, many years ago. It will need some tuning up, replacing of pads etc. Not sure if it is worth repairing or if it will cost us more in the long run to fix this one.

So we decided to rent a used Also Sax (Yamaha maybe)? This year's rental will count towards next years purchase if we wish to go that way, but a instruments to buy run about 1400 through this particular shop. We are currently renting a beginning model at $31 a month.

I see a ton of used saxes on ebay and Craigslist but I am very leery of buying anything I can't return after having the music teacher check it out. If you have purchased a sax online, where did you get it? I would hate to put 300 out on rentals and then not buy through this place. It may make sense to just buy an alto sax now, but I don't know where to start.

 

[richmond282]

Honestly, I would either continue to rent what you have or only purchase a used sax you can see in person (i.e. NOT ebay.) There are just too many things that could be wrong. Repairs can get crazy expensive. I don't know what resources you have available, but you could check: craigslist, local pawn shop, classifieds, yard sales, or ask your band director. I'm a band director and I often have former students or just community members who want to sell their no longer used instruments. You could always post an ad on craigslist under "wanted."

 

[okeydokey]

The ad is a great idea. I would only ever buy from an ebayer that said I can return the instrument after the band director takes a look at it. I saw a Vito one listed for about 300, said the pads were all replaced 2 years ago, but I have no idea if that is good enough or not. I know I should stick only to certain brands and avoid anything made in China. I just hate to rent for too long as it seems I am throwing my money away when I could buy one.

 

[erincon23]

If you do decide to rent-to-own, I would make sure to ask if you can upgrade the instrument at some point. My son started right away on tenor, and we rented. I asked a couple of times if there was a possibility of upgrading to a better instrument, but never got a good answer, and I let it go. Of course, as we were finishing the rental period, he got serious about playing, and after I made my last payment, I had a reason to call the rental company, and said, "gee, wish I could have upgraded" -- and of course then they said "you could have, anytime before you paid it off." You'll find that the student models you can rent are not that great, and if your child gets serious about it, they'll want something better.

 

[lovebuzz]

We purchased a used one off of eBay a year ago. We were in the same situation, however it is $50 dollars a month to rent an alto sax. Luckily we have not had any issues with ours and he is on his second year playing it. It has paid for itself. Now the only thing we pay for are reeds. They are about $4 each and he goes through a box a year.

 

[bucket o' butter]

I don't know how old your son is, but mine all started band in the 6th grade. My oldest was able to use his aunt's saxophone so that didn't cost us. My daughter played the clarinet and I bought hers from an online music store. It was much, much, much cheaper than renting it or renting to own. I told her if she stuck with band in high school, then I would invest in a more expensive instrument. I sent an e-mail with an attachment of the clarinet and where I was buying it from to the band director and he approved it. Said it was fine for middle school. Needless to say, she dropped out of band after 8th grade so I am glad I didn't spend the big bucks. My youngest is now in sixth grade and is playing the trumpet. I did the same thing and will invest in a nicer instrument if he decides to do band in high school. I feel if you do your research, you can find good instruments from online music stores. And it is easy to have the band director approve your choice before you purchase. Good luck!

 

[crisi]

We bought used from Music Go Round. They had a guarantee on it and had done the repairs to make it band appropriate. It isn't a concert level sax, but its the same sax he'd have rented - pre scratched with a very small ding. We spent about what rental would have been for six months (it was a three year rent to own program).

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd rent. We're lucky, that our schools provide instruments, but lots of kids switch, or quit. Dd15 loved the flute in elementary, but quit because she hated to be pulled from classes. Ds13 plays the clarinet, but switched to french horn this summer, and will do both in school (school provided both instruments). Dd10 (all 60 pounds of her) chose the sax, but will switch back to violin if she doesn't like it.

I'd never buy an instrument until I knew my child loved it.

 

[zoemurr]

We just got back from band instrument night at the Middle School. My son is a first year student interested in Sax. All students in this band start on Alto Sax and move to others after 6 months or a year if they wish. My family has a Tenor Sax that my brother played in band for many years, many years ago. It will need some tuning up, replacing of pads etc. Not sure if it is worth repairing or if it will cost us more in the long run to fix this one.

So we decided to rent a used Also Sax (Yamaha maybe)? This year's rental will count towards next years purchase if we wish to go that way, but a instruments to buy run about 1400 through this particular shop. We are currently renting a beginning model at $31 a month.

I see a ton of used saxes on ebay and Craigslist but I am very leery of buying anything I can't return after having the music teacher check it out. If you have purchased a sax online, where did you get it? I would hate to put 300 out on rentals and then not buy through this place. It may make sense to just buy an alto sax now, but I don't know where to start.

ask the school about a reputable shop and take the sax you have there. We had an old one that turns out to be a very good instrument. We were told it was $80 to make it "playable" and $300 to make it like new. We chose the "playable" option and will do the complete overhaul in a few years if he's still interested. Not sure why you would look for another one when you have one?

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

My twins are both starting band. We are doing the rent to own too, but with used instruments. We went to a local shop.

 

[okeydokey]

ask the school about a reputable shop and take the sax you have there. We had an old one that turns out to be a very good instrument. We were told it was $80 to make it "playable" and $300 to make it like new. We chose the "playable" option and will do the complete overhaul in a few years if he's still interested. Not sure why you would look for another one when you have one?

The one we have in the family is a tenor sax and all players in his band are required to start on the Alto sax. After 6 months or a year he can switch over if he wants. My Mom also has to send it from MA to FL and then it has to be evaluated and repaired before he can use it. I am basically looking for the cheapest way to get him through the first 6 or 12 months.

