So I really, really hope I'm going tomorrow and if I do, I will definitely post a report.Buying a Piccolo
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<3 Flute and Picc
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arabians207
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So i know this is a little old... Did you get to try them out??
And I just wanted to add that my flute that I started and played on for 5 years was a King. They are older (my mom got hers new in highschool) but I think they are pretty nice. It seemed to be a bit nicer than most other student flutes. At least scale wise, but I think the player is the biggest factor.. I don't have a ton of tuning problems flute or picc. But I would guess their piccolos aren't too bad either.. except older, lol.
When I was looking for a piccolo, I was deciding between a Yamaha and a Gemienhardt that was around 10 years old.. my mom commented that it was younger than her flute.. lol. I'm guessing hers is around 25 years old? Open hold, B foot. I think it was all silver, and heavy wall. No gizmo key though.
And I just wanted to add that my flute that I started and played on for 5 years was a King. They are older (my mom got hers new in highschool) but I think they are pretty nice. It seemed to be a bit nicer than most other student flutes. At least scale wise, but I think the player is the biggest factor.. I don't have a ton of tuning problems flute or picc. But I would guess their piccolos aren't too bad either.. except older, lol.
When I was looking for a piccolo, I was deciding between a Yamaha and a Gemienhardt that was around 10 years old.. my mom commented that it was younger than her flute.. lol. I'm guessing hers is around 25 years old? Open hold, B foot. I think it was all silver, and heavy wall. No gizmo key though.
I'm looking to buy a piccolo for my own personal use (not for marching band), meaning eventually to play some chamber music or some of the solo piccolo pieces, or the Vivaldi concerti (w/harpsichord). I went to a local dealer on Sat. and tried out the Gemeinhardt 4P, Gemeinhardt 4W, Yamaha YPC-32 and Yamaha YPC-62. Since I'm a beginner with piccolo (intermediate with flute), what I could produce sound wise was negligible but still I found it very interesting.
The flute specialist was not there that day (I'm going to go back when she's working) to ask questions of, but in terms of what I saw/felt, the prices were quite interesting. The Gemeinhardt 4P was $200 less than the Yamaha YPC-32; so was the 4W vs. the YPC-62. I know sometimes Yamahas are more expensive (I own a Yamaha YPL-461H that I like) and people have their strong opinions vis-a-vis Gemeinhardt in general.
I also know that every thread on this board asking "what should I buy" says that it's a personal choice, and I agree.
I did speak to the flutist there and she said the YPC-62 would be overkill for what I want to do....and the reason was, and this is where I would like your opinions/thoughts, that a wood piccolo has to be broken in and played on a regular basis; if you don't play it regularly, it could crack and have other problems. I don't plan on using it every day, actually maybe there would be a couple of weeks when I wouldn't be using it; is that really a problem?
Everything being equal, I'd rather get a better instrument up front rather than buy a plastic one and 6 months down the line realize I should have gone wood to begin with.
I like the sound of the plastic ones, actually I liked the Sonare but that's not being made any more; some mysterious reason that nobody seems to know the answer to.
Anyway would love to hear the thoughts of the very helpful people on this forum.
The flute specialist was not there that day (I'm going to go back when she's working) to ask questions of, but in terms of what I saw/felt, the prices were quite interesting. The Gemeinhardt 4P was $200 less than the Yamaha YPC-32; so was the 4W vs. the YPC-62. I know sometimes Yamahas are more expensive (I own a Yamaha YPL-461H that I like) and people have their strong opinions vis-a-vis Gemeinhardt in general.
I also know that every thread on this board asking "what should I buy" says that it's a personal choice, and I agree.
I did speak to the flutist there and she said the YPC-62 would be overkill for what I want to do....and the reason was, and this is where I would like your opinions/thoughts, that a wood piccolo has to be broken in and played on a regular basis; if you don't play it regularly, it could crack and have other problems. I don't plan on using it every day, actually maybe there would be a couple of weeks when I wouldn't be using it; is that really a problem?
Everything being equal, I'd rather get a better instrument up front rather than buy a plastic one and 6 months down the line realize I should have gone wood to begin with.
I like the sound of the plastic ones, actually I liked the Sonare but that's not being made any more; some mysterious reason that nobody seems to know the answer to.
Anyway would love to hear the thoughts of the very helpful people on this forum.
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fluteguy18
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Wooden piccs don't neccessarily have to be played regularly. I went several months without playing my wood picc and it was fine. It just needs to be kept in a stable environment while it is being stored. You do have to break them in, and while many sources give you a method of breaking them in, I generally just play them a little more each day over a period of a month.