I agree with Ted on the Musician's Friend referral - they're good to deal with and often have stores near by. Most orders over $99 get free shipping. Look for 'blem' sales - sometimes something will have been returned for a minor reason and they'll knock some more money off it.
Musician's Friend on eBay is another story - very over priced and often have wrong info listed in their auctions on vintage instruments.
On buying a vintage wind instrument....
Don't do it - especially from a private sale or pawn shop.
Why?
Whether it's trumpet, flute, or sax, musicians happen to excrete saliva into the instrument. All these instruments have release valves for this problem, as when you're marching in a band or performing things can get juicy (Chas plays flute and used to play sax - in marching bands, symphony, and solo). If the instrument isn't properly cleaned and stored this can lead to corrosion in the instrument. Where these instrument keys or valves are concerned this can also cause sticky valves and problems with performance.
If you do opt to go used, go to a real music store and see what they have for trade-ins. (I love a good locally owned shop - they'll always treat you right!) The beautiful thing about dealing with a music store is that you can eventually trade up for something nicer or different (say she wants to play sax or French horn later) later on - like you would with a car. If the music store is worth their weight in salt, they would have properly cleaned and set up the instrument so that it could be in the best working order possible - including polishing it. They also usually warantee things for 30 days after purchase - no pawn shop offers that!
Pawn shops don't do this and usually know very little about what they're selling. The other problem I have with pawn shops is that you gotta figure that the previous owner did not have a lot of money - hence, he or she was dealing with a pawn shop - so they may not have taken the best care of something (perhaps it was their kid's or whatever...) They also won't give you any support once you buy the instrument - you can't return it next week when the keys stick closed!
I hate to disagree but we offer a 30 day money back guarantee, and have knowledge of what we sell.
The people who frequent pawnshops come from every walk of life and quite honestly usually have more spendable income and then I do. (sorry to siderail)
No offence intended - I'm talking in broad strokes here and my experiences - I certainly didn't research every pawn shop in the US to draw this conclusion. There's pros and cons to all the avenues one could go down to aquire a 'new' instrument - pawn, eBay, music store (chain or mom-n-pop), private sale, etc.
Hats off to you if you take the time and trouble to really know what you're selling - in my experience many don't. They wouldn't bother tuning or cleaning a guitar, making sure it was humidified and stored properly, or making sure it was set up right so that people could play it properly before they paid for it. If you do that, then you are truly the exception to what I've seen. Even the ones who sell on eBay have a "as is" policy with things unless their listing was really off... I deal with those very carefully. (We have a collection of 8 guitars and 3 amps and a piano and a flute and a keyboard and a bunch of electronic pedals that go with the guitars and.... )
The point in my earlier post is to give Shellon information so that she can consider what will work best for her situation and make a decision. Since I'm in a different part of the country (New Hampshire), what would work as a good or bad avenue here may not be the same for her in her part of the country...
By the way - we're in the market for a Fender Starcaster - email me please if you happen to come across one! :)
Buy a used, as well as a student trumpet. I have played trumpet since 2nd grade. And, I have one son who is a recent high school grad, and he played trumpet since 5th grade. My thirteen year old is now playing my old used trumpet in middle school, and my nine year old has begun to play also. There is a company called "Bundy" who makes a nice student horn. Also, Conn makes nice horns. The main thing, is like someone else said, make sure the trumpet is in nice condition, and that all of the tuning slides work smoothly. And, like someone else said (maybe the same person), get a "Bach 7C mouthpiece which is standard for beginners. And then, enjoy having your peacefull evening blasted to smithereens by an exhuberant youg trumpet player! Yeah, I have had three to contend with while my parents only had one. "Payback is a b i t c h " as they say... :blink:
:) Isn't GS a wonderful place? Nellie sent us her son's instrument. And, to add to the fun part, after I left the post office with this package I stopped at the grocery and who did I run into.... Mr Collins, my high school band teacher!
I picked his brain for awhile, got information from him, as well as an offer for a few lessons if she wants them.
And.... he's working part time in his retirement in a music store locally that does repair, maintenance and sales on used musical instruments and equipment. He'll take it to work with him, get a mouthpiece for it, check it all out, get it "band class ready".
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Shellon
You know me CW, I'd never pee on royalty.
Not on purpose anyway.
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CoolWaters
Really...? ;)
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ChasUFarley
Shell --
I agree with Ted on the Musician's Friend referral - they're good to deal with and often have stores near by. Most orders over $99 get free shipping. Look for 'blem' sales - sometimes something will have been returned for a minor reason and they'll knock some more money off it.
