Any thoughts on this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7358043755&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT
If you buy it you will probably be disappointed. It’s not really a D flute as we think of it. You must close the bottom two holes (that we think of as the C holes) – so the flute is probably in the key of Eb or E. Might be ok as a solo busking instrument. Anybody have direct experience with these flutes?
I own one. I was just curious to know how could be a £16 (8 keys !) flute.
The answer is: very very bad.
Item location = India. I’ve yet to hear anyone with anything positive to say about these flutes.
Tom up in Alaska has one. He said once he replaced the cork in the headjoint (it’s a squishy compacted cloth like thing) it was a fine Eb flute if I recall what he said correctly.
Maybe he’ll chime in, but he’s been AWOL for quite some time now…
Eric
I had one of these things–it was too horrible for words–and gave it to Alan.
–James
Dan Bingamon uses the body on these to turn them into keyed high Whsitles he says that there are lots of problems to begin with so he fixes them.
I make lamps out of them.
i have one, and for the money, it’s ok (at the time it was $35 + $30 shipping), especially for having a keyed plastic flute around, when i’m working on a new tune that needs keys, i can pick it up all thru the day.
I did have to do some fine tuning to make it play.
Same here. The one I bought was advertised as an E-flat and so, for the money, I decided to give it a try - knowing full well what I was in for.
However, a bit of work with some files around the embouchure and a couple of the holes, and the tone was reasonable enough to play around the house. I plugged and re-drilled the C# hole since the flute played desperately sharp on the low D (E-flat, you know what I mean).
I would certainly never take it near a session but it does for playing along with Frankie Gavin!
PS - the case smelled sooooooo bad you would not believe it. I think their marketing department stopped using the advertising slogan “These flutes even smell like shit” 
Buyer beware!
G
I must’ve got lucky with the one I have then. All the keys are functional and don’t leak. Having said that though, I can’t seem to reach the long F-nat key, but the short one’s fine.
Simply replacing the cheesy fibrous “cork” in the headjoint with a proper cork made the flute into a cheap and definitely playable maintenance-free 8-key Eb. After I’d added a few turns of floss to the footjoint tenon to tighten it up a bit.
It’s good fun to noodle on and mine sits on the coffee-table ready to be picked up and tooted. Great for playing along with Dervish when I can’t be 'arrised to assemble the Allan Eb. Or it would be if I could play that fast.
Oh and G’s right about the stinky case… honks of inner-tubes, nasty sulphurous eggy smell from the ‘ebonite’ works I shouldn’t wonder.
"Same here. The one I bought was advertised as an E-flat and so, for the money, I decided to give it a try - knowing full well what I was in for. "
yes - i milled an extension to the foot piece, like a bushing that goes into the socket of the foot, and extends it by 1/2", it brought the Eb into tune, and i tossed the bottom C ans C#
keys, turned it into a 6 key, ahh - and thru’ away the rubber smelling box (right after i thru the cork as far as it would fly (don’t do it against the wind, or wear eye protection gear 
.
i don’t know what it was, could be the throwing of the box, that made it a good player ?
the keywork is good in my opinion, i would have kept my keyed M&E had the keywork been as good as on these flutes, but it was worst (BTW - i love the keyless M&E, truly great flute).
e.
So this may be worth buying if for nothing else but some half decent keys to mount on another flute maybe.
One might even retrofit keys on a flute that doesn’t have the option of keys from the maker.
I’d be willing to shell out the bucks for the junk flute to use the keys if I had the skill to put them on. Wonder how the CB FF would look with a few keys on it…
if anything, then get an old flute on ebay for the keys.
plus, it’s an Eb so the keys may not fit a D flute? plus, they’re nothing to wrote home about, but for $75, to have a keyed flute that works is a good deal.