How To Buy A Trumpet Or Other Musical Instrument On The Web
Buying Guidelines:
By: J.L. Bowers, The Bandroom
Well, here you are! Your child has made the choice to learn to play
the trumpet in band. This is a great way to learn responsibility, to
build character and to learn to work together with others.
Learning to play a musical instrument takes many hours of practice.
Most school band programs don't get enough funding to provide all the
students an instrument to call their own. Therefore, leaving the parent
or guardian to foot the bill for their instrument of choice.
Let's focus on your options as a consumer looking to purchase an
instrument. For many parents money is a big factor, lets say your budget
is tight and you want the best deal you can find. Well, it won't take you
long to find out that a new musical instrument from your locally referred
dealer is pretty expensive. Most new trumpets will cost you around $400 to
as much as $1,000 or more, depending on the instrument. So, for most of us
that is not an option. Now you have to look for a used instrument. But, your
local pawn shops have instruments that look pretty good, but the price tag
and the guarantee don't match up. The newspaper isn't much help either. So,
here you are. Searching the web looking at all the over 3,000 listings matching
the word, "trumpet".
What am I looking for?
The first thing you need to arm yourself with is knowledge. Don't just start
bidding on everything that is cheap. You might end up with nothing more than some
used scrap metal. You need a decent quality instrument that is ready for yor child
to play. You might even find a quality instrument that needs very little repair.
You certainly don't want to buy an instrument that can't be repaired! Your child
will be carrying the instrument to and from school, in and out of the case, back
and forth across the rehearsal area, and likely up and down the marching field. A
lot of things can go wrong when you are carrying around a delicate instrument.
Let's get you armed first with a list of brands that are quality used instruments. These
brands can be repaired and there are a lot of them out there for sale.
Bach Benge Besson
Boosey&Hawkes Bundy
Buescher Conn DEG Getzen
Holton Jupiter King Olds
Selmer Schilke Yamaha
Doesn't seem like a very long list? Beleive me, the list of what not to buy is 10 times
that long! There are new names popping up every day, it seems. There is no way you could get
more than an opinion on which of these are better than the others. There are so many factors to
consider. A lot of these brands have several different styles. There are also instances where
several of the above names are used in conjunction with one another, like; "Selmer Bundy", "Besson-Boosey&Hawkes",
"Getzen DEG", or others. Don't worry, that is common. A lot of these companies have combined and
even bought one another out over the years. But, these are names to be on the lookout for.
Ok, now we know what brands we can trust and have narrowed our search down considerably! Next thing
you need to arm yourself with is, what questions to ask. I am a professional repairman. I could make
the best musical instrument salesman spit-and-sputter...
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...and trip all over his tongue with the kinds of questions I would ask. But I have listed some questions you should ask.
Do all of the slides move?
Are the valves dragging?
Do the water keys close tightly?
Does air flow freely?
Is the horn dirty inside?
Are there any holes in the brass?
Are there any loose braces?
Is there a mouthpiece?
Is the mouthpiece stuck?
Are there any parts missing?
Does the case latch tightly?
I would copy and paste all of these questions, just to be on the safe side. When it comes to spending
$200-1,000 or more, ask, ask, and keep asking! If the seller won't respond to your questions, find
another seller to deal with! Also, check the seller's other items and past feedback. If the seller
has 100 listings for car parts, clothes, and ashtrays - you need to ask a lot of questions. Also, does
their feedback look good? Next, let's talk about a few other words to look out for in the titles and
descriptions of your seller's auction.
"Brand New!"- You can't hardly find a new horn
for around $100 that is worth having.
"Indian" or "Chinese"- probably thin brass or pot metal.
Probably no replacement parts, or unrepairable!
"Guaranteed New!"- This doesn't mean NEW with a GUARANTEE! Just that they guarantee it to be new.
"Won't last long!"- Never get in a hurry
spending your hard earned money!
"Starts at $1.00"- They most likely have a horde of these off-brand trumpets to get rid of, and this is their
way of drawing you into a $60-100 shipping charge!
"BANKRUPTCY!"- In other words, you will go bankrupt trying to keep your kid in band class!
"Liquidation Sale!"- Yeah right!
None of the above companies have ever had to
liquidate their instruments to anyone!
"Band Director Approved!"- Hmmmm?
How do they know your band director?
Now, I am going to give you some search keywords to use...
used trumpet
student trumpet
old trumpet
trumpet for repair
quality trumpet
trumpet with guarantee
All of the above brands used individually make great searches as well. You can also enter the words "trumpet cleaning"
and you will see what I can personally do to get a quality used instrument back into shape for under $40.00
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