Which Flute

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:17 pm

Hello all, I've been hanging out here for a few weeks now and find the forum very interesting.

A couple of years ago I purchased a cheep Flute for £60, which has been OK but, it's starting to give me problems. So I have set myself a budget of £200-£250. I've been looking through places like Ebay at S/H Flutes and keep coming up with Yamaha 211's, Pearl 501 and Trevor James TT 10X.

Can anyone or a few of you please help me make a choice?

Thanks

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:27 pm

Ebay is a huge risk. It is very possible that you will find a flute that will need a great deal of work, costing way more than you bargained for. With that aside, the biggest problem is without play testing them, you have no idea which one will fit your needs. Every player is different, and what may work for one may not work for another.

With that said, the choices you have given are all good flutes. If this is your only way of buying, be sure to ask a lot of questions (When was the flute made? what is the condition? What is the condition of the pads? When was it last serviced? What is the sellers return policy?). Also ask for more pictures. This will help out some, but again, it is a huge risk and I do not recommend going this route unless it is necessary. Just realize that you may get stuck with a flute that is not worth what you put into it. You may also end up with a flute that is no better than what you have or one that you are dissatisfied with how it sounds.

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:29 pm

I too would be wary of Ebay. Now, I know that I don't have a lot of room to talk because I bought my wooden piccolo off of Ebay, but I got lucky. I did a lot of research into the brand, make/model, and research into the buyer. I read every single review they ever had on their profile [ 1000 positive reviews and 0 negative reviews]. It was a music store selling their surplus stock. The instrument arrived well adjusted and was great.

This is not the usual experiance with ebay purchases. It is SOOOOO easy to get scammed on ebay. There was a thread somewhere on here where a couple of users bought a wooden flute from a distributor on Ebay. They never recieved their flutes, and never got a refund.

Fluttiegurl is absolutely correct. I would avoid shopping on Ebay for a flute/piccolo unless you know exactly what you want, and exactly who to get it from. It's a big risk. Again, I got lucky. I only felt secure doing it because it was a dealer who was selling their surplus stock, had GREAT reviews over an extended period of time, I knew exactly what I wanted and what I was getting, AND it came with a trial period [no questions asked 100% refund policy].

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:19 am

Thanks very much for your advice. I'm in no rush to buy another flute. So I'll take my time and shop carefully. I may even see what I can get new.

etgohomeok · Post by **etgohomeok** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:57 am

You're better off keeping your £60 flute than buying a £200-£250 one, as they won't be much better. If you're serious about learning the flute, spend some real money (like $1000+, whatever that is in pounds or euros or whatever £ means).

If you're not serious about the flute and just do it for sh!ts and giggles, keep your £60 one.

The reason for this is that if you are serious about the flute, your £200-£250 one will be no good in another year or two and you'll be needing a $1000+ one anyways, so it's better to just go straight out and buy the $1000+ one rather than wasting £200-£250 and having a sub-par flute for two extra years.

If you're not serious about it, then the £200-£250 won't get you much better quality than the £60 will, and is not worth wasting your money on.

To recap, either get cheap or expensive, depending on what your interests are. Anything in the middle is a waste of time and money.

And don't buy any specific flute if you can't play that exact flute first. (That means no eBay or Wal-Mart, or whatever the Wal-Mart equivalent is in the £ country).

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:08 am

I see what your saying. However, my Flute is warped, it's got a rather bad curve in it. Don't know how this happened! I assumed it's because it's cheap!
I'm not a serious player and I do have my moments of putting it away for a few months without getting it out for practice.
This is one of the reasons why I have set myself a budget.

Surely, to the trained ear the difference can be heard between a cheap budget flute under £100 and lets say a Yamaha or Pearl.

Anyone?

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:44 am

[quote="papadiaz"]
Surely, to the trained ear the difference can be heard between a cheap budget flute under £100 and lets say a Yamaha or Pearl.

[quote]

I don't know about that..... I have tried some really cheap flutes and they sounded as good as some more expensive beginner models. And James Galway can make a silver plated student flute sound like a $40k solid platinum flute....

pied_piper · Post by **pied_piper** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:55 pm

fluteguy18 wrote: ... And James Galway can make a silver plated student flute sound like a $40k solid platinum flute....

See Sir James Galway's demonstration of 16 different flutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0n3n3N3SOY

Compare the sound of #2 with the gold and platinum ones...

