Should you buy or rent a marimba?

Many customers contact us to see if we offer marimba rentals.  We may rent marimbas at some point, but up until now we’ve always suggested that you purchase a marimba instead of renting one.  In our opinion, renting a marimba should not be used in place of financing a purchase.  Here are a few points to consider:

• Over the last 5 years, the price of a 4.3 octave padouk marimba has gone up anywhere from 5% to 40% (yes 40%!) depending on the brand.  Since we typically sell these marimbas cheaper then anyone else, you can usually sell the marimba used a few years later for close to what you paid for it.  If you rented for only 1 year, you would pay approximately $1000.  Chances are you’ll do much better by purchasing and reselling.
• Most marimba rentals end up being for much longer then expected.  For example, if you rent senior year in high school to practice on for a college audition – chances are you are going to want a marimba to practice during the next 4 summers as well.
• The quality and condition of the marimba you’ll get by buying one will probably be much better then the marimba rental.

These are a just a few things to consider when deciding whether or not to purchase or rent a marimba.  We normally suggest the Adams MSPV-43 Padouk Marimba or Yamaha YM1430C Padouk Marimba for most student or home practice use.  However, we have a lot of marimbas from Adams, Dynasty, Majestic, Malletech, Marimba One, Musser, and Yamaha available ranging from $1,295 to over $20,000.  If you have any questions or need any help with your purchase please give our staff a call at 888-659-3477.