Give the Gift of Music at Chicago Music Exchange!
After years of budget cuts to music education programs nationwide, the Gift of Music Foundation was founded in 2015 to make musical instruments and music education more accessible to kids, through reduced-price rentals and rent-free instrument programs. Typically, the foundation accepts instrument donations of any kind to generate a portion of the funds they use to support rental programs for families in need. But, sometimes, they get instruments donated by musicians—like the premium instruments available for purchase in the Gift of Music Foundation Vintage and Used Collection, now at Chicago Music Exchange.
“Our mission is to find the highest value for any instrument that’s donated as it relates to those kids—they’re our entire focus,” said the Gift of Music Foundation’s Tom Gibson. “For player-grade instrument donations, like the ones now at CME, our sales department sells donations and puts the revenue towards student band instruments, in order to fund supplemental rental programs where families that can’t afford full rentals get half-rentals, or gifted instruments.”
"Every $5K raised from these sales from the Gift of Music Collection will help provide at least 25 kids with instruments, while also helping fund up to 50 school year-long music classes and putting up to 100 students in summer programs!"
So, any instrument purchased from this collection of vintage and used instruments at CME will be an investment in the future of music—not only for the buyer of each instrument but for music students, too—that puts other instruments in the hands of the next generation of music makers!"
A “Game Changer”
“It’s very rare that we get a collection of premium instruments,” Gibson said. “Sometimes we get a keyboard that’s been sitting around, lots of drum sets, old clarinets, maybe a rusty flute—then, we have a world-class in-house repair shop that can fix any instrument, so they’ll get any instrument suitable for a student player ‘up to snuff.’ But, this collection is a total game changer for us.
“So, I called my friend Coy Bowles from the Zac Brown Band—he actually happens to be a former student of mine—since he’s really into guitars and a collector, himself, to say we’ve got this collection of guitars coming in. We were looking for someone that really knew what these things were, and what the value of these instruments might really be. He got back to me, and as it happens, he was on a beach somewhere on vacation with Andrew [Yonke, Chicago Music Exchange’s CEO]. From there, it happened fast! CME was incredible about jumping right in and helping out. Now—here we are!”
STAY TUNED IN FOR EVERYTHING FROM THE GIFT OF MUSIC COLLECTION!
Stay tuned for more updates! Subscribe to our email list at the bottom of this page, give us a chat on our website, or follow us on Instagram, our YouTube, and the Soundboard Blog for more on this one-of-a-kind collection. You will not want to miss the gear coming through this collection!
Check out the Gift of Music Collection, and learn how you can donate instruments to The Gift of Music Foundation, today!
SHOP GIFT OF MUSIC COLLECTION AT CME
Related Posts
EarthQuaker Devices | 2026 One-of-A-Kind Series
For the fifth consecutive year, Chicago Music Exchange has partnered with EarthQuaker Devices to bring players a collection of one-of-a-kind pedals featuring exclusive, never-before-seen graphics. Built from EarthQuaker’s trusted circuits — the same pedals relied on by musicians worldwide — each piece in the 2026 collection carries a unique visual finish you won’t find anywhere else. Since 2022, this annual collaboration has given players an easy way to put as much personality into their pedalboard as they put into their playing. Once these one-of-one EarthQuaker pedals sell out, they’re gone for good, so shop the 2026 CME Exclusive collection today.
Read more
PRS Guitars | New Tekton Series
PRS Guitars' new Tekton family answers the call for a more modern PRS — thinner neck profiles, a sleeker body silhouette, and brand-new Stylus pickups across Tekton, Tekton T, Tekton Floyd, and Tekton SVN. With stainless steel frets and the thinnest body PRS has ever made in standard production, Tekton is built for precision players who want a direct connection to their instrument. Chicago Music Exchange is proud to be one of the first to carry it. Shop PRS Tekton now at Chicago Music Exchange!
Read more
Fender | American Professional Series At CME!
Fender is reaffirming its commitment to the working professional with the reimagined American Professional Series. Rooted in Leo Fender’s original read on what touring and studio musicians actually need, this lineup carries that same philosophy into a modern build — new V-Mod III pickups, smooth rolled fingerboard edges, modern C-shaped neck profiles, ClassicGear Precision Potentiometers, and updated hardware across the board. From the Telecaster and Stratocaster to the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Jazz Bass, and Precision Bass, every model in the series is designed to handle gig after gig, session after session, without missing a beat. Shop the full lineup now at Chicago Music Exchange.
Read more