Buying used, buying cheap, and what else you need
Whether the secondhand market is worth it, what the very cheap factory instruments are actually like, and which accessories are genuinely necessary on day one.
All 3 questions →Buying a handpan
How to choose a first instrument, what things cost in 2026 and why, how to deal with makers, and how not to lose your money to a scam.
30 questions answered · 9 guides
My guides
- Buying your first handpan: start here My honest advice before you spend a penny: what to buy in one paragraph, why you can trust it, and the eight guides that explain it. No affiliate links, no maker sponsorship.
- What is a handpan? What the instrument actually is, why one note sounds like a small chord, and how it differs from a "hang drum", a steel tongue drum and a steelpan.
- Why is the Amazon one £250 and everyone says £1,500? Where the money goes, what the cheap end of the market is actually like in 2026, and the ten second touch test that tells you what you are holding.
- What scale should I get, and what does "D Kurd" mean? Why a handpan has only one scale for its whole life, what D Kurd actually contains, and why this school teaches on it exclusively.
- How many notes should my first handpan have? Nine or ten, and why more is usually worse. The physics of a fixed shell, what bottom notes really cost you, and why note count is a marketing number.
- Steel types explained Nitrided, stainless, Ember Steel and raw carbon steel. What each one sounds like, which ones rust, and why the magnet test tells you nothing.
- 440 Hz or 432 Hz? What the two tunings actually are, what is true and untrue about the history and the health claims, and why I recommend 440 for learners.
- Buying secondhand safely The secondhand market is the best value in handpans and the easiest place to lose £1,500. The inspection, the red flags, the payment rule, and what to do if it goes wrong.
- Which makers to trust, waiting lists, and budgets How to find makers, what a good one looks like, what lead times are really like in 2026, what to ask before you pay, and how to test the water before you spend anything.
Questions and answers
Choosing your first handpan
How to pick a first instrument, what to listen for, and how to work out whether the hobby will stick before you spend the money.
All 7 questions →Makers and ordering
Finding makers, understanding waiting lists and lead times, asking the right questions, deposits, and what to do when an order goes wrong.
All 7 questions →Prices, value and what you are paying for
What handpans cost in 2026, why they cost that, whether the money buys sound, and how well they hold value.
All 7 questions →Scams and safe buying
How handpan fraud actually works, the red flags that catch almost all of it, which payment methods protect you, and what to do if it happens.
All 6 questions →