Ok, I think I've decided to buy my own marimba. I'm looking for something used but I'm having trouble deciding on what I would like to get. I'd like to get something of decent quality but doesn't have to be top of the line since it won't leave my home once I get it. Here are my options that I currently have some leads on.

a used Adams MAHF46 4.6 octave rosewood
a used majestic M1546P 4.6 octave synthetic
potentially a used Dynasty 4.5 octave, not sure if it would be synthetic or rosewood at this point.

I know the Adams marimba is a great quality instrument but it may be a little more than I'm looking to spend but I'm not opposed to it if its the right thing to do. I don't know the price on the Majestic marimba yet but I suspect it will be reasonably cheaper than the Adams. I've never played on a Majestic so I don't know what to expect from the sound of them. I believe that a rosewood Dynasty would also be a nice choice to have but I'm not sure if I can come across one of those available right now.

Any thoughts or feedback from anyone who has used these instruments?

Awesome! Having your own marimba is a great thing.

I'd say the Adams is definitely the way to go. The reason I say that, is that both the Majestic and Dynasty models you're looking at are both the ";marching"; models (regardless of frame type). They have narrower bar dimensions, and have been designed for the synthetic. The Adams is the same marimba on or off the field frame, and it sounds good overall. The Majestic and Dynasty frames are unwieldy compared to the Adams, unless the Dynasty model is the Mark Ford Signature.

The Adams and Yamaha boards on field frames have always looked the best in a concert setting to me. The frames do a good job of hiding their strength, unlike the bulkier Dynasty and Majestic frames.

Well, I think my opinion is limited, but I can vouch for the Dynasty 4.5 on the Gridiron frame. If it's a used corps instrument, it quite possibly could be rosewood bars. Ours is a Phantom Regiment cast-off and except for some tuning and some obvious wear, it's in really good shape and is an incredible addition to our percussion inventory.

As for the comment about bar width -- a very valid concern -- I haven't been offended by our Dynasty's bar widths. This might be a problem if the bars are synthetic, though.

At my last gig, I had a couple of Adams keyboards and wasn't impressed with how the frames held up -- keeping me from buying future Adams keyboards -- but, the latest I've heard is that people are more and more satisfied with the frames on these keyboards now a days.

None of that helped, did it?

Howdy!

What do you want to use it for? How much travel is involved? Do you ever plan on doing 5 octave lit?

A good point on the 5 octave issue. I personally would never consider owning a non 5-octave instrument, but my philosophy was I was only to buy one once, and it would be a good one. That low octave is the coolest part of the instrument...

I have a Malletech MA5.0, which is obviously in a different class to the above candidates and is quite a bit more expensive. Perhaps a used 5-octave instrument could fit your budget, though.

To jump off of what others are saying, I would buy either a 4.3 or a 5, but not a 4.5 or 4.6 because there isn't much music written for it.  I would check around to see if any corps are selling used, because I have picked up several for schools at a [u]big[/u] discount. 

Thanks everyone for their responses.

I've ended up getting a really good deal on a used rosewood Dynasty 4.5. I have a good relationship with the people at Dynasty and Columbus Percussion so they have been helpful in finding something. I won't be getting it until sometime around the end of the month but I've been told it was previously used by Rhythm X.

It will be on a field frame but I'm not really concerned about that. This instrument will basically stay parked in my home for my own personal use so I don't anticipate having to break it down for travel very often, if at all for performance.