John Packer Musical Instruments — the story so far

The story of John Packer Musical Instruments has its roots with John Packer himself, a musician and trained instrument maker and repairer, hailing from Somerset.

In 1978, upon completing his apprenticeship with the famous oboe makers Howarth of London, John moved back to the west of England and opened his retail and repair shop.

His first instrument, the 'Portland' oboe, was launched in 1999. John Packer Ltd became well known in the UK and across the world for its expertise and great customer service, allowing staff and the range of JP brand instruments to grow. Indeed, both a musician and trained oboe maker and repairer, John has since consulted on the design of instruments for a number of major manufacturers including Yamaha, Boosey & Hawkes and Schreiber. John has used his experience to create a multitude of features on the JP range of instruments which are now popular across the globe.

With a loyal team passionate about music, the company has evolved from a small specialist retail store to a global brand recognised in 45 countries, with more than 250,000 instruments in circulation around the world.

The day-to-day running of JP Musical Instruments is undertaken by company directors, Rob Hanson and Annie Gardner. The company’s wide range of brass and woodwind instruments are exhibited at world famous trade shows such as NAMM, Music China, Mid West Band Clinic, Texas Music Educators as well as many of the other state music education shows.

With a global dealer distribution network spanning more than 45 countries, JP Musical Instruments has established itself as a preeminent supplier of student and intermediate brass and woodwind instruments to the education service, bands and professional players from Taunton to Tonga, New York to New Zealand and Ireland to Iceland.

In recent years JP Musical Instruments has formed special collaborations with four prestigious makers; Dr Richard Smith of Smith-Watkins, spawning the JP251SW and JP171SW; Michael Rath of Rath Trombones, spawning the JP231; Paul Riggett of Sterling Musical Instruments, and Andy Taylor of Taylor Trumpets, to develop a special range of JP instruments.

The JP collaborations represent the perfect balance between professional components and craftsmanship, blended with the high value-to-performance ratio normally associated with JP Musical Instruments.

In January 2024, John Packer Musical Instruments announced it had acquired Rath Trombones. The collaborations took another step forward in September 2024, following the announcement of the purchase of Taylor Trumpets.

Owing to their detailed specification and fine craftsmanship, John Packer Musical Instruments have an appeal to all levels of player, and can be found in the classroom, on the ‘marching field’, in show pits and in the concert hall.

Find out more at: www.jpmusicalinstruments.com