Rental FAQ

We offer high-quality student violins, violas, and cellos. We do not rent any other instruments at this time.

We do not offer any rent-to-own or purchasing options. If you are interested in purchasing an instrument, we recommend contacting Frostgully Violins, Robert Miller Violins, or Jonathon Cooper for local options. Johnson Strings or Shar Music are also solid out-of-state alternatives.

We provide basic maintenance and simple repairs free of charge as part of your rental agreement with us. This includes, but is not limited to: replacement strings, pegs and fine-tuners; gluing of open seams and loose fingerboards; fixing/replacing of damaged cases or bows. Cricket Music LLC is not run by a trained luthier, so more involved repairs such as a face crack or extensive damage to the instrument/varnish will need to be sent out to a professional. These repairs may require an additional charge if the damage is determined to be due to negligence or malicious intent.

Students are prone to growing, and this means that you may need to exchange your first rental instrument for a new size at some point down the road. Cricket Music provides free size exchanges at any time! Simply contact us at cricket.music.rentals@gmail.com with the desired new size, and we will arrange an exchange with either you or your student's teacher.

Cricket Music partners with the music teachers at CK Burns School and Dayton Consolidated School to provide music binders to third grade students. Third graders taking violin at CK Burns or Dayton Consolidated are required to have this binder to participate in class. The binder price for 2024/25 is $10. This fee will be added to your invoice after confirming the student is attending third grade at CK Burns or Dayton.

All other students are NOT required to purchase a binder, and will never be charged for one.

As we rent primarily to school-aged students throughout the state of Maine, our most popular rental options are based on the school semester schedule. We also offer summer rentals, and starting in 2024 we are offering our best deal yet: Renting by the year! If you rent by the year you will get one full calendar year of renting, beginning on the first day you receive your new rental instrument. Check out our rental pricing page to compare our rental options!

We offer convenient pickup and delivery options for your rental instrument. In most cases, the instrument can be delivered directly to your school. Pick-up in Biddeford or home delivery is also available as needed.

If you ever have any questions about our rental process, receiving maintenance or repairs on a current instrument, exchanging for a new size or instrument, you can email us at cricket.music.rentals@gmail.com. We look forward to speaking with you and making your experience with Cricket Music a breeze!