Contest Season Is Almost Here. Is Your Instrument Ready?

Scott Hayden - Repair Shop

It’s not too late, but time is running out. Contest Season is almost here!

January through April is a really busy time of year for school music students. Many of the annual contests and festivals happen during this time of the year. These include:

  • Solo & Ensemble Contest
  • Jazz Band Festival
  • Junior/Middle School Organizational Festivals
  • High School Organizational Festivals

Your performance level and the success of your organization depend on a properly playing instrument. If your instrument has not been looked over by a technician in the last 6 months you may be overdue.

Send your instrument in for proper maintenance to help avoid small problems from turning into something larger at an inappropriate time. It could help you get to the next level during the upcoming contest season.

If you’d like to send your instrument in for us to check, we have a step-by-step guide on how to do that right here.

As always, please give us a call if you have any questions.

1-800-382-1099

Can I Payoff My Instrument Rental? – FAQs

Did you get some cash for Christmas and want to put it to good use? You could pay off your instrument rental contract early and save!

If you choose, you may pay off your instrument balance in full and save 40% off your remaining balance. You can do this at anytime during your contract. There is no penalty for paying your instrument off early.

To do this, please call our accounting office at 1-800-382-1099.

You can also complete this process online. Please refer to this earlier post that explains how to make a payment on our website.

As always, please give us a call if you have any questions.

Upgrade Your Student’s Instrument For The Perfect Gift

Are you still looking for that perfect gift for the musician in your family? We may have one that you haven’t thought of yet…an advanced instrument from Paige’s Music!

Our Premier Rental Program is an easy, affordable way to transition your student from a beginner instrument to one that will support their rapidly- increasing skills as a musician. There are several great advantages of an upgraded instrument.

premier-horns

  1. Builds Enthusiasm and Commitment – Nothing brings out the commitment level and enthusiasm in a child more than something new. If the student has been using their beginning instrument for a couple of years, a new Premier level instrument will help them get excited again. Your student will feel the urge to practice more to see how good they can sound with the better instrument.
  2. Better Sound – Student instruments are built to be durable in the inexperienced hands of a beginning player, sometimes at the sacrifice of sound quality to keep the cost down. With a more advanced instrument, manufacturers are able to retain the durability, but also take more care in making sure the instrument performs at a high level as a more experienced player will be using and taking care of it.
  3. More Advanced Features – Many of the features on the step-up instruments are not found on the student level instrument. Many of these features are designed to make the instrument “speak” more freely and increase range.

It’s been our experience that the need for a step-up instrument arrives as early as the student’s second year of playing. By selecting a higher-quality instrument at this juncture, you will provide your student with room to grow as a musician, create renewed excitement and pride, and enhance your student’s development.

Need a bit more information? Watch this video by the Paige’s Retail Staff. Or, if you’re looking for a flute, you should watch the Indy Flute Shop Manager, Erin Nichols, talk about the advantages of open-holed flutes!

If you have any questions, please give us a call at 1-800-382-1099.

That Brittle Time Of Year – Tips On Caring For Your String Instrument During Winter

snow-car-cello

Winter is approaching with its cold, snow, and low humidity. This scares the bejabbers out of any self-respecting stringed instrument. Can’t you just see or hear wood shrinking, pegs loosening, cracks splitting a top rib in two … These are sights and sounds that one might think would bring a smile to a repairman’s face. Winter time does create special problems for the violin family instruments, but good common sense care will reduce the number of unnecessary repairs.

In most circumstances, instruments kept from sudden extreme changes in humidity and temperature stand an excellent chance of not cracking or coming unglued at the seams. Now, take the same violin in the same well-balanced conditions. If you bang it on a wall, floor, a friend’s head, etc., that violin (not to mention your friend’s head) will come apart somewhere.

An instrument taken from one environment to another, i. e. from a warm room to a much colder outdoors, will also suddenly be subjected to less humidity in addition to lower temperatures that can stress the instrument to the breaking point. Keep the instrument closed in the case for a more gradual exposure to the change.

Cold weather makes wood, plastics, leather, and metal more brittle. Avoid blows to the case, bag, or any accessories.

Peg compound used sparingly can be a good thing. Using too much will cause well-fitting pegs to slip.

Dirt on a violin, viola, etc., is unsightly and detracts from the sound. Keep it wiped off. A soft rag used appropriately is enough to keep rosin, perspiration, or fingerprints from accumulating on an already clean instrument.

