Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Faith and Finance

Home
Evangelical
Business, Finance and Religion
How to Buy a Musical Instrument

How to Buy a Musical Instrument

Last updated on: August 10, 2011 at 7:00 am by Tim

How to Buy a Musical Instrument 2011-08-10T07:00:20-05:00 Tim

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I remember signing up to play the saxophone in band almost 13 years ago. I could hardly wait to start! I loved the idea of playing the saxophone so much that I wrote it down for choice #1 and #2 – the director got a kick out of that and said that I’d get one of the coveted sax chairs.

There was only one problem. I didn’t own a sax, and we couldn’t afford the $1,400 price tag of the saxophones from the local dealer.

My dreams were about to shatter, until I came home to find that my dad had picked up a used saxophone from a pawnshop for $400. I couldn’t believe how great of a deal it was!

Looking back, I’ll remind myself how fortunate I was that my dad thought outside the box – otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance to play the instrument that I love. Hopefully these tips will be helpful if you or someone you know are looking to purchase an instrument for school this year.

Before You Buy, Do a Little Research

You or your child will be playing this instrument for years to come, so do your best to find out about brands, instrument types, and customer reviews before you jump on a deal. I’m not suggesting that you search out the top of the line saxophone model instrument and try to haggle your way down to $400…that’s not going to happen. You simply want to be sure that you’re buying a good instrument for the price and not overspending your hard earned money on something that’s not what you expected.

Where to Look for Instruments

Newspaper

Look in the classifieds or local ‘bargain finder’ papers to see if someone is selling their instruments. Many people don’t want to mess with listing their instrument online. This is how I found my first professional model saxophone. An older sax player was selling his horn for $300, so I tested it out and bought it on the spot. Turns out, the horn was from 1957 and worth about $1,300 allowing me to upgrade to a better model in college for less than I expected!

Craigslist

Today’s version of the classifieds is obviously Craigslist. I’ll occasionally browse through the listings to see what’s available, and find some great deals every now and then. Just be sure that the image shown is the actual horn and don’t be afraid to negotiate with the seller.

eBay

I’ve purchased a saxophone from eBay once and was happy with it; I’ve even sold saxophones on eBay and had a good experience as well. However, if you are shopping for a first time player, I don’t recommend using eBay right away. Unless you’ve done extensive research and feel very comfortable about the instrument model that you’re purchasing, don’t start bidding on eBay.

I do think that eBay is a great place to buy and sell, but you just need to be careful when it comes buying items that you’re not familiar with. Also, be very cautious about buying no-name brand instruments from eBay. There’s a reason they’re selling for a fraction of the price of others – you’d be much better off with a used version of a quality instrument than a cheaply made instrument that you purchased for a ‘great price.’

Reputable online dealers

I’ve seen more and more online dealers for musical instruments in the past few years. Part of the reason for this is that you can essentially create your own line of instruments by contacting a manufacturer overseas to produce cheap instruments. While I won’t go into great detail about these specific sites, I will suggest that you search for consumer reviews on instrument brands and look for forums that discuss the quality of those instruments.

Don’t forget the accessories

If you’re just starting out with an instrument, you’ll need more than just the instrument itself. From reeds to neck straps, to mouthpieces, cases and strings, your instrument will require a certain level of upkeep as well as items that need replacing.

After years of buying reeds, I’ve found that buying new boxes of reeds from Amazon.com and eBay have brought the greatest deals. When compared to our local music shop, I can save an average of 60% with each reed purchase. To be completely fair, I have purchased items at great discounts from local music shops, so you really just need to ‘shop around’ both online and in the store.

Here’s a list of sites that I’ve used and trust when looking for musical instruments and accessories:

Have you purchased an instrument lately? What did you do to get a great deal?

ALL

Previous Post

August 9, 2011

Home Insurance Basics You Should Know

Next Post

August 11, 2011 3 Ways To Stretch The Life of Your Car

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ALL Bible and Money Biblical Perspective Book Reviews Budgeting Business Corner Churches and Pastors Debt Encouraging Scriptures Entrepreneurship Faith and Economics Family and Money General Personal Finance Giving Inspirational Quotes Investing Making Money Other Personal Finance Retirement Reviews Round Up Saving Self-Improvement Taxes Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 November 2016 October 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who warned "the tongue is a fire"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Peter James John

How to Buy a Musical Instrument

Before You Buy, Do a Little Research

Where to Look for Instruments

Newspaper

Craigslist

eBay

Reputable online dealers

Don’t forget the accessories

Woodwind and Brasswind

Musician’s Friend

Guitar Center

Amazon

eBay

Who warned "the tongue is a fire"?