I am looking for a marimba for 12 year old son. Would like something that he won't outgrown for a while, but also want to minimize cost. Wondering about Musser M32.
Would be happy for something used, but haven't been successful in finding anything. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you
We just purchased Yamaha 4.3 Octave with rosewood bars for our middle school-aged child. This marimba is fantastic. We had investigated Musser and Adams as well. Musser seems to be the brand that dominated in schools, so a lot of parents (like me) thought it was the way to go. After more research and correspondence with knowledgable folks on sites like this, we learned that Yamaha, Adams, and Marimba One (and likely others) have their unique advantages and qualities. Most people we polled prefer these brands to Musser.
We bought the marimba from our local music store (trying to keep the profit margin local, you know). We are very happy with the sound of the instrument and with the precision mechanics of how it's put together/takes apart.
Didn't have any luck on E-Bay and decided that we weren't likely to be able to ascertain quality from schmuck on there, so we were better off getting a new instrument.
Hello,
I have never played a Musser M32. Last year I purchased an Adams solist 4.3 with padouk bars. That is the only padouk marimba I have ever played so I can not compare it to others but I am very happy with it. The height adjustment is very simple and the sound is good.
The reason I choose the Adams over the Musser was that for about $400 more I got 4-1/3 octaves compared to 4 octaves and also the bars on the Adams are graduated in size which I find easier to play.
You might like to check out the reviews in the instrument database (there is a link from this page). There are reviews of the M32 and the Adams SPV43. There are also some Yamaha reviews but I don't recall seeing a review for a Yamaha with padouk bars.
Good luck in your search.