General advice to first time instrument buyers.

I often get asked by first time instrument shoppers, “What should I look for when buying instrument X”. Since I do not have time to discuss all the instruments in this posting I will only address general issues that are relevant no matter what instrument you are looking for.

Early in my band directing career I was told by Dominic Speara that one of the most important things you can know is what you want. I guess that goes for life as well as music. So therein is the problem. First time buyers don’t know what they want. Not only that they do not even know what questions to ask to find out. So I hope these four tips are of some help.

1. Buy new from a reputable local dealer
2. How to find a reputable dealer?
3. Don’t buy the least or most expensive
4. Think of it as an investment

1. Buy New!

As a first time instrument shopper I strongly recommend going to a reputable local dealer to make your first purchase. I have had many first time buyers ask, “What do I look for so I can buy used”. I do not recommend going this route. Even with years of experience in purchasing used instruments,I have been burned, so it would be almost impossible to teach a first time buyer how to make an informed purchase of a used instrument. So again I recommend go to a local reputable dealer. After you or your child has played the instrument for a number of years then you will know what you want and can make a more informed purchase when looking at used instruments.

Now, having said that there are exceptions to this rule. Back when I was an active band director and we had our beginners going on to the second year we required that they have their own instrument. So I would go to our local dealer and pick out the best from his stock of rental returns. Rental returns are instruments that the music store has rented out for a year or maybe less and some are excellent value but you have to know what your are doing. I would check them out, do a play test and find the ones with the least wear and have him set them aside and even sometimes buy them the sell them back to the students. This saves the students some cash and I was comforted to know my 2^nd year players had adequate instruments to play that would not need to be repaired straight away, baring accidents. So I think you can be safe with this if your band director or teacher make this recommendation. But if you are not in this situation buy new!

2. How to find a reputable dealer

Choosing a music dealer can be difficult and intimidating if you are a first time buyer. Going in to a store where the jargon is as cryptic as a computer store’s can be daunting. Especially if you are new to an area and cannot rely on word of mouth via friends and relatives. So what to do? I would look for a small or mid-size dealer that has an in house repair facility and or a music school. Many smaller local stores got their start as teacher or techs so you know that there is a passion, knowledge and experience present for what the do.

They may not have the lowest prices but the service and knowledge they provide far out way the extra cost especially for a first time purchaser.

As a side note, it is getting much harder for small local dealers these days because of the big chains and the internet shopping available. It’s too bad in a way as we are loosing local expertise if favor of cheap prices. I was visiting with a dealer in the state of Washington a few years ago and he was saying he no longer carries higher end wind instruments as customers would come into the store spend an afternoon play testing a number of instruments and then leave to buy it on the internet.

3. Don’t buy the least or most expensive

When it comes time to decide how much to spend I like to make the analogy of shopping for a car for someone to learn to drive. You don’t want to buy the cheapest used car on the lot that has bald tires and bad brakes that could be a danger to the beginning driver not to mention to society.

As well you don’t want the most expensive Ferrari for a beginning driver. It’s a bad investment to put a beginning driver in an expensive high powered car as they would really not have the skill to handle a machine of this quality and it would also be a danger to a beginning driver and the rest of us.

Well, it’s the same with instruments. You want to make it as easy as possible for the student to learn. If you have an instrument that the action is poor, or cannot be tuned and is difficult to play even for a professional, what often happens is the student believes it’s his fault that he is having a hard time catching on when really it’s just the instrument’s condition making it more difficult than it has to be. So don’t always buy the cheapest one, buy the model that is the next step up the ladder in quality.

I should qualify this a bit as nowadays the quality of instruments no matter what instrument you are looking for have gotten better every year. The CEO of Roland was once quoted as saying, “If the auto industry had kept up with the music industry we would be driving cars that got 150 miles to the gallon and cost $7,500.00”. I think you should be ok with going to a reputable dealer and asking for a good quality student line instrument and getting straight advice. You may pay a bit more initially but it is usually a much better investment.

Buying the most expensive instrument is also not necessary but luckily not as dangerous as buying a Ferrari. In general more expensive instruments play better but in ways that beginners would unlikely be able to notice or appreciate anyway so the extra expense is a waste. Besides most name brand student line instruments are specifically designed for beginners and are of high quality.

One of the most important things to understand is that a quality instrument can usually be repaired from most accidents barring being dropped off a high rise, lesser quality instruments often cannot. Often time replacement parts are not available or the materials of the instrument are of poor quality taking more time and expense to repair. In my band director days I can remember hating the kids that bought their flute from Sears or an uncle. It never failed that I would spend a lot of time trying to make the instrument work properly over and over as it would never really stay adjusted properly. It was a huge waste of my time, the student’s time and the rest of the band’s time. Experience tells me that in a lot of cases the less expensive instrument ends up actually costing more after you add in the repair bill.

Salesmen need to be questioned as well. A salesman that smells a “newbie” with money will often offer poor advice to make a sale, even reputable ones. At a trade fair I once observed a father and a mother approach a local piano dealer and ask, “What was the best piano for their 6 yr old to start learning on”. He took them directly to the biggest grand piano he had at the trade fair, sat their 6 year old at the piano and proceeded to sell them on its features. This is a powerful sales technique that is used lots. If you can get the customer to see it they own it. Now a grand piano is not necessary for a 6 year old to receive a quality music education. First the child could not even touch the pedals and was very intimidated by its large size. Second, the superior qualities would go unnoticed by the child and his family. In fact, it can be argued that for educational purposes and getting kids involved with music, the newer digital instruments come with a lot more teaching aids than a traditional grand piano for a beginning player. So beware of salesmen.

4. Think of it as an investment

A good way to look at the cost of an instrument is as an investment. When adding the cost of music lessons in to the equation it turns out that the cost of the instrument is cheapest part of the whole deal. If you go cheap on an instrument that holds the student from getting the most out of the lessons you are really wasting the lesson money as well. It’s far better to spend a bit more on the instrument so your investment in the lessons has a better chance of paying off.

I will be adding more detailed post on what to look for in specific instrument in future posts.