Clarinet - buy or hire?

[AChickenCalledKorma]

DD1 had a year of group clarinet lessons at school, under the "tuning up" scheme. She's keen to continue and the County music service has offered her a place, starting Jan.

Instrument hire through the County costs £45 for a year.

How much would I have to spend to buy a reasonable beginners' clarinet, of a sort that might last a few years? I'm inclined to hire, in case she loses interest, but on the other hand, she's kept it up for a year already, so maybe we should take the plunge?

(There's also a little bit of me that wouldn't be averse to learning a new instrument, should she case it aside )

Ask your local music shop. Mine do a hire thingy and they will knock off the amount of hire charges you've paid off the cost of the instrument if you decide to buy it IYKWIM.

Ah - that could work! There's a music shop in town. I hadn't thought that they might have a hire scheme.

Ask them. If she gives up then return it, if she wants to carry on then pay the outstanding balance and it's yours. I'm pretty sure they will sell ear plugs as well if you're in need.

We paid £110 for a reconditioned beginners clarinet that took DD to grade 2 - have upgraded £450 now that she is playing in school orchestras etc. Should last her till grade 8 now.

Yes - hire to buy, or to be honest, spend a reasonable amount and buy a decent one. It will hold its value reasonably well if it's a good student brand, and there is a constant stream of demand via eBay etc if you should ever need to sell in the future.

Hire to buy can work out more expensive in the long run and as NormaSnorks said, you can sell on. Try e-bay yourself? I know people who have got very good instruments from e-bay.

TBH £45 isn't bad for a year's hire, its nearer £70 here.

Are you able to access AIPS (Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme) through school or County? The school buys the instrument, and sells it on to you. This means there is no VAT to pay. I have been able to use this twice for DCs and the last time I was also given an educational price which was considerably cheaper. There are some strict rules the school has to follow though.