Boy, a 14 year old with an R-13? Talk about starting them off well!

I have literally never had any luck finding woodwind instruments for reasonable prices at any thrift shop.

Finally, this week, I found three:
$75 for a Vito bass in rather poor condition. However, it came with what appears to be a new Yamaha 4C mouthpiece, and the case is impeccable. An easy $150 in value just in the mouthpiece and the case.

$50 for a Buescher 20A alto sax. Great shape, slight bend in the bell though. Came with a rather new-looking Selmer Goldentone 3 mouthpiece. It needs a few adjustments in the lower stack, but that's probably a $200 instrument for $50.

$10 for an antique violin of some sort. It is a Stradivarius copy, and is stamped "Conservatory Violin" on the neck. I couldn't find any maker's mark, but there is an antique repair tag inside - repaired by *some guy* based in Washington, D.C., in 1936. So, it's at least from 1936, and considering that the repair was a lateral crack, and it doesn't appear to have been dropped or abused, I would imagine it's a very early 20th century piece.
It's missing the tailpiece, chinrest, bridge, pegs, and strings - it's a bare body. However, I just need to buy these individual pieces and I should have a nice 100-year old violin for less than $100 after I buy some cheap parts. Nice.

The gods finally answered my call for cheap instruments at the thrift!

Link here:
https://www.amazon.com/Vekkia-Professional-Rechargeable-Brightness%C3%973-Temperature/dp/B0BDDDFFY2/ref=sr_1_5?crid=28TPGX3K8K1QL&keywords=vekkia+folding+music+stand+light&qid=1696029377&sprefix=vekkia+folding+light%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-5

Looks great, good style, long reach, and compact.

How awesome. Lovely instrument. It will clean up very nicely, I'm sure. Shame about the cracks, but those are just about unavoidable at that age. A little CA and some delicate touch and you're in business.

Oddly enough, in my experience it's always been hard for me to sell instruments at a level that it's worth my time. If I'm spending 10 hours on a restoration and can only sell something for $500, but I bought it for $200, at that point it's not really a money-maker.

That being said, it's probably been about 3 years since I've sold anything, so maybe things have changed.

How neat. Most Conns with that stamp I've seen tended not to have the brushed plastic finish, smooth instead. Sure looks like an Artley 18S to me!

Good review, thanks. For years I played on a very good Geo M Bundy 3 that was tossed in the case of some basket case clarinet.

Years later, Phil gifted me a Rico Reserve X5, and I've never had better.