sidekicker wrote:I realize I'm painting with a very, very, broad brush here, but I would stay totally away from any flute that has any connection to China.
SK
Yeah and I'm really sad that the Wm. S. Haynes company is now owned by Chinese which has probably caused the prices of their instruments to drop by several thousand dollars on the used market
Don't worry, I'm not selling my Vintage Haynes (keeping it as a backup flute).
Ummmm ....I liked the flutes and LOVED the price - but
I noticed they were used. Is is worth it buying a used flute -
it has already been used for some time - would it wear down
faster than buying a new flute? It would be a waste of money
buying a used flute for $2-400 to just buying a new flute for around
$600. What do you think?
~Melissa
Simple
Get a nice used flute from a reputable dealer.
Learn how to play it.
THen when you get too good for it, save your money and buy a nice new one.
You are not going to find a new Yamaha for under $750. Since you specified a Yamaha, then I gave you what resources I had for Yamahas. However, you can get an NEW Armstrong 104, or a Gemeinhardt 2SP for $250 to $500 dollars depending where you buy it. There are also many other brands like Jupiter, Barrington, Prelude, Trevor James etc.. that you can get for under $500 as well. Check these out as an example.....
HAYNES!!!!!! I got the scoop on them two weeks ago when I spent an afternoon with Steve Finley!
In the late 70's they started outsourcing their production to China to cut production costs. At first is was just a few parts, and it eventually became most of their lineup. They also went from the Cooper Scale to the Deveaux scale. Two years ago they hired Steve Finley as the artistic director of the company. He thought they needed a lot of work because they had fallen from their historic standard of quality. He began redesigning them (undoing a lot of the outsourcing, returning to the Cooper Scale, revising headjoint cut designs, etc.).
They started producing their completely new line up 2-3 months ago. They have kept the same names for the models, but the difference in playing is phenomenal. I used to dislike Haynes flutes. After playing their new line up (which uses the old names) I REALLY like them.
I haven't EVER found a gold headjoint that was that colorful, articulated that cleanly, and played with such crystalline clarity in the extremes of dynamics in extreme registers (soft in the high, loud in the low). And every headjoint was that way. I would have gladly purchased any of them if I were in the position to do so.
This all was discussed at the Panoramic Flutist workshop in Colorado. He gave a presentation on flute making, repair, history, and showcased Haynes entire lineup. I wasn't interested in playing them until he discussed the redesign. I tried them and was very impressed. Leone Buyse actually purchased one of the headjoints and she has played Powell exclusively for quite some time.
