I have no doubt that most of the veterans prowling these boards are away of this, but just thought I'd highlight this for anyone who hasnt heard of it:
[url="http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/takeitaway/"]http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/takeitaway/[/url]
Basically you can buy any musical item and pay for it in 10 payments, one of them up front as a deposit, the rest monthly over 9months, and you can take away the item straight away. The best bit is that its [b]interest free[/b], so it costs the same amount as if you bought it outright there and then, you just get to pay it over 9 months, so you're actually paying less as your money is in your account accruing interest or longer
Have used it myself earlier today to buy an instrument and it seems darn nifty, its essentially an interest free loan. The shop owners seem a bit less willing to knock a bit of money off, but thats mnot a hge issue for me.
"Can be used for instuments up to £2000 or as a part payment towards an instrument of £2000 or above"
I expect this may cause some sudden and quite severe GASsing around here