| Purely personally I would avoid the intermediate instruments. They are a great way of making money for the manufacturers. If you go for an intermediate you are just saying that you will be spending more money later in life (probably only in a couple of years time).
The only time I find myself recommending an intermediate model is when a younger student has borrowed a starter instrument for the first year or two (very common over here) and is looking to purchase an instrument.
As for where to try instruments not made by the big brands, whereabouts are you and why do you want to try them?
There is a reason why Yamaha, Bach, Schilke, Getzen and Kanstul are as popular as they are - they make superb instruments. When you are a very competent player you might find that some of the smaller makes (Eclipse, Monette, Taylor, NYTC etc) make instruments that are better suited to you and your style of playing, but for the vast majority of players I would see no reason to avoid the big companies. I would also suggest that for most students, the difference between, say, a Xeno and an Eclipse would be less than the difference between "I have practised this week" and "I have not practised this week."
This is not meant to discourage you from looking at the smaller firms, but more to say that you shouldn't ignore the big firms. |