1 Lois Lot silver 10032
2 Muramatsu silver EX 53320. (Silver head, plated body)
3. A.K. Cooper 164 with a Haynes Head
4. Muramatsu all silver 14657
5. Muramatsu Platinum 44755
6. J.Brogger. 18k gold 555 with a Nagahara head.
7. Muramatsu 18k gold 61700
8. A. K. Cooper 18k gold 188 (Berlin Phil flute)
9. Emanuel 18k gold 150
10. A.K.Cooper. 18k gold 197
11. Kanichi Nagahara 20k gold 50
12. Muramatsu 9k gold 64200
13. Muramatsu 14k 38220
14. Kanichi Nagahara 18k gold 518
15. Muramatsu 24k gold 60100
16. Muramatsu 24k gold 55555

Oh yeah, for the benefit of etgohomeok: Give and ye shall receive...

http://tinyurl.com/aukjrq

nasxxx · Post by **nasxxx** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:57 pm

papadiaz take it you are from the UK ? hence the £200 - £250 which is about 400 - 500 USD or what-ever the rate XE.com gives.
For your money what you listed is on target.

Yamaha 211's, Pearl 501 and Trevor James TT 10X.

Where abouts in the UK are you just out of interest ?

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:14 am

pied_piper wrote:
fluteguy18 wrote: ... And James Galway can make a silver plated student flute sound like a $40k solid platinum flute....
See Sir James Galway's demonstration of 16 different flutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0n3n3N3SOY

Compare the sound of #2 with the gold and platinum ones...

1 Lois Lot silver 10032
2 Muramatsu silver EX 53320. (Silver head, plated body)
3. A.K. Cooper 164 with a Haynes Head
4. Muramatsu all silver 14657
5. Muramatsu Platinum 44755
6. J.Brogger. 18k gold 555 with a Nagahara head.
7. Muramatsu 18k gold 61700
8. A. K. Cooper 18k gold 188 (Berlin Phil flute)
9. Emanuel 18k gold 150
10. A.K.Cooper. 18k gold 197
11. Kanichi Nagahara 20k gold 50
12. Muramatsu 9k gold 64200
13. Muramatsu 14k 38220
14. Kanichi Nagahara 18k gold 518
15. Muramatsu 24k gold 60100
16. Muramatsu 24k gold 55555

Oh yeah, for the benefit of etgohomeok: Give and ye shall receive...
http://tinyurl.com/aukjrq

Thanks very much pied_piper, I'll take a look!

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:16 am

nasxxx wrote:papadiaz take it you are from the UK ? hence the £200 - £250 which is about 400 - 500 USD or what-ever the rate XE.com gives.
For your money what you listed is on target.
Yamaha 211's, Pearl 501 and Trevor James TT 10X.
Where abouts in the UK are you just out of interest ?

Hi nasxxx,
I'm living in Northants and work in Milton Keynes.

melodydad · Post by **melodydad** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:37 am

Have sent you a PM - I live in Huntingdon which is not too far from Northants - and have a 'mint' TJ Privilege (with solid silver lip plate) for sale having just bought a beauuuuuutiful Sankyo!

I should also say that I tried a Miyazawa, Altus, and a couple of others and only the Sankyo felt an improvement of the TJ Privilege, which I had been playing for 4 years.

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:42 am

melodydad wrote:Have sent you a PM - I live in Huntingdon which is not too far from Northants - and have a 'mint' TJ Privilege (with solid silver lip plate) for sale having just bought a beauuuuuutiful Sankyo!

I should also say that I tried a Miyazawa, Altus, and a couple of others and only the Sankyo felt an improvement of the TJ Privilege, which I had been playing for 4 years.

Thanks very much for the offer, I PM'd you.

Just to let people know, I purchased a TJ Cantabile.

Thanks for all your input guys and girls.

Vini

etgohomeok · Post by **etgohomeok** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:18 pm

papadiaz wrote:
melodydad wrote:Have sent you a PM - I live in Huntingdon which is not too far from Northants - and have a 'mint' TJ Privilege (with solid silver lip plate) for sale having just bought a beauuuuuutiful Sankyo!

I should also say that I tried a Miyazawa, Altus, and a couple of others and only the Sankyo felt an improvement of the TJ Privilege, which I had been playing for 4 years.
Thanks very much for the offer, I PM'd you.

Just to let people know, I purchased a TJ Cantabile.

Thanks for all your input guys and girls.

Vini

Please tell me it wasn't from eBay.

papadiaz · Post by **papadiaz** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:30 pm

LOL

No I didn't! I took on the good advice and decided not to take the chance.

Thanks for your earlier post etgohomoek, it was that, that made me see some sense and purchase something better.
I take delivery on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the weather.