Need your views/wisdom/garble on second-hand flutes...

Emma · Post by **Emma** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 7:44 pm

Within the next
year I''m going to need to upgrade my flute. I''m pretty sure now I''m at
some intermediate level (Grade 6 ish in Britain) and my old beginner flute is
the worst I have played and I''ve tried all my friends'' flutes (and they
make me sound so much better! [;)])... I''d love to hear your views on which
makes are the best after several years of service, as money dictates I''ll
only be able to get an older second-hand flute. Any advice on buying a
second-hand flute would be much appreciated, but I''ve found quite a lot of
help around the forums already, and I plan on taking my teacher to see any
flutes I like. I think a cheaper alternative may be to just buy a new headjoint,
or at least a newer headjoint, but I''m not sure if this would be better than
buying a whole new flute. My current flute is a Jupiter, I don''t know how old
it is, but my mother bought it as a second-hand school flute about ten years
ago. Another option I may possibly have open to me is taking a flute body with a
damaged headjoint and using my headjoint on that (one of my friends keeps
damaging her flute and being bought a new one). If she does damage her flute
again, it is a rather nice Yamaha (no idea what model, but it was bought brand
new within the last three months). Perhaps taking the flute body and buying a
headjoint for it would be a good idea? Please impart your wisdom!

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 9:11 pm

An intermediate
mechanism and tube with a quality headjoint can take you a long way. The Yamaha
300 and 500 series are based on this thinking. A student headjoint on a great
tube will sound like a student flute. Just my view.

tarzaflute · Post by **tarzaflute** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 4:54 am

Hi Emma, if your
flute is still in good working order, mechanism working well, etc, and its just
your sound you dont like, then it may be worth looking at just a new headjoint,
afterall, 80% or more of your sound is based on your headjoint, I have a solid
silver flute, and I have a silver plated flute, but when I put my solid silver
head on my other silver plated flute it makes the world of difference to my
sound, plus you'll find people selling solid silver headjoints, often because
they have upgraded to gold, or more specific things like a heavy wall headjoint,
anyway if you decide to take this option take your personal flute and alternate
a few times playing long notes and other music you have on both your headjoint
and the new one to see if it offers wat you want. If you take the option of
buying a new flute I would still suggest that a solid silver headjoint will make
your sound amazing, even if you get a plated body. Yamaha may be a good option,
along with Trevor James, I have a solid silver Trevor James flute and it has a
great mechanism, so you could check them out. I'm personally not a fan of
Gemeinhardt, but this is just me personally speaking, if you try them you may
like them, take a look at Jupiter too. These flutes all seem to be reasonally
priced and I'm sure some of the models will suit your needs! [8)]

Emma · Post by **Emma** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 2:16 pm

So a good
headjoint may well be the best option if the body is still working fine. I'm
not sure about that as I've noticed a pad closed by several keys leaks a lot if
one particular key is operated, but doesn't leak nearly so much if any of the
others are operated. Same with another pad. (Yes, it needs re-padding poor
thing) I think some of the screwthreads are rather worn as well, possibly close
to stripping. I'll ask the guy who's servicing it for me what he thinks. I
guess the advice on which headjoint to buy is the one I'm happiest with? [;)]
Thank you Penny and Tara very much for your input. [:)] If you have any more
advice, please write away. [:)]

zummerzet_lou · Post by **zummerzet_lou** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 6:25 am

I recently
upgraded my flute (also grade 6 in UK) ... I went to a lovely shop in London
(Topwind) where you can try as many flutes out as you want. They also have a
large selection of secondhand flutes. I eventually ended up with a yamaha 211
flute, with an Altus headjoint. This sounded far better than the same priced
"intermediate" flute. HTH

trebleclef0123 · Post by **trebleclef0123** » Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:39 am

Well, I would
suggest that if none of your pads or screws are loose, to get just a better
headjoint. However, if there are a bunch of little quirks in the body, I would
suggest getting a whole new flute. I only say this because I had 8 corks missing
and a few damaged ones. Costed a bundle to fix it up. My only other concern
would be the new headjoint fitting improperly.

nicki_flute · Post by **nicki_flute** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 3:06 am

I have a second hand Yamaha 211 S, and it has worked perfectly, and it must be about 10 years old. I am going to be upgrading to a Yamaha 381 soon which will cost about £650 for me because of a scheme I can get it without VAT added. My teacher said that buying a new flute (the 381) would cost about the same as getting a new headjoint. How much money have you got? Good luck, I live in Britain too and am Grade 6-7ish so perhaps I could help you

the_pie_princess · Post by **the_pie_princess** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 5:44 am

hiya
i had the same thing as you when i reached grade 6 standard, i had a beginners flute (a blessing b101) which wuz new when i started learning but after 6yrs it had definitly seen better days. i got really lucky though because someone gave me a yamaha 211 (it wuz about a year old but had barely been played) and it wuz so much better. if you cant afford a new intermediate model then it might be worth considering a new student model, my yamaha got me through my grade 8 with no problems at all. i guess it depends on how far you are planning to take the flute, if you are going to go to uni and do music then you will need a better flute than if you are planning to just play for fun. i know money can be a really huge obstacle when buying instruments, i just had to have a new oboe as im going to do music at university specialising in the oboe and that wuz £1451

and that wuz through a scheme to reduce the cost lol
good luck and let us know what you decide