| My child is wanting to start playing an instrument. Should we rent or buy? |
We offer student instruments for both rent and purchase. Which option to choose depends on your preference. Our rental program offers maximum flexibility, because 80% of your rental payments can go toward purchase of an instrument in the future (if your child loves playing) and there is no long-term commitment so you can stop the rental at any time (if she doesn't). We also offer high-quality student instruments for purchase that will carry your child through many years of making music.
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| How can I rent an instrument? |
Visit the Rental section of our website for details on our rental program. If you are needing an instrument for the school year, the best first step is to call us or fill out the online application. At the beginning of the school year, we fill rental orders on a first-come, first-served basis, and we have a limited number of rentals. We advise you to reserve yours early!
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| Do rental instruments include the case and bow? |
Yes. We rent the entire “outfit,” which includes the instrument, case, bow, and rosin.
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| At what age can my child begin playing? |
Suzuki method schools and private teachers often begin teaching children very young – as young as 3 or 4 years old. The smallest violin is a 1/32 size violin, and we provide those instruments to our tiniest customers. Most middle schools in the area begin students in the 6th grade. Of course, you can learn an instrument at any age – we have quite a few customers who are adult beginners.
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| How do I know what size instrument I need? |
Violins, violas, cellos, and basses all come in “full size” and a variety of smaller, or “fractional” sizes. Adults usually play full sized instruments, while children often play fractional sizes. Your child's teacher can measure your child to determine what size instrument she needs, or you can bring her into our shop and we can measure her as well. Children who begin on fractional sizes usually “size up” as they grow. Our rental program provides the option to size up whenever needed, at no charge. You never know when your child will go through a growth spurt and suddenly need a bigger instrument!
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| I saw a cheaper instrument on EBay / Craigslist / at a garage sale. Why shouldn't I just buy that? |
It's always possible to get a good deal from one of these sources – but in our experience, it isn't likely. If an instrument is not being sold through a shop, there is usually a reason. These are often instruments that someone has found in their attic, that are in poor (or no) playing condition, or that a shop has refused to sell. If you have found an instrument locally that you can try out (and especially one that you can show to your teacher for feedback), this can be a viable option. But we strongly discourage buying instruments from the internet, sight-unseen. Is the instrument properly set-up for playing? Can you return the instrument and get a refund if it does not meet your needs? Is there a service warranty or guarantee? Does it come with a good case and a bow? (Does the bow need rehairing?) What happens if your teacher does not approve? We often have the experience of people purchasing an instrument from EBay, discovering that the instrument needs a case/bow/bridge/strings/sound post/extensive repair, and bringing it into our shop for help. In such cases, the instruments often become a money pit and you end up spending more money than you would have had you rented or purchased from a shop.
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| Do you sell accessories? |
Yes. We sell all accessories required and recommended by our local schools. This includes rosin, music stands, music books, metronomes, tuners, shoulder rests, chin rests, etc.
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| Do you teach lessons? |
No. We focus our time on providing great instruments, and we can recommend a number of wonderful stringed instrument teachers in our area.
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| What do you mean when you talk about an instrument's ?set up?? Why does that matter? |
The “set up” of an instrument refers to the parts of the instrument the musician actually interacts with: the pegs, strings, bridge, tail piece, and sound post (inside the instrument). These are the parts of the instrument that make the sound. None of these parts of the instrument are glued. They are all held together by tension. When the bow's hair is dragged across the strings, all of these parts vibrate. This vibration echoes through and inside the instrument (which is basically a wooden sound box), which creates and projects the sound. All of these parts of the instrument have to be set up to very tight specifications (down to the millimeter) in order to play and sound like they should. Luthiers are professionally trained to make these adjustments. That's why having this done by a professional luthier makes a huge difference in how easy the instrument is to play and how good it sounds. Badly adjusted instruments hamper performance and can even cause the musician finger, wrist, or arm pain.
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