BAND INSTRUMENT PURCHASE/RENTAL GUIDE

Parents, Purchasing or renting a band instrument can be an intimidating experience for the first time buyer, and there are now many poor quality brands of instruments out on the market. Most of these cheap imitations look great, but do not work at the same level as a well-made instrument, and are often very difficult to repair. Listed below are well-made and trusted brands that are a good value. Please refer to this guide when making your selection.

FLUTE: Artley, Armstrong, Blessing, Bundy, Emerson, Gemeinhardt, Jupiter, Selmer, Yamaha

OBOE: Artley, Armstrong, Bundy, Selmer, Yamaha

CLARINET: Artley, Buffet, Bundy, Conn, Jupiter, Leblanc, Selmer, Vito, Yamaha

BASS CLARINET: Bundy, Jupiter, Selmer, Vito, Yamaha

ALTO SAX: Armstrong, Bundy, Conn, Holton, Jupiter, Keilwerth, Selmer, Vito, Yamaha, Yanigasawa

TENOR SAX: Armstrong, Bundy, Conn, Holton, Jupiter, Keilwerth, Selmer, Vito, Yamaha, Yanigasawa

BARITONE SAX: Armstrong, Bundy, Conn, Holton, Jupiter, Keilwerth, Selmer, Vito, Yamaha

TRUMPET: Bach, Besson, Blessing, Bundy, Conn, Getzen, Holton, Jupiter, King, Olds, Yamaha

FRENCH HORN (Double): Conn, Holton, Jupiter, King, Jupiter

TROMBONE: Bach, Blessing, Conn, Getzen, Holton, Jupiter, King, Yamaha

BARITONE HORN: Bach, Besson, Blessing, Bundy, Conn, Getzen, Holton, Jupiter, King, Olds, Yamaha

TUBA: Bach, Besson, Conn, Jupiter, King, Miraphone, Yamaha

PERCUSSION: DW, Groove, Jupiter, Ludwig, Mapex, Pacific, Pearl, Premier, Remo, Tama, Vic Firth, Yamaha

If you are not sure about the quality or price of an instrument, please contact Mrs. Plank. Refer to the preferred music store list for rentals and sales – beware of stores like Costco, Walmart and Amazon offering “no-name” or off-brand instruments!