Musician's Friend on eBay is another story - very over priced and often have wrong info listed in their auctions on vintage instruments.
On buying a vintage wind instrument....
Don't do it - especially from a private sale or pawn shop.
Why?
Whether it's trumpet, flute, or sax, musicians happen to excrete saliva into the instrument. All these instruments have release valves for this problem, as when you're marching in a band or performing things can get juicy (Chas plays flute and used to play sax - in marching bands, symphony, and solo). If the instrument isn't properly cleaned and stored this can lead to corrosion in the instrument. Where these instrument keys or valves are concerned this can also cause sticky valves and problems with performance.
If you do opt to go used, go to a real music store and see what they have for trade-ins. (I love a good locally owned shop - they'll always treat you right!) The beautiful thing about dealing with a music store is that you can eventually trade up for something nicer or different (say she wants to play sax or French horn later) later on - like you would with a car. If the music store is worth their weight in salt, they would have properly cleaned and set up the instrument so that it could be in the best working order possible - including polishing it. They also usually warantee things for 30 days after purchase - no pawn shop offers that!
Pawn shops don't do this and usually know very little about what they're selling. The other problem I have with pawn shops is that you gotta figure that the previous owner did not have a lot of money - hence, he or she was dealing with a pawn shop - so they may not have taken the best care of something (perhaps it was their kid's or whatever...) They also won't give you any support once you buy the instrument - you can't return it next week when the keys stick closed!
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pawnbroker
I hate to disagree but we offer a 30 day money back guarantee, and have knowledge of what we sell.
The people who frequent pawnshops come from every walk of life and quite honestly usually have more spendable income and then I do. (sorry to siderail)
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HAPe4me
So THAT's what Sharon's hubby looks like! Hiya Pawnbroker
stop into chat some night and say hi again.
~HAP
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ChasUFarley
Pawnbroaker --
No offence intended - I'm talking in broad strokes here and my experiences - I certainly didn't research every pawn shop in the US to draw this conclusion. There's pros and cons to all the avenues one could go down to aquire a 'new' instrument - pawn, eBay, music store (chain or mom-n-pop), private sale, etc.
Hats off to you
if you take the time and trouble to really know what you're selling - in my experience many don't. They wouldn't bother tuning or cleaning a guitar, making sure it was humidified and stored properly, or making sure it was set up right so that people could play it properly before they paid for it. If you do that, then you are truly the exception to what I've seen. Even the ones who sell on eBay have a "as is" policy with things unless their listing was really off... I deal with those very carefully. (We have a collection of 8 guitars and 3 amps and a piano and a flute and a keyboard and a bunch of electronic pedals that go with the guitars and.... )
The point in my earlier post is to give Shellon information so that she can consider what will work best for her situation and make a decision. Since I'm in a different part of the country (New Hampshire), what would work as a good or bad avenue here may not be the same for her in her part of the country...
By the way - we're in the market for a Fender Starcaster - email me please if you happen to come across one! :)
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J0nny Ling0
Hi Shellon.
Buy a used, as well as a student trumpet. I have played trumpet since 2nd grade. And, I have one son who is a recent high school grad, and he played trumpet since 5th grade. My thirteen year old is now playing my old used trumpet in middle school, and my nine year old has begun to play also. There is a company called "Bundy" who makes a nice student horn. Also, Conn makes nice horns. The main thing, is like someone else said, make sure the trumpet is in nice condition, and that all of the tuning slides work smoothly. And, like someone else said (maybe the same person), get a "Bach 7C mouthpiece which is standard for beginners. And then, enjoy having your peacefull evening blasted to smithereens by an exhuberant youg trumpet player! Yeah, I have had three to contend with while my parents only had one. "Payback is a b i t c h " as they say... :blink:
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Shellon
:) Isn't GS a wonderful place? Nellie sent us her son's instrument. And, to add to the fun part, after I left the post office with this package I stopped at the grocery and who did I run into.... Mr Collins, my high school band teacher!
I picked his brain for awhile, got information from him, as well as an offer for a few lessons if she wants them.
And.... he's working part time in his retirement in a music store locally that does repair, maintenance and sales on used musical instruments and equipment. He'll take it to work with him, get a mouthpiece for it, check it all out, get it "band class ready".
Thank you. Now for ear plugs.
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coolchef1248 @adelphia.net
wonderful news!
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