What To Do With Your Old Musical Instruments: Sell, Donate or Recycle

Many of us used to play a musical instrument but haven’t picked it up in forever. Or maybe you have a couple of instruments that you bought for your children, which they gave up on once they realized they had to practice on a regular basis.

No matter the reason, if you’re wondering what to do with your old musical instruments that are sitting around collecting dust, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for some helpful information about selling, donating or even recycling old musical instruments.

You want them out, but you’re not sure what to do with them. There’s still some sentiment and use left in that old piano or Fender guitar, so you’d feel horrible tossing them out like trash.

Don’t worry. Below are our reliable solutions for what to do with old musical instruments that will help you get them out of your home in a guilt-free way.

To start, you need to decide whether to donate, recycle, or sell your instrument(s).

Types of instruments typically needed to be hauled away

There are thousands of instruments out there such as the synthesizer, harmonica, and guitar hero guitar(!), but the typical musical instruments that many need help getting rid of in a responsible way are the following.

• Pianos
• Guitars
• Guitar Cases
• Saxophone
• Keyboards
• Trumpet

• Cello
• Horns
• Drums
• Organ
• Amplifiers
• Sound Systems

• Turntables
• Headphones
• Microphones
• DJ Equipment
• Cords & Wires
• PA Equipment

If the instrument is in good condition and valuable enough, you can try to sell it.

Where to Sell Used Instruments

Call local music retailers and ask if they buy used instruments and for a quote. However, it’s likely that selling your old violin or your child’s unused recorder won’t be worth the effort.

Any stringed instruments or woodwinds that were purchased secondhand, or were used as band instruments may not be very valuable, but you might be able to get a little something out of them by trying to sell them on sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

If you have any woodwind or brass instruments that aren’t in good enough condition to sell, you can always take them to a scrap metal dealer or a junkyard to try and sell them for scrap.

It’s always a good idea to research how much your old instruments could be worth. You may not realize that you could be harboring a musical instrument that is incredibly valuable.

Antique instruments in great condition and professional instruments can sometimes bring in a pretty penny, so have these instruments appraised before putting them on the resale market.

You can also try to sell your old cello or banjo at your local music shop. Most times, music stores buy and sell used instruments, and they’ll have a much better idea of what your unwanted instruments are really worth.

If it sounds like selling your old musical instruments is just way too much trouble, you may be better off just donating them. Especially if you believe they have more sentimental value than monetary value.

Some great places to donate an old piano, organ, or just about any other instrument would be organizations such as churches, school music departments, and music programs.

Though we usually tend to think of charities like Goodwill and Salvation Army when talking about donating goods, these organizations are much more likely to have a need for your unwanted instruments.

Some organizations will accept donations of damaged musical instruments in need of small repairs, but it’s important to make sure any instruments you do donate are at least mostly in good, working condition.

You certainly don’t want to waste a charity’s time by donating an instrument that is more trouble to repair than it’s worth.

Also make sure that if any instruments you want to donate are damaged, even slightly, that you tell that to whatever group you are trying to donate them to.

It’s easy enough to take your used viola or trombone to the nonprofit of your choice but if you are donating a large, heavy musical instrument such as a piano, an old organ, or an unwanted harp, be prepared to have to haul and drop off your donation yourself. You might get lucky and find a place that offers donation pick up services, but these are rare.

It’s no doubt that loading and transporting such musical instruments is no easy feat. Even thinking about the logistics of hauling large, bulky instruments can induce a panic attack.

You’ll likely need to rent the proper equipment and a hefty truck to load the bulky musical instrument in the first place. Then there’s the cost for gas and supplies, along with the stress of trying to find the time and at least a couple of other people to help you out.

If this is the case, hiring a professional junk removal service that specializes in hauling items of this size and that will also donate it to a charity or organization for you is the easiest solution.

Though this service does cost money, it can often be less expensive than handling musical instrument disposal yourself. Not to mention the time and stress that you’ll save yourself.

In a perfect world, the person purchasing your instrument would pick it up. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen often and getting rid of things we don’t need anymore costs a little money.

Now, if your old musical instruments are too damaged to be used by anyone, you may need to have them recycled.

Most instruments, especially those made primarily of wood or metal, can be taken to your local recycling facility. Even metal instrument strings such as the ones from a guitar or piano can be scrapped.

Alternatively, you can use parts of your musical instruments to create some interesting folk art or home decor pieces. Maybe you have a relative who’s an audiophile; something like this would make a great gift for just about any occasion.

There are tons of ideas for these sorts of upcycled art pieces and furniture using an old or unwanted guitar or trumpet or whatever other instruments you have laying around.

For your own personal safety, we strongly recommend hiring professionals to haul large instrument such as an old piano or organ, no matter what you decide to do with them.

Otherwise, there’s a good possibility you’ll damage the instrument and make it worthless in the process of trying to get it out of your house. On top of that, you could also seriously injure yourself in the process.

When you call LoadUp and book a pick-up appointment, you get a team of thoroughly background-checked, fully insured junk hauling professionals to come and remove anything you want to get rid of from your home. Then, they haul it all away to be donated or recycled instead of dumping in the landfill.

You also have the option of home-to-truck removal at no extra charge so you don’t have to lift a finger, or if you aren’t able to be around to let the Loaders in, you can just leave the items outside for curbside pickup at a discounted rate.

LoadUp does all of the hard work at a price that’s typically 20-30% less than what most other licensed junk removal companies charge. Plus, they give you a fair and honest all-inclusive price up front, before you even book, and without the need for a “free onsite estimate” that would be a waste of your time.

With online booking, a dedicated customer support team, on-demand service, and GPS enabled tracking of your Loader crew, getting rid of that old or unwanted piano, organ, harp, electronic keyboard, or any other musical instrument couldn’t be any simpler.

Consider LoadUp as your go-to method for getting all your old junk and clutter out of your home. Call us at 844-239-7711 or book your junk removal pickup online today!

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