9056 Lewis Avenue in
Downtown Temperance MI
(734) 847-1772
11 to 7 Monday Through Thursday
Closed Friday - Saturday - Sunday
(and all major holidays)
(We typically are closed throughout "breaks" such as Thanksgiving weekend,
Christmas Eve thru the day after New Years Day, the Easter-Spring Break Week combination, Memorial Day Weekend, Fourth of July weekend, etc.)
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Welcome!
Thanks for visiting the web home of Allied Music in Temperance, MI. We hope your visit will be informative and helpful. We chose the name Allied Music for one important reason.... we want to be the hub of an "Alliance" between us, you, your child, and your school Band Director to enhance your child's musical journey to its highest level. Our goals and a discussion of the value of having your band instrument needs served by a local establishment are discussed on our Why Here? page.
Toward that end we chose to carry strictly the very best woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments available on the market today. Simply put, you may find off-brands of school band instruments at rental rates similar to ours but you must look at the instrument itself and then look at the contract VERY carefully.
Don't assume the name on the instrument that you may remember from years ago means anything. Yes, there are several old-time brand names that have been around for multiple decades and they still make high quality American-made instruments. We carry those at Allied Music. But there are several old-time brand names who no longer make domestic instruments and import inferior instruments with their name stamped on. There are old-time brand names who make some of their instruments in the U.S. and some of them overseas but the overseas versions are virtually as good as their U.S. built ones. Allied Music carries those brands although we try to avoid overseas-built instruments and stick with American-made. There are also rather recent entries to the school band instrument world which simply aren't up to par and have names you've never heard of...but there are some recent entries into the school band instrument world which are imported by companies with a lot of experience in education and they are quite good. When we've exhausted all of our American-made options so that we MUST use imports instead, those will likely be an option for Allied Music.
Some imports are making headway in getting their names known and using statements like, "Now with parts available!" or "Now quality checked and set up before leaving our warehouse!" but you should look at what those statements really mean instead of what they'd like you to read. "Now with parts available" actually translates to, "A major complaint we've had from dealers all across America for years is that they couldn't fix our instruments because no parts were available. Now that we've disappointed thousands and thousands of purchasers of our instruments and started to get a bad reputation because of it, we're getting parts in from China/Korea/Taiwan to repair our reputation."
Likewise, the statement, "Now quality checked and set up before leaving our warehouse!" actually translates to, "We spent many years pawning off inferior instruments that we rushed through our warehouse to the public to maximize profit and the purchasers have been very disappointed, so we're now checking instruments to make sure the parts don't fall off as easily and setting them up so musical notes will actually come out as they were supposed to all along - so maybe we can salvage our reputation and try to further increase our sales numbers and profits by doing so."
An area musical instrument repair Master Craftsman technician of 25 years defines this phenomenon. He told us, "These off-brands are created to last a year, or two at the most, before they start having problems. The manufacturers know it and the dealers know it. Parents are going to be back to get a higher priced instrument when the first one wears out too quickly so dealers are 'double dipping' their customers to increase profits by selling two instruments. That's why you only see two-year warranties and two-year rental contracts on those lesser instruments. The instruments barely make it to the end of the contract before they must be replaced. The ones in mass merchandising stores are even worse and there's also no way to repair them because there are no parts." You can read in detail about why you don't want those instruments on our Good vs. Bad page.
In direct contrast to that way of doing business, Allied Music in Temperance, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio are selling and renting-to-own only premium U.S.-branded and Yamaha student level band instruments that you and we can depend on. The U.S. brands made in America are built to the highest standards by skilled Union craftsmen who are proud of their products and reputations. We only carry instruments built by the world's largest manufacturer of quality musical instruments. Manufacturers that have parts available for decades after an instrument is discontinued and replaced by a newer model. Manufacturers who have pride in their reputation.
We don't want a constant flow of our customers' instruments coming in for repair any more than you want to be one of them. We believe an instrument's function is to perform well for the long-haul, not stay on the road to and from the repair shop!
A while back a customer brought us an old Yamaha flute to have a playability checkup and to repair anything wrong with it before handing it over to her daughter for school band. It only needed two pads and one minor adjustment. The silver finish was a little darkened from typical silver tarnish so our repair man lightly polished it up with a treated polishing cloth.
When she came in to get the instrument, I asked how old it was and she replied, "Well... my niece used it for almost eight years, it sat in the closet for several years before that, and I used it in school band from 5th grade to high school myself." I calculated the instrument to have given at least 18 years of faithful service without mechanical problems - and it's still going strong. This is quite common.
During the back-to-school rush in September 2008 we had two American-made clarinets come in for repair that were 50 and 56 years old. The nickel keys were tarnished and the cases looked like they were from the 1965 Jetsons Era, but they just needed some pads replaced. Those families HAD to be using the same instrument for their 4th generations.
That's what a premium quality instrument can provide for you and your student!
And that's what you are renting-to-own or buying at Allied Music - a premium student level instrument that will continue working for your child from 5th grade throughout their senior year of high school or even beyond. We will not force you into lower-priced "planned obsolescence" lines of inferior imported instruments. When your child excels in music and shows an avid desire that may turn into a career later, you can return the student level instrument you are renting from us (while your contract is still in effect) and we'll credit you for the rent you've paid toward a step-up intermediate or professional quality instrument.
What's even nicer is that your child can go to college with an intermediate level instrument and continue to use it until a professional level instrument is in order. Major instrument companies we do business with learn important knowledge from professional artists and most times will filter the design improvements down from the high priced units into the intermediate and student level instruments because it just makes sense. When some parts can be used on several models it's cheaper for the manufacturer to use a pro quality part on a student level instrument than to tool up and make separate parts for each.
Keep in mind that school band instruments are constantly improved by the major manufacturers who are the largest and most successful innovators in the field of music. These improvements are typically very subtle changes that may very slightly improve instrument reliability or solve a minor mechanical problem that cropped up a few times. The major instrument companies have spent decades upon decades, and millions upon millions of dollars, improving their products to support and boost their legendary reputations.
Manufacturers in third world countries do one thing - build instruments as cheaply as they can out of the cheapest materials using the cheapest labor to create cheap "instrument-shaped objects" (as they have become known by music dealers) to sell as a bulk commodity in the U.S. We definitely don't think of our instruments as a bulk commodity. We take pride in every unit that is rented or sold, almost as though it's one of our store's off-springs. We send it off with you for a life of service and creating pleasure for your student. We want you to be proud of the brand you are renting. We want you to have a trouble-free experience and for your student to have an instrument that responds as only a quality instrument can. We want you to go to your child's band concerts and gleam with pride as he or she plays their reliable name-brand instrument from Allied Music with ease.
So feel free to browse our site to read and learn. Come back often. This is an informational presence website and isn't an e-commerce store. We are not legally allowed to show retail prices on some brands of instruments. But we can show our rental rate for that instrument. You would need to call us for the actually price you will be renting at or the outright purchase price. We also usually have a selection of gently used instruments at a variety of price ranges in stock.
We would like to hear from you so we can discuss how you can take advantage of our excellent rental plans or purchase an instrument. While this site is mostly about our Temperance MI store, please be aware that we also have a store in South Toledo OH at 2027 South Byrne Road at the corner of Heatherdowns.