Hello -
My 10 year old niece desperately wants to learn the flute. For her birthday / Christmas gift I was hoping to get her a used one, most likely an ebay special. I need some suggestions please! I have seen plenty of gemeinhardts and armstrongs. But need to know the good / bad / and ugly!
Thank you! =)
Purchasing a Student Flute
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
Re: Purchasing a Student Flute
Well, you need to be very careful when purchasing an eBay flute. Most likely they will need at the very least adjusting to play correctly. This service shouldn't cost a whole lot from your local music store (mine charges about $20 for a student flute). That's at the very least. If you are set on purchasing an eBay flute, you should plan to take it in to a local qualified technician to see what it needs. If you're not a flute player and not sure what you are purchasing, you could end up spending more in repairs than what the flute is actually worth.
This is not to say that there are not good deals on eBay or other places around the web to be had. I have owned five (going on six) flutes in my life and the last three were purchased online, two from eBay and once from a private party.
I have never played an Armstrong flute before, so I can't comment to their quality. I also haven't played a Gemeinhardt, either. However, I did sit next to someone who played a Gemeinhardt from 7th grade through my senior year and it seemed as though she was in a constant battle with her flute, trying to keep it in tune and struggling with notes sounding too "airy". I always felt like she was a good player held back by her flute. This is not to bash Gemeinhardt flutes in any way because again, I've never played one. This was only my experience with who I sat next to.
I think that in general Yamaha flutes are a pretty safe bet. Beginner flutes on eBay are generally priced pretty reasonably when it comes to "Buy it Now" auctions. However, if you are looking at getting a "steal of a deal" and bidding on something, when it comes to Yamaha and flutes in general I say "Good Luck" to you! It seems like lately Yamahas especially are getting 20+ bids on them, many in the last few minutes of the auction. Yamaha has a good reputation and the bidding probably reflects that. I have owned two. I wasn't in love with them, but I thought they were nice flutes and pretty much workhorses. I had my open hole Yamaha for ten years and it still didn't need the pads replaced. I had few to no mechanical issues with my Yamaha flutes.
There are some other brands that may be good choices for you as well. Two I've seen mentioned over and over are Pearl and Jupiter. I've not played either but just bought a Jupiter on eBay for $75 (Buy it Now). Have to wait and get that one in the mail before I can comment.
Another good place you could look (and you may have already done this) is at this thread:
http://www.fluteland.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5859
There are many, many good resources there for you as well.
Hope that helps!
This is not to say that there are not good deals on eBay or other places around the web to be had. I have owned five (going on six) flutes in my life and the last three were purchased online, two from eBay and once from a private party.
I have never played an Armstrong flute before, so I can't comment to their quality. I also haven't played a Gemeinhardt, either. However, I did sit next to someone who played a Gemeinhardt from 7th grade through my senior year and it seemed as though she was in a constant battle with her flute, trying to keep it in tune and struggling with notes sounding too "airy". I always felt like she was a good player held back by her flute. This is not to bash Gemeinhardt flutes in any way because again, I've never played one. This was only my experience with who I sat next to.
I think that in general Yamaha flutes are a pretty safe bet. Beginner flutes on eBay are generally priced pretty reasonably when it comes to "Buy it Now" auctions. However, if you are looking at getting a "steal of a deal" and bidding on something, when it comes to Yamaha and flutes in general I say "Good Luck" to you! It seems like lately Yamahas especially are getting 20+ bids on them, many in the last few minutes of the auction. Yamaha has a good reputation and the bidding probably reflects that. I have owned two. I wasn't in love with them, but I thought they were nice flutes and pretty much workhorses. I had my open hole Yamaha for ten years and it still didn't need the pads replaced. I had few to no mechanical issues with my Yamaha flutes.
There are some other brands that may be good choices for you as well. Two I've seen mentioned over and over are Pearl and Jupiter. I've not played either but just bought a Jupiter on eBay for $75 (Buy it Now). Have to wait and get that one in the mail before I can comment.
Another good place you could look (and you may have already done this) is at this thread:
http://www.fluteland.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5859
There are many, many good resources there for you as well.
Hope that helps!