Advice/Input on Purchase Decision: Adult Beginner
Hello all! I’m trying to decide my course of action here. The local shop I rent from applies the entirety of the first year’s rental fees toward purchase of an instrument which will total just under $1000. The final payment contributing to that $1000 will be this July. I also own my own hard case (Bobelock XL) for my rental cello.
I am an adult beginner who has been taking lessons for 11 months and for skill level reference, I’m within the Suzuki Book 3 skill set (though not taking Suzuki-specific lessons, just using that as a sort of universal gauge of where I’m at). My 2026 goal was to be ready for Book 4/related difficulty by January 2027. I am putting in a lot of practice and work to make this happen. I won’t be mad if it doesn’t happen because I’m putting in a lot of good work! But that’s just my goal for some solid skill progression.
I don’t want to keep paying a rental fee after August if I can avoid it and hope to purchase an instrument within the next 6 months or so. My current instrument is a student 2008 Eastman in great condition and would be, after the $1000 from my rental fees, another $2000 to buy out. If I were to buy it and want to upgrade later, I would be able to apply the total $3000 value toward an upgrade at the same shop.
Ultimately my question is: as an adult beginner with no intention of performing in any serious capacity but who does care about how I sound and wants to be able to grow, is it worth it to purchase my current instrument and put that monthly rental fee toward upgrades like nicer strings, a new bow, savings for a future cello? Or would it be more worth it to rent a bit longer and upgrade to a nicer instrument (which would require more saving financially of course)?
Of course I understand it comes down to more than cost. Maybe I’ll find a $4k instrument that sounds like a million bucks to me in comparison to my current student model. But I’m curious the general opinion of everyone here on what they’d do in my shoes! Am I going to outgrow this thing soon and regret the purchase if I go that route?
Sorry for the novel. There’s just so many factors at play!