Sometimes accidents are unavoidable. Paige’s repair shop is here to help whether general maintenance or major repair is needed.

It is a fairly sure bet that everyone has heard the joke about the difference between the violin and the viola. The punch line is, of course, the viola burns longer. It is an old joke but serves to illustrate that violin family instruments are made of mostly wood. Instruments made of wood can and will wear or even break, but they will, with good care, last for many years of enjoyment.

What Are The Benefits Of A Better Instrument? – FAQs

Gift giving season is here and the perfect gift for your musician just might be a more advanced or, "step-up", instrument. Watch the video below as our Retail Staff shares a few thoughs on why a more advanced instrument might be beneficial to your student.

If this sounds like a great idea, then you should check out our Premier Rental Program. The Premier Rental Program is an easy, affordable way to transition your student from a beginner instrument to one that will support their rapidly-increasing skills as a musician.

If you have any further questions about this or anything else, please contact us for more information.

How Far Ahead Do I Need To Call To Have An Order Delivered To School? – FAQs

We’ve talked before about how to order supplies from us and get them delivered free to your school. However, we failed to mention how far ahead of time you need to contact us to ensure the quickest delivery.

The deadline for each school is a certain day and time. You can find that information on our delivery page.

Generally we need to receive the order the night before we visit your school. However, there are a few schools where we need a couple of days notice to ensure delivery. To be safe, be sure to visit our delivery page and use the drop down menu to select your school.

The video below shows how to use the school delivery tool on our delivery page.

As always, please give us a call for more information.

Top 10 Tips from our Repair Shop

mouthpiece-puller

  1. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. It is best to have your instrument serviced regularly in order to keep it in good playing condition. We recommend at least once a year but twice is better. Especially for woodwind instruments. With all their intricate key work and pads/corks that wear out from just regular use they need a little more TLC.
  2. The hole in the bottom of a brass instrument piston IS NOT for a screwdriver or a pencil! It is a vent hole and sticking anything in there is liable to damage the port in the piston and cause a more expensive repair.
  3. We pull stuck mouthpieces for FREE. However, we do charge to re-install mouthpipes. When in doubt…..let us do it. (Pictured above)
  4. When wiping off your flute or piccolo to keep it nice and shiny be careful to not rub the edges of the pads. The pads are covered with a thin membrane which tears very easily leading to an earlier than normal complete repadding.
  5. Bari saxes do not bounce! Not really a repair tip but more along our amazement of the condition of the bari saxes that come in for repair.
  6. When an instrument gets wet from one of Mother Natures surprises just carefully wipe it off and then let it air dry completely before putting it back in the case. Putting it back in the case wet can lead to mold/mildew and major problems
  7. Never use alcohol to clean an instrument. It can damage the finish on string, brass and woodwind instruments.
  8. One UN-repaired solder joint…… leads to another.
  9. Extend the life of your bow hair by releasing the tension on the hair after rehearsals and concerts.
  10. Completely filled out repair tags are our umbilical cord to the customer. Without a telephone number we can not call. Without an address we can not send a postcard. If specific problems are not notated we may not find them.

2014 SuperSale Is Just 2 Weeks Away

supersale2014

The "SuperSale" at Paige’s Music is one of our biggest sales of the year. If you are thinking of moving your student up to an intermediate or advanced level instrument this is the best time to do it. We would love to help you find the best instrument for your advancing student or answer any questions about this special promotion.

Here’s how it works – Come to the store and draw a coupon that will allow you to "SUPER SIZE" your savings. The coupons range from 5%-50% OFF* our already low prices!

OR – If you would rather not use the coupon that you selected, you can use our 12 months same-as-cash* option. There’s no interest as long as your balance is paid in full within 12 months. There are minimum payments due each month and our retail staff can help estimate what those might be.

The sale runs from Thursday, November 20 through Saturday, November 22nd. Our hours are Monday – Friday: 10-6 and Saturday: 10-4.

As always, contact us via email at news@paigesmusic.com or by phone at 1-800-382-1099.

 

*Offers valid 11/20/14 through 11/22/14. One coupon per family. 12 Months Same-as-Cash subject to credit approval and applies to all instrument and accessory purchases $399 or more. Not applicable toward existing account balances or repairs. Offers cannot be combined. See store for details.