Selmer Omega any good?

[Bwc2304]

Hey,

Does anyone know if Selmer Omega flutes (solid silver, engraved/gold-plated lip) are any good?

[fluttiegurl]

Well, here is my Omega story. I had a student who, after talking to her band director purchased a Selmer Omega. It was a beautiful flute and at first, played nicely. After a few months, her playing seemed to go downhill. She was not getting any sound out, and I actually thought she was getting lazy and had quit practicing. She would sem to take an hour lesson to "regain" what we had worked on the previous week. There were no visible signs of leaks or anything like that, so I did not think much of it. After about two weeks of this, I decided to try her flute for myself (which I should have done in the first place). I honestly could not make a sound on it! It looked fine, but just would not play! We sent it back to the store where she bought it to discover that the body was bowed about 1 mm. Not much, but enough to cause the keys to not set on the tone holes properly. The keys were literally pulling away from the body. The tech decided that it was a factory defect, and that he would fix it under warranty at no charge. In the mean time, I tried to contact Selmer before any work was done. Ten phone calls, several emails, and I never spoke to a live person or received any reply. The flute was fixed, but I suggested that she get rid of it and buy another flute, which she did. I have another student who after about two years, the finish is coming off of her flute and one of the keys keeps falling off (literally). I do not recommend them at all. However, the Selmer Co now owns Emerson as well and has changed the production of the Omega line to the Emerson factory. I have had nothing but good experiences with the new "Emerson" Omegas in the past two years. Put simply, they are just Emerson flutes with the Omega features, and have been great for my intermediate students.

Don't be fooled by the features that come on a flute. Engraving and gold plating lookk nice, but in time, gold wears off and the engraving does nothing for the sound (though it does help prevent the flute from slipping). Also keep in mind that the Selmer Omegas are no longer eing produced, and if you are looking at one, it may not even be a new flute or it has been setting around for a while because no one would buy it . . . hmmm.

[salmonFella]

Stay away, Im a busy guy but I will take the time to tell you to stay away from those flutes... What is your price limit?

[kappachan]

I've had my Selmer Omega flute for over a decade now and what I've got to say is that if your future doesn't hold any hope of becoming a professional musician, this is an okay flute to get if the price is right. I would however recommend other flutes over this one as I've had a minor problem with it in the past (C trill key rusted on me, weirdest thing ever since I took very good care of it, or at least I thought I did). If you want to become a pro, then stay away. It doesn't play as well as other flutes I've tried. The only reason why I got it was the price, $1,200 vs $4,000 with the other flute I was looking at at that time. You get what you pay for, I suppose.