What brand instruments should you look for? which ones do you stay away from? Where do you get a cheap instrument from? All questions I hear and see weekly.
Flute: Yamaha, Jupiter, Selmer, Trevor James , Emerson
Clarinet: Yamaha, Jupiter, Selmer, Le blanc , Buffet
Stay away from anything off eBay. This includes ones that are yellow, pink, lime green, blue, black purple or any colour other than the original colour of the instrument. %99 of instruments on eBay are trash, junk, garbage. They break easily, need constant adjustment, are never in tune and above all sound absolutely terrible!! Some traders will try and sell cheap imitations of the same instruments even putting 'YAMAHA 2010' in their name. What more can i say but stay away!
Unfortunately cheap and instruments don't always come in the same sentence. But a few places to try.
Your music /flute/clarinet teacher
Sometimes music teachers know a few students who are willing to sell their beginner instruments or trade up. They may also have a relationship with the local music dealers around who sell instruments. So ask. They are the experts on yor instruments and know what to look for
Pawn shops
I often look in pawn shops to see what instrunents are available. Yes most of these instrument look dirty and will definetly need a clean, oil adjust and maybe a repad. But they are cheap. Maske sure that you stick with the above brands
Schools
Often schools will have instruments that their studnets have used and are selling these second hand, So get in touch with the band.music coordinatior and ask.
Music shops
An obvious place i know! Although quite often these instruments are new and hence more expensive. But it doesn't hurt to check
A final word about Online
If you find an reptuable instrument that is online please make sure that 1) You do your research about that particular brand and 2) There is a try before to buy period. You dont want to have to spend $200 on an instrument that wont suit you at all, If possible see if you can try a similar brand in a music store before you commit
Thats it from me
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Are you an expert? Because my mom is, and when she bought my flute (and piccolo) she chose Gemeinhart. There have been absolutely no proplems, so why isn't Gemeinhart on your list?
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