How Much Does a Piccolo Cost?

Last Updated on April 19, 2023
Written by CPA Alec Pow | Content Reviewed by CFA Alexander Popinker

If you’re interested in getting a piccolo you might be wondering how much one would cost.

The short answer is that a piccolo costs somewhere between $100 for a very basic piece to more than $5,000 for a brand model with a lot of features. Below, we will go over different prices for piccolos and the factors that influence their costs.

As you’d expect a piccolo made for beginners will cost significantly less than one used by professional musicians.

There are two types of piccolos

There is one piccolo that is made of metal and a second type, made of wood.

While you can surely get a rather inexpensive one of the former type, which is mainly intended for casual playing and beginners, the latter will be expensive and will easily break if you don’t handle it properly.

Here are the price ranges for both types:

• Metal Piccolo – Anywhere from $100 – $400
• Wood Piccolo – Anywhere from $250 – $5,000+ 

The price can even vary based on the brand of the piccolo as well. A wood piccolo from a company like Yamaha will be somewhat cheaper than anything made by a more prestigious brand like Pearl.

The difference between brands can be a significant gap which will be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

How much does a used piccolo cost?

Just like in the case of other instruments, the cost of a used piccolo will depend on its type and the general condition it is in.

You will spend a lot less on a piccolo that is almost unplayable than on a high-quality piccolo that has been used very rarely and is in pristine condition. And not only that, but a used metal piccolo in its best condition will be way cheaper than a new one.

But if the metal piccolo is pretty worn down, then it might cost as low as $50, unless it has some features that would cause it to be worth more. But of course, as with any other product, getting a used piccolo will be a lot cheaper than a new one.

So when it comes to the price range for a used piccolo, this will be somewhere between $50 and $3,000.

This means that although a used piccolo, depending on its type, can still be rather expensive, it will still be cheaper than the same model bought brand new.

Beginner Piccolo Cost

People that have just heard about the piccolo and want to give it a try will usually look for a beginner piccolo. It’s not unusual for these lower-tier models to cost anywhere between $100 and $1,000, although there are models that are closer to $1,300.

There are also used models that cost as low as $100. Among the most common beginner piccolos are:

• Jupiter 1000
• Yamaha YPC-32
• Armstrong 204

These models of piccolos are great for people that are new to this instrument. They can be played both inside and outside, and will be fairly easy to get a sound on for most people with basic knowledge about flute signing.

Intermediate Piccolo Cost

As soon as you feel confident enough about your experience playing the piccolo, you should consider going for a better model. When it comes to intermediate-level piccolos, there are some things you should consider, but expect a price range that can reach $2,500. If possible, give as many models as possible a try so you know which one is perfect for you.

If you aren’t able to give more models a try, then here are some of the best intermediate piccolo models to buy:

• Burkart Resona
• Lyric
• Pearl 105

The models above are known to work great for advancing students. Out of the three, the Pearl is known as a great composite, which makes it hard to crack, although it will be rather expensive, reaching a price of up to $3,000.

Professional Piccolo Cost

If you keep playing the piccolo long enough, you’ll soon start to outgrow the intermediate piccolo and will look for something even better. When this happens, you will want to upgrade the instrument once again.

You don’t even have to play professionally to reach the level in which you are confident enough to move to the professional piccolo. When moving forward to the big league, here are the best piccolos to work with:

• Powell
• Burkart
• Hammig

Most professional piccolos will cost $5,000 and above, although there are some cheaper models, like the Yamaha line, for example, that you can get in the $3,000 to $4,000 range.

Can you rent a piccolo?

Yes, you can also rent a piccolo if you consider the price of the instrument too steep or if you only want to play it once or twice. Of course, when it comes to renting, the biggest challenge is finding someone that rents out piccolos, although nowadays there are a lot of locations that offer instruments for rental.

You might also like our articles about the cost of a trumpet, a saxophone, or a French horn.

As you’d expect, renting a piccolo will be a lot cheaper than buying it in whole, as you can expect a rental price range between $20 and $50 per month.

This is the best option if you only need to borrow a piccolo to give it a try or play it for a month or two. Any more than that and the costs will add up to the point where renting it would be more expensive than buying it.

Factors influencing the cost of a piccolo

It will be a lot easier to figure out how much a piccolo costs if you know exactly what goes into setting the price of the instrument. These factors can easily increase or decrease the final cost quite considerably.

Brand

The brand will make a huge difference between piccolos of the same type, with more popular brands or those considered luxury costing considerably more than others. There are also brands that will charge a lot more for the instruments they sell, even if you have control over the amount of hand-crafting, specs, and materials used.

Brands like Yamaha and Hammig are known to be slightly cheaper than American brands like Powell or Burkart.

In fact, Burkart and Powell are known to have raised their prices quite a lot in the last few years. Even their intermediate models, like the Burkart Resona, cost more than anything even remotely related to Lyric or Yamaha.

Materials

The materials used to create a piccolo will surely affect its cost. There are piccolos that are made of wood, metal, plastic, or any combination of these materials.

There are some instruments that are made of a combination of wood and plastic blended together. These are called composite piccolos. The cheapest ones, although the least reliable as well in terms of the sounds they produce are the plastic piccolos. On the other side of the spectrum are wood instruments, which are known to cost the most.

If you’re more into metal piccolos, then you should know that silver-plated models will be cheaper than solid silver ones. But even if you get a wood or plastic piccolo, if you get one that has solid silver keys, it will usually have a higher price.

Hand Craftsmanship

There is also a difference in price between machine-made piccolos and handmade piccolo models. Instruments made by machines are produced faster, which makes them considerably cheaper.

Machine-made piccolos are preferred by beginners and some intermediate players that don’t feel the need to invest too much money into their instrument. However, as soon as people reach a high enough level, they will likely want to move to a handmade instrument.

This is mostly because a handmade piece will offer a more refined, considerably better sound.

Extra Specs

Different specs that are added to a piccolo will also increase its price. For example, most piccolos from the Hammig line will have a G# mechanism.

When it comes to features, the 650/3 and 650/2 from the Hammig brand are pretty much identical, although the 650/3 will come with the G# mechanism, which will make it several hundred dollars more expensive.

As stated above, silver keys are another addition that is known to increase the price, even if everything else stays the same. To determine the best piccoo for you, you should go over all the specs and see which ones are non-negotiables.

Headjoint Style

An interesting thing is that there are brands that will charge you more if you go for a wave headjoint instead of the traditional cut. There are also companies that have the same prices for all of their different styles, so you can pick whatever model you like.

Anyhow, you will pay extra if you want a different headjoint cut. Be prepared to pay several hundred dollars more on top of the acquisition cost if you want a wave headjoint cut.

It will be well worth it to pay a little more if you get the best headjoint.