Rental / Purchasing Info:
Renting an instrument is the best and easiest way to get your student an instrument for band. Some families choose to purchase an instrument outright. Whether you decide renting or buying is the best option for your student, we highly recommend you to buy or rent reputable brands only. This will ensure your students receives a high-quality, reliable instrument to learn with. We recommend that you contact the trusted music store listed below as part of your search for your student's instrument. Our directors work with this shop on a day-to-day basis and have found them to be consistently knowledgeable and reliable for instrument rentals and purchases.
We strongly encourage parents to avoid getting instruments from general merchandise stores. These instruments may be priced cheaper than what you find at our recommended music store; however, we find that these instruments often play out of tune, are harder for kids to get a good sound on, and are prone to breaking. Also, these generic instruments generally do not have replacement parts available, making repairs at most instrument repair shops impossible.
Sometimes parents already have instruments from their own band days or that have been passed down from other relatives or friends. These can be great options if they are good quality instruments and just need a little maintenance to get back into playing condition. The recommended retailer below offers in-house repair facilities and can check out older instruments to make sure they are ready to go for your student in the fall.
If you have a question about brands, models or the purchase of a specific instrument, your band director can help you! Check out the “Director” page to get the contact info for your child’s future director. We are happy to help guide our new band parents in their instrument rental or purchase decisions.
Questions you should ask when renting an instrument…
Check out the links below for additional information on how to get an instrument and to get to the rental page of our preferred vendors.
We strongly encourage parents to avoid getting instruments from general merchandise stores. These instruments may be priced cheaper than what you find at our recommended music store; however, we find that these instruments often play out of tune, are harder for kids to get a good sound on, and are prone to breaking. Also, these generic instruments generally do not have replacement parts available, making repairs at most instrument repair shops impossible.
Sometimes parents already have instruments from their own band days or that have been passed down from other relatives or friends. These can be great options if they are good quality instruments and just need a little maintenance to get back into playing condition. The recommended retailer below offers in-house repair facilities and can check out older instruments to make sure they are ready to go for your student in the fall.
If you have a question about brands, models or the purchase of a specific instrument, your band director can help you! Check out the “Director” page to get the contact info for your child’s future director. We are happy to help guide our new band parents in their instrument rental or purchase decisions.
Questions you should ask when renting an instrument…
- How many months can I rent the instrument?
- What’s the monthly rental fee?
- What are the maximum months allowable credited toward the purchase of the instrument?
- Is insurance included in the monthly rental price?
- What is covered by insurance? What are my liabilities?
- Is the instrument new, rental return, or reconditioned?
- What accessories are provided with the instrument? (reeds, tuning slide grease, valve oil, cork grease, swab, etc.)
- What kind of guarantee does the instrument have?
- If the band directors feel that my child would be better suited for another instrument, can I “trade” instruments? If so, how much rental credit would go toward a different instrument?
- Do you have representatives that make regular visits to each school to provide service?
Check out the links below for additional information on how to get an instrument and to get to the rental page of our preferred vendors.