 

[princessmom29]

My DD is is 2nd grade adn is starting violin this year. I shopped around the internet and read lots of reviews to find a reputable company with a 30 day trial period before I purchased a use violin for her. I got a $500 instrument for $200 (less than the cost of renting for a year). Her teacher can check it out when it arrives on Tuesday, and if it is not suitable we can send it back without penalty. It is supposed to have been completely checked out and reconditioned where needed. We will see what the teacher says when it gets here. If it not up to par we will likely end up gonig the rental route for at least the first year.

 

[Gina]

My son plays alto sax, and I rented from the school last year. $50 per semester was adding up, and the rental sax was just crap, so I started looking into buying him one. I almost swallowed my tongue over some of the prices. Then I found the Ebay storefront for a company called The Instrument Store. I liked that they're a real brick-n-mortar store out of NY, and they had a brand new Conductor brand alto sax for $299.

I was kinda afraid to not get a Yamaha or a Vito or something, but I knew that realistically there was no way I'd be able to afford one of those. Even the used prices are insane. The reviews for the sax we got were great, and they have a 30-day guarantee, so I gave it a shot.

My son LOVES his sax, and I was way impressed at the case and all the accessories that came with it (cleaning brushes, polishing cloths, gloves, wax, you name it.) He said it has keys that the rental sax didn't have (something about a "high F"?? I'm musically illiterate, lol) and his band director gave it a thumbs up. He really, really loves it, and I'm so happy he's happy. It has given him a different level of confidence, having his own instrument. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess it's the same sort of pride that goes with owning vs. renting anything. I can see the difference. Best $300 I ever spent.

Here's a link to the Ebay item:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alto-Sa...372?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f02b435f4

One important thing I've learned is that the mouthpiece and the reeds are the most important thing to how well the sax sounds. A cheap sax can sound great and a super expensive one can sound awful with the right/wrong mouthpiece and reeds.

Hope this helps!

 

[okeydokey]

My son plays alto sax, and I rented from the school last year. $50 per semester was adding up, and the rental sax was just crap, so I started looking into buying him one. I almost swallowed my tongue over some of the prices. Then I found the Ebay storefront for a company called The Instrument Store. I liked that they're a real brick-n-mortar store out of NY, and they had a brand new Conductor brand alto sax for $299.

I was kinda afraid to not get a Yamaha or a Vito or something, but I knew that realistically there was no way I'd be able to afford one of those. Even the used prices are insane. The reviews for the sax we got were great, and they have a 30-day guarantee, so I gave it a shot.

My son LOVES his sax, and I was way impressed at the case and all the accessories that came with it (cleaning brushes, polishing cloths, gloves, wax,
you name it.) He said it has keys that the rental sax didn't have (something about a "high F"?? I'm musically illiterate, lol) and his band director gave it a thumbs up. He really, really loves it, and I'm so happy he's happy. It has given him a different level of confidence, having his own instrument. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess it's the same sort of pride that goes with owning vs. renting anything. I can see the difference. Best $300 I ever spent.

Here's a link to the Ebay item:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alto-Sa...372?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f02b435f4

One important thing I've learned is that the mouthpiece and the reeds are the most important thing to how well the sax sounds. A cheap sax can sound great and a super expensive one can sound awful with the right/wrong mouthpiece

and reeds.

Hope this helps!

Thank you.

 

[erincon23]

One important thing I've learned is that the mouthpiece and the reeds are the most important thing to how well the sax sounds. A cheap sax can sound great and a super expensive one can sound awful with the right/wrong mouthpiece and reeds.

Hope this helps!

I'll absolutely second this. Nobody (three band directors) ever mentioned trying new mouthpieces or reeds to DS until he got into his jr year of HS. Then we went through a couple of different brands of reeds (he likes Gonzalez now) and a few different mouthpieces. He had one for jazz and one for classical -- and they're very different. Woodwind Brasswind (wwbw.com) has a program where you can order up to four mouthpieces, pay for the highest priced one plus $20 for cleaning, try them out, and then return the three you don't want. They'll adjust your payment to reflect the cost of the actual one you want to keep. DS just did this, looking for a new clarinet mouthpiece (he actually ordered 2 each of 2 different styles, because even the same style can sound different in different mouthpieces). There was no hassle and no problem with returning the other three and getting credit! Now he's trying to sell the tenor sax classical mouthpiece that his professor last year made him buy, since he says he'll never play classical again. He did buy one mouthpiece on ebay -- don't overlook used mouthpieces -- they clean up very well. And the ligature -- the thing that holds the reed to the mouthpiece -- can make a big difference to the sound also.

 

[stm61]

kids here start band in 6th grade and it's strictly band, no orchestra. The high school band teacher came to the middle school and had all the kids try the instruments they were instruments they were interested in, then pick the one that seemed to be the best fit. They only provide the largest instruments, for about $25 a year, the rest are up to the parents. The director gave a list of approved brands and one of "don't even think of buying these" brands. At his suggestion, I went to the closest town with pawn shops and made the rounds until we found one that was on the approved list. I even called the band director from the pawn shop before I bought. One of the store managers is a musician, and he looked it over, told me what was wrong with it, and where to take it for repair. It cost me about $150-$175, which I wasn't happy about spending, but there was no way we could afford the rental prices. This is her 2nd year with it and it cost me all of $20 to replace a cork this summer to have it ready to start school a few weeks ago.