I’ve had a little over a month now to get acquainted with my new Guo
Brothers Grenaditte Flute. Here are my impressions:
Make/Model: Guo Brothers Grenaditte Flute (I have #53)
Cost: $2000-$2600
Dealer: The only dealer in the USA is Robert Strouf of www.theflutefarm.com I bought mine on an ebay auction for the introductory price of $1995. Robert is a knowledgeable, friendly dealer, and I’