I need to purchase a student flute for my daughter. I would appreciate any suggestions on reliable companies on the web to buy from and also manufacturer and type suggestions.
I copied this over here because you might get some better suggestions or comments in the flute forum.
I recommend a tony dixon polymer flute for a starter. I started on a dixon one piece and it was a great instrument for the price, 30 dollars, I seem to remember. I ordered mine online at Hobgoblin music. You can’t go wrong with this flute. In my opinon anyways.
I’ve also heard good things about the hammy hamilton practise flutes and I think they’re relatively cheap as well. You can order them at shannaquay.com I think. Anyways, I hope this is helpful.
Jack Murphy
Are we talking Wooden flute or Concert flute that she’ll be needing?
Loren
Concert I guess. Band instrument. I should have speciifed this.
I’ve been told by someone I trust that the Blessing Model B-101 (The Silver Plated Model) is unusually good for a student flute. I forget the list price, but I’ve seen them through stores on-line for around $400. A google search for “Blessing B-101” should turn up a few hits. Try substituting “B101” and “B 101” for the “B-101” if you don’t get any hits.
Good luck.
Loren
BTW, I should add that I have played one of these flutes, and I thought it was fantastic - quite surprising for the money. I am not however an extremely experienced flute player, so take that with a grain of salt.
My Friend’s recommendation of the Blessing is much more reliable as she has owns quite a few flutes, including a Powell, and some platinum Japanese made flute I can never remember the name of 
Anyway, she says a good Blessing B-101 is superior to many flutes costing significantly more - although it’s certainly no match for the Powell or other mega-buck flutes.
Okay, so you get the idea: Blessing B-101 equals great bang for the buck.
Cheers,
Loren
The companies that are the standard in the business of making student flutes are Armstrong, Gemeimhardt, and Emerson. They will be familiar to both teachers and intstrument technicians. I am not familiar with Blessing-- it may be harder to find and try one out. The Armstrongs, Gemmies and Emmies are available in nearly every music shop.
Good luck!
Also, do not buy an open-holed flute if she is a beginner.
Well… Yamaha, Pearl, and Selmer (Bundy) are also “standard” as well these days - although the Bundy has been a recognized standard student model here in the U.S. much longer than the Yamaha and Pearl.
There are many different student models out there, and all of the ones named can be found in regularly school band programs throughout the U.S. Any woodwind repair tech worth his or her salt will be quite familiar with most or all of these.
Blessing, by the way, is a very well known U.S. maker of Brass instruemnts. They are not so well known for their flutes, but they are a well established and respected instrument company that turns out quality instruments.
BTW, these comments are based on my (prior) experience as the manager of a musical instrument store for a number of years. A large part of our business was band instrument rental and repair, so in addition to stocking and renting various brass, woodwind, string, and percussion instruments, we also employed an on-site woodwind and brass repair staff.
Anyway, there are certainly a number of decent student model flutes out there from various makers that are worth consideration. Good luck with the search.
Loren
[ This Message was edited by: Loren on 2002-07-08 10:04 ]
My first flute was an Armstrong, and I think it was a lot better than the Bundys and Selmers. I don’t know about Yamaha. Whatever you get, make it silver and not nickel - the nickel feels nasty!
Heather
I’m certainly not recommending the Selmer/Bundy over anything else, just pointing it out as another example of a very common and “Standard” student model flute that one is likely to run into.
Really, probably the best thing My Susato could do would be to take an experienced flute player or instructor shopping with them and have the player/instructor try a variety of flutes and help pick one out.
Loren
Thanks for the advice. Question about do not buy a open holed flute. Someone told me to buy one and that you could get a plug for it. I am very unfamiliar with flutes. Is this correct?
I own both an Emerson and a Jupiter, and have tried a Gemeinhardt M2. For ease of play, the Gemmie is nice. For teeth-rattling bottom end, the Jupiter wins out. If you want a band flute cheap, I’ll sell the Emerson for exactly what I paid ($115) since I’m not using it now.
dave
Regarding the open holes and cork plugs, I think that might have been me replying to another post of yours (?). In that case, I assumed you were an intermediate player looking for a step-up flute. For a beginner, I would NOT recommend an open holed flute.
The cork stops for the holes are for intermediate players making the switch, although like I mentioned, most people don’t need to do this. For a beginner, it would be too much to worry about.
Heather