Trombone rentals for school band in New York City and Connecticut.
School-year rental
Rent to own (A Line)
Free school delivery
On a trombone, the slide is everything, a sticky or bent slide makes the instrument unplayable no matter how good the rest of it is. That’s the part we check hardest, and it’s the part a Conservatory trombonist singled out when he compared ours to horns costing hundreds more.
Our four trombone lines
Every trombone we rent goes out ready to play. The lines are not ranked against each other. They differ in what the instrument is, not in how it is cared for. More about our band instruments and lines.
A Line: our house trombone, brand new
Brand new, still sealed from the factory. Never played, never rented, not a scratch on it. Our house trombone is built to specifications we set, written to match or exceed what the major brands put into their student models.
It is built on the same student designs the big-name brands use, in the same manufacturing world that now builds for the famous names too, and our own musicians vetted the model before we stocked it.
Rent it for three school years and it is yours to keep. It carries no brand marking, which is deliberate: once the instrument belongs to your family it should not be stamped with the name of the company you rented it from.
B Line: the name brands
Before house instruments existed, this is what every shop rented, and it is still what many families picture: a recognized manufacturer with a familiar name on the bell. Some directors ask for one specifically.
These have been played before, and they are well-known brands like Yamaha and Jupiter. We buy them individually rather than by the crate, and each one is restored on our bench and inspected before it goes out again.
If your director has asked for a particular manufacturer, tell us and we will say what we have and what we can find.
C Line: our house trombone, restored
The same house trombone as our A Line, back from a previous rental and rebuilt by our technicians. A technician sits with each one and makes the playability adjustments a factory production line does not stop to make.
It is the least expensive way to get a student started. If you are collecting at our shop and would rather have a different one, say so and we will swap it while you are there.
Premium Yamaha Line: Yamaha YSL-354
Among brand-name instruments, Yamaha is the standard, and the YSL-354 is the model school trombone programs most often specify.
A limited collection, and it does not restock quickly. If a Yamaha is specifically what you want, this is the way to be sure of getting one.
Not sure which to choose?
Choose A Line if you want a new instrument and intend to own it after three years.
Choose B Line if you or your director want a recognized manufacturer.
Choose C Line if your priority is the lowest cost to get a student started.
Choose the Premium Yamaha Line if a Yamaha is specifically what you want.
These are suggestions rather than requirements. Call us and we will tell you what is currently in stock in each line.
Rent for three years and the trombone is yours to keep.
Keep an A Line rental going for three years and the trombone becomes yours for life, with no balloon payment and no buyout decision to agonize over. Want to own it sooner? You can purchase at any point with a 10% discount on the remaining balance. And if your student moves on to something else after a year, you simply return it.
A Line only · Yours after 3 years · Also on trumpet, baritone and French horn, flute, clarinet, alto & tenor sax
Our trombone against a professional horn.
Classical and jazz trombonist Vinnie Nobile plays our rental trombone alongside a professional instrument costing many hundreds of dollars more. Listen and judge for yourself.
★★★★★
“The most important part of the trombone is the slide, and this slide is far superior to any student model trombone I have tried before. The bell is also fine quality, with excellent resonance. A great value for all students who want a great sounding instrument.”
Vincent Nobile
Trombone player and instructor · MA, New England Conservatory
Everything your student needs for day one of band.
Whichever line you choose, the rental arrives complete, no extra trip to a music store before the first rehearsal.
- The trombone, new or shop-restored, depending on your line
- Hard case
- Mouthpiece
- Slide lubricant
- Name tag
A small spray bottle of water is the other thing every trombonist ends up carrying, a mist on the slide after lubricating is what makes it move properly.
The slide: the thing nobody explains to band parents.
A trombone has two slides and they are not the same thing. Confusing them is the most common trombone-care mistake, and it’s worth two minutes to get straight.
- The hand slide is the long one the player moves to change notes. It needs slide cream or oil plus a light mist of water, never thick grease, which makes it sluggish.
- The tuning slide is the short one near the bell, adjusted only to tune the horn. That one takes slide grease.
- Move the tuning slide regularly even when you’re not tuning. Left sitting, it corrodes in place and becomes a workshop job to free.
- A sticky hand slide is usually dry, not broken. Lubricate and mist it first. If it still drags or catches, stop, that usually means a dent or a bend, and forcing it makes the repair worse.
Looking after a trombone.
Trombones are sturdy everywhere except the slide, which is precision-made and unforgiving. Protect that and the rest takes care of itself.
The routine
- Lubricate the hand slide and mist it with water, most players do this at the start of every practice.
- Grease the tuning slide and move it regularly so it doesn’t seize.
- Empty the water key after each session.
- Wipe fingerprints off with a soft cloth.
- Back in the case, every time. Assembled trombones left out get knocked over, and the slide is what hits the floor.
The mistakes that cost money
- Carry it vertically. Held horizontally, the slide swings into chairs, stands, and doorframes. A dented slide is the single most expensive trombone repair, and the most common.
- Never force a stuck mouthpiece. There’s a proper tool for it, bring the horn in and we’ll remove it, no charge.
- No very hot water. Washing with hot water damages the lacquer and can loosen joints. Lukewarm and a little liquid soap.
- Keep corks and felts dry. They swell and fall apart when soaked.
Trombone rental questions
Answered by the luthiers and technicians who repair these every day. Browse all trombone questions.
My child has braces. Can they still play a brass or wind instrument?
Usually yes, but the honest answer is that it depends on the child, because every mouth is different and so are the braces. Most students play straight through, with orthodontic wax on the brackets and a few weeks of patience, and the orthodontist is worth asking alongside the band teacher. Traditional steel brackets, Invisalign, and lingual braces (mounted behind the teeth) each interact with a mouthpiece completely differently. Our founder had lingual braces and played trumpet without a problem. Another student with the same instrument and front brackets might have a rough month.
Are my child’s arms long enough for trombone?
Almost certainly, yes. Beginning trombonists live in the first three positions, which even short arms reach, and band directors write for exactly that while children grow into the rest. The bigger question is overall size: whether your child can comfortably hold and carry the horn at all.
How do I look after a trombone slide?
A trombone has two slides and they are not the same thing. The hand slide, the long one the player moves, wants slide cream or oil plus a light mist of water, never thick grease. The tuning slide, the short one near the bell, takes slide grease.
The mouthpiece is stuck in the trumpet. How do we get it out?
Bring it to us or to the band director. A purpose-made tool called a mouthpiece puller removes a stuck mouthpiece in under a minute without leaving a mark, most band rooms and every competent shop have one, and it is a while-you-wait fix. What you must not do is twist it out with pliers. Put down the pliers. Please.
My child’s teacher is skeptical of an instrument with no brand name on it.
That is a reasonable instinct, and we would rather a teacher raised it than said nothing. Instruments do turn up in school music rooms that arrived from an online seller and cannot be played properly, and a teacher who has spent a term working around those has good reason to look twice at a name they do not recognize. The answer is not to argue about it. Bring the instrument in, or ask the teacher to call us, and one of our musicians will play it in front of you. If something is wrong we will correct it or exchange it. If it is fine, you will hear that for yourself.
Questions every rental family asks
Should we rent or buy our child’s first instrument?
Rent, in almost every case: beginners can't yet handle an instrument safely, children outgrow sizes and switch instruments, and renting turns those surprises into a phone call instead of a buying mistake. And we would say that even if we didn't rent instruments.
What happens if my child quits after a few months?
Then you return the instrument. That is the whole point of renting instead of buying, it happens in every school year, and nobody here will make it awkward.
Will I be charged for normal wear and tear?
No, not for normal wear: strings wearing out, rosin used up, bow hair breaking strand by strand, a case zipper giving out. That is expected, and it is never charged to you. Damage is different: dents, cracks from drops, a broken bow, carved initials. We always tell you which side of the line we think something sits on before any chargeable work happens, and the insurance exists for the genuine accidents and the gray areas.
Ready to rent a trombone?
Start the rental online and we’ll follow up within one business day. Free delivery to schools across Connecticut and New York in the fall. Nothing is charged until we confirm.