Like it says. The wife played flute for 8 years, give or take, in grade school and high school. She went to competitions and whatnot, basically shes a decent flute player. She no longer has one and I would like to get her own for her B-day or X-mas (Both coming right up)
However, I know NOTHING about flutes. I honestly dont think I could even put one together. Can we see a problem here?
So, first off where should I start looking for a flute? Iād like to get her a decent one, but not break the bank. I was thinking 2-300ā¦ Are there good flutes in that price range? What about a good used one on say Ebay?
Secondly, what brands should I look for? What should I avoid? What features are desirable (Do flutes HAVE features??)
Well, from that much alone you should see how clueless I am here, so ANY help at all would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks,
Clueless husband.
Most of the topics on this board are about wooden flutes with no or few keys, not the kind your wife played in school. If she is interested in traditional flutes, you have several options in your price range.
For a silver flute, you have much less. Donāt buy the āno namesā on ebay for outrageous prices or the Wal-Mart flutes. Jupiter, Yamaha, Gemeinhardt, Armstrong, Emerson are established flute makers that you may be able to find a used model of in your price range. The different brands all have followers and detractors, but they are big enough makers that when a spring breaks or a pad goes south, you will be able to have it fixed (unlike the no names). For $300 you can probably get a nice, used beginnerās model. You might want to check with your local band teacher, a student may be trying to finance an upgrade.
Some features your wife might want are openholes, b-foot, split-e mechanism, gizmo key, but for $300 you will probably not have much choice. Get her a nice, sturdy beginnerās model, see if she still likes playing and save up for an intermediate one!
There are some good flute groups on yahoo and also a nice forum at superflute.com that deal more with silver concert flutes than this one does. They might be more help.
007- did your wife play a wooden flute or a classical style Boehm metal flute? if wooden, this is the place. if not you may want to seek advice elsewhere. as a guess, flutes taught and played in US schools are usually the classical Boehm flutes. if so, iād suggest getting in touch w/ a local flute teacher for advice. $2-300 for a Boehm flute is, alas, a bare minimum for a new āstudentā flute. the Woodwind/Brasswind web site generally has good prices: http://www.wwbw.com/. perhaps a picture of a flute and $ would let your wife make her own selection. flutes are very personal.
Appreciate the help! The flute was the ānormalā student lfute. Silver looking with keys on it, metal. Iāll give those other forums a shot.
Thanks again!
Hi! This probably wonāt help much, but the first flute I bought was a Gemeinhardt student model, and I donāt think I paid much more than 300 for it brand new. It was just right for me at the time, and was very pretty. If you think sheād like that, then you can buy one on-line easily.
Hi! This probably wonāt help much, but the first flute I bought was a Gemeinhardt student model
My first, second and third flutes were Gemmies! Gemeinhardts are kind of looked down on by some players, but I think theyāre workhorses, never had any trouble with mine. Good prices, too.
give her a cool little āgift certificateā and let her choose. the choice is so personal, and there are so many options, that unless you know exactly what she wants, it will be hard to get right.
meir
