How about picking out a student cello?!

orchestramom
Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:43:00 +0000

We rented our daughter’s violins for the first four years of her study, until she was ready for a full-size. The rental company was always there for set-up help, loaners if something needed attention, etc. And when the time came, we were able to apply more than $1,000 of the rental payments towards purchase of an instrument.

Of course, wanting to take advantage of that credit, it did limit our shopping around at that time, but it was our first purchased instrument, and D was still only 10 – who knew how far this would go? It so happened that when we were ready to buy, the dealer had just received a group of consignment instruments (early 20th century) and we found a very nice violin with a lovely sound and a lot more character and voice than a brand-new instrument.

(At the time – fifth grade – her then-teacher thought this fiddle would take her right through high school. Now, as she is a 16 year old rising junior becoming a more serious musician every day, and with college auditions less than 18 months away, we have started shopping around…again…And the sticker prices are enough to make you faint. LOL)