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Brands?

Fluteforlife

I play a c-flute, and i still have my student flute, and am looking to buy a more advanced flute. Is there a certian brand i should look at? there are so many. :-(
 
Just curious and have some questions.
1. Who made your student instrument aka what is it?

2. Who is your fav flautist for classical, pop, and/or jazz?

3. What is you favorite kind of music?

4. Are you continuing on in your school perhaps seeking a music degree?

5. How much do you want to spend aka what's your upper limit?
​
These will help us answer your question.
 
Are you planning on majoring in flute in college or even minoring? A lot of teachers won't accept anything but in-line, open hole, B-foot flutes.
I have a commercial model Haynes, and although it is very much a professional flute, it looks like a student flute at least on the keywork.
 
My Current flute is a Bundy, (its 25 years old).
i dont really have a favorite artist
i play any kind of music, marches, christmas carols, wedding songs, even rock like Louie, Louie.
im hoping to at least minor if not major in flute
for now i dont really want to go over $1,200 but i will if its a great instrument for a good deal
im pretty sure that im going to need a open holed in the future, and my teacher suggested it, but hes not a flute major or anything so...
 
Well you can go cheap. I got a Gemeindhart 3SHB (open hole which I plugged) for $300 brand new and then added a custom head that Kessler Music had put on clearance for less than $300. Suzy and I both play this setup and the price can't be beat for the quality of the instruments. Flute players in the band I play in now curse my name because Suzy and I got the last two custom heads from Kessler made by master tech Chris McKenna. :cool:
 
i'll make sure i look into it
THANKS SOOOOO MUCH
i probally sound like a beginer:oops:
, but i have heard a lot of different things about bundy.
what do ya'll think about that brand?
 
Because of improvements in manufacturing and keyword ergonomics, I go primarily with newer instruments. Don't get me wrong, I have some vintage collectables but I really prefer playing with the improved instruments. The intonation is easier to control and ergos are a big deal for me as I do not want to be introduced to carpal tunnel syndrome.

I also stay away from student instruments as I want to buy an instrument once. I'll save longer and then get a professional horn. It takes me some time to get used to an instrument and I want to reduce all possible blocks to improving my musical skills.
 
Bundy, as in your flute, has been discontinued for a long while. The new Bundys are from China and the quality is unknown -- because they're being released on the 30th. They're insanely cheap, though, which generally means that the horns are not that high quality.

You don't "need" open hole. You might want one, but there's nothing that really says you have to have one.
 
I went to one of the places I've suggested in the past and took a look:

http://www.musicremasters.com/clarinuts/pages/FluteItems.asp

These folks sell used, overhauled flutes (amongst other things) that are warrantied. Needless to say, you can save a lot over new.

I looked at the Gemeinhardt M3S semi-pro flute and that's all of $288. Now, the M3S is supposed to be solid silver, from what I read, but it's being advertised as "silver plate". Hmmm.

In any event, you might want to check back there on occasion and see if they have any solid silver flutes that aren't Artley or Emerson: I'm relying on my sister's advice here, as I'm not a flute player and she is: she doesn't like these brands. She does like Gemeinhardt.

However, if you're wanting FULL professional, here are things that you need to decide if you want:

* Low C, B, or Bb foot
* Solid silver, gold plated or solid gold headjoint
* Solid silver, silver plated, gold plated or solid gold lip plate
* Solid silver, silver plated, gold plated or solid gold body
(Nickel Plate or "coin silver" is primarily used on student instruments.)

You might shop through Google and find the make/model of flute you really like and then go the eBay route. Just budget a few hundred $ for possible full overhaul.

I just checked another place I like to go, JunkDude. They have a Gemeinhardt 3B LTD with solid silver headjoint, low B foot, gold plated lip plate, and Dave says it's in excellent condition -- for $495. It's an over $1000 flute, new (research says they made them in 2005). Definitely pro. I'd buy it.
 
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When shopping for flutes, be aware that the flute market is changing at a pace completely ahead of the rest of the industry. Many makers are putting more time into headjoint design and quality.

There are flutes that we sell new at $600 that completely obliterate flutes more than double their price.

I recommend taking a look at the new Galway Spirit flutes. These feature unbelievably good headjoints. I had a customer the other day come in to test out "better flutes" (they were also coming from a student Bundy).

She was wanting to buy a Pearl and wanted to spend no more than $2500. So I brought out the Pearl 40th Ann. 765 ($2,340) as well as other flutes that were in the $1500-$2500 range. I then also snuck in a new Galway JG2BO (can't publically list price but its about 1/3 the price of the Pearl).

The Galway JG2BO was stuck in the row of flutes to try and the player had no idea of the prices of all the flutes. She picked the JG2BO. This is a Silver Plated (no solid silver anything), open hole, low B foot flute. It blew the Solid Silver flute that was nearly 3 times the price out of the water.

I wrote a review of them on my blog here: http://kesslermusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/james-galway-spirit-flutes-by-conn.html

Dave
 
DaveKessler said:
When shopping for flutes, be aware that the flute market is changing at a pace completely ahead of the rest of the industry. Many makers are putting more time into headjoint design and quality.

There are flutes that we sell new at $600 that completely obliterate flutes more than double their price.

I recommend taking a look at the new Galway Spirit flutes. These feature unbelievably good headjoints. I had a customer the other day come in to test out "better flutes" (they were also coming from a student Bundy).

She was wanting to buy a Pearl and wanted to spend no more than $2500. So I brought out the Pearl 40th Ann. 765 ($2,340) as well as other flutes that were in the $1500-$2500 range. I then also snuck in a new Galway JG2BO (can't publically list price but its about 1/3 the price of the Pearl).

The Galway JG2BO was stuck in the row of flutes to try and the player had no idea of the prices of all the flutes. She picked the JG2BO. This is a Silver Plated (no solid silver anything), open hole, low B foot flute. It blew the Solid Silver flute that was nearly 3 times the price out of the water.

I wrote a review of them on my blog here: http://kesslermusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/james-galway-spirit-flutes-by-conn.html

Dave
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Interesting stuff Dave.

Thanks!
 
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