America has been a musical nation from the beginning, with both amateur and professional musicians tooting, strumming and sawing away for the public’s pleasure or their own. As a consequence, there is a wealth of fantastic musical instruments available to the collector, particularly for the last 100 years or so. They range from homemade musical instruments to the sophisticated and ornate brass musical instruments.
The variety of musical instruments for sale encourages specialized playing and collecting. The availability of American made antique musical instruments and used musical instruments is substantial. American-made woodwinds and brass are generally reasonably priced. The many thousands that have been retired from community or high school bands are easy to come by and less expensive than their European counterparts. Many collectors are musicians who prize the playing qualities of old instruments and use them in performances.
Much more accessible are band instruments---brass, woodwind and percussion. There is a wealth of collectibles to choose from, for the proliferation in America of amateur marching bands combines with the fact that over the years band instruments have been changed considerable. Because manufacturers have improves the value actions on cornets, for instance, musicians have bought the improved versions and discarded the old. Some specialists trace in their collections the development, over the centuries, of the valve or key mechanisms of a single type of brass or woodwind.
Many band instruments were imported to the United States from Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries and these imports generally are considered more valuable than instruments made in America.
