Here is the link:
Very cheap, looks gorgeous. Any chance it will also sound decently? I don’t have much money to invest on a irish flute now, but at this price…
Thank you very much in advance!
Here is the link:
Very cheap, looks gorgeous. Any chance it will also sound decently? I don’t have much money to invest on a irish flute now, but at this price…
Thank you very much in advance!
What else can I say?
I wouldn’t trust how it looks.
Pakistani junk par excellence, I’d say.
You might get lucky enough to get a passable, somewhat playable flute, but you have about a .5% chance at that. I’ve seen quite a few of these in person and here’s the problems I’ve seen:
The embouchure hole is just a round hole, it can work - but it’s not a very good shape. Often it’s rough and hasn’t even been deburred. It can be reworked, but you need some guts/skills to either reshape it or plug it and cut a new emb hole.
The bore is usually very rough, you can fix this by sanding the bore, not very hard -but I’ve seen some that aren’t even conical, that can’t be fixed.
The toneholes are generally a mess, they are always unfinished and often not even deburred. They tend to ‘snake’ down the instrument (not be in a straight line). Sometimes, they can just be finished (undercut and countersunk) but often they need to be plugged and redrilled. Sometimes, if the hole needs to be enlarged you can ‘fudge’ the center of the tonehole back in line if they aren’t straight.
The wood is usually not as advertised, I’ve seen some kind of teak type of wood most often, sometimes painted black to pass as African blackwood.
Tenons tend to be misfitted or leaky, could be fixed with sanding or pfte tape.
So it’s up to you if you have the ambition, skills and tools to put in the sweat equity for a flute that will be so-so at best.
If you’re really itchy to get a flute in your hands on the cheap, go for a Tipple or go to http://11wall-west.com/~ph_kosel/flutomat.html to make your own pvc cylindrical bored flute.
DO NOT BUY THAT FLUTE.
Save to get a flute from a respected maker. Go the Irish Flute Store and see what Doc Jones (a fellow Chiffer) has to offer. Many options at different prices.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I bought one of these “table legs” very cheaply, second-hand, and mine does play (to my minimal standard), but it’s thick and heavy and uncomfortable to hold for any length of time. As others have said, this one may play, but I think you’ll need reasonably large hands and associated stamina in your arms to play it for any length of time.
Nothing Irish about it. Avoid. See the sticky, as others have said.
When you have to write “Fully playable” in the headliner I guess that’s a big, fat warning sign…
Haha, that’s right!
This one is also good (scrolling down a bit):
“Negative feedback does not solve anything.” ![]()
Thank you guys for all the comments! Despite the fact that you all kinda scared me. ![]()
I guess i will keep saving some penny to buy a decent one. I may even revive the original definition of ‘‘pennywhistle’’!
Thanks!