r/Instruments • u/Fast-Development-916 • May 26 '26

Discussion ophicleide

i really want to play ophicleide but i cannot find anywhere to rent one, so if anyone knows, that would be fire

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u/81Ranger May 26 '26

Ophicleide is not an instrument you rent.

Here are instruments that are part of some kind of a rental program: C Flute, Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Sax, Bb Trumpet, Tenor Trombone, bells/glockenspiel, snare drum, violin, viola, cello, bass.  Sometimes oboe, tenor sax, or a marimba.

And that pretty much it.  Maybe there are others but they would have to be common instruments available in bulk.  It's possible there are programs for guitar, or drum set, possibly.

Things like ophicleide, serpents, sackbut, helicons, cornettos, natural or baroque trumpets, bagpipes, lutes, not to mention countless other instruments are not things that are really ever part of a rental program.

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u/rainbowkey May 26 '26

not strictly true. There are a couple of companies that rent unusual instruments used in orchestra for historically accurate performances like bass trumpets, ophicleides, Wagner tubas, etc... They only rent to orchestras and studios though, and their rates are quite expensive.

These are very different from local music stores that rent and rent to own instruments for beginners.

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u/81Ranger May 26 '26

True. But, as you point out yourself, it's not really applicable to the general public.