Most parents at some point are confronted with providing a band instrument for their son or daughter to play in band. Regardless of a families available disposable income, it always seems that most parents do not want to spend money on something that may be a short lived endeavor.

Having both sold band instruments new and used as well as investing heavily in a band instrument rental program I do have some opinions on the matter. When it comes down to it, most parents have several options in providing a band instrument for their child. The first and perhaps most popular is renting from a vendor providing the service to the child’s school. The second, is to purchase a new instrument; And finally the used instrument market offers some possibilities.

The pros and cons of each of the above options if understood properly can make this a fairly easy decision. Renting from a local vendor already calling on the school is often a good choice. Some programs are rent only with a lower monthly payment while other programs offer a “rent to own”. -or some variation of this. If you doubt your child will really stick with it or you want to see if they really take to the instrument, just the simple rental program will do. Unless the vendor offers a rent to own with a substantial discount on the buy out, often the cost of purchasing an instrument this way is not really worth it financially. However, this does not mean that the vendor is taking advantage of you. Typically the service involved in these programs, the ability to pay for something over time with an option to end the contract explain the higher costs. However, the best way to handle this financially would be to rent an inexpensive instrument that plays adequately and then buy one new at the market price which is fairly consistent among vendors.

Most school teachers prefer name brands such as Yamaha, Gemeinhardt, Bach, Vito, Artley, Holton and others. And yes many of these brands are tried and true. You will also see 50 + other names imported from China. We have one such line: RS Berkeley . The problem with the Major brand names is that you will pay more and this may or may not be in your best interest. The problem with the other brands is that many do not have a reputation and may be good, and many do not have a good reputation. So how are you supposed to know? In the Case of the RS Berkeley instruments, I would just take my word for it. They are very good and you will save yourself some money. We do not get returns on this line because the teacher did not like the brand or they do not play well out of the box.

Regarding used instruments and a purchase. Often we have parents calling us looking for a great deal on a brand name used instrument. However, the best deals will be had only if you buy direct from another parent who is selling their new or like new instrument for 10-30 cents on the dollar and the instrument is ready to go. Shopping from dealers used you will get the job done but you need to remember that the used stuff has a debt to service typically relating to an original cost + profit needed to service a band instrument business model. So if you figure that most band instrument dealers need to make 2 1/2 to three times the cost of an instrument to keep their doors open, then you will see why buying used is less than what you would hope for. The accounting simply does not work. So again I would say that in most cases the RS Berkeley line of woodwinds and brass winds are a better value new than the name brands purchased used.

Of course if your school teacher has not yet been introduced to the line, they will most likely put the RS Berkeley instruments into the “bad Chinese instrument” category, unless they are willing to be open about it. Most teachers have so much on their plate that this can be a tall order. My only comment is this:. Yamaha at one time was the “new kid on the block” and now has become perhaps the industry leader in school band instruments. So, there are other opportunities and brands that will save you some money and give you the instrument you need for your child’s success. However, some teachers have both legitimate and illegitimate reasons for not liking alternative brands.

Legitimately, there is a “blend” that when students play instruments from the same manufacturer, the sound is often more uniform. However, throwing a curve ball at this “somewhat truth”, is the fact that every persons mouth and hands are different so it is impossible for two people to really get the same sound out of a woodwind or brass wind instrument in an average 50 minute performance even when playing identical instruments. This is why great Jazz musicians could play the same Saxophone with the same mouthpiece and reed and get two very distinctive sounds.

In addition, kids with instruments out of repair, or whom there is no vender available to repair the instrument wastes the teachers already taxed free time so introducing yet another problem to the band program is often a big objective to avoid by any teacher.

So depending on the level of perfection and uniformity required by the band instructor, you will be able to tell whether purchasing something that a teacher may not really have on the list of instrument choices is something that will work out.

Good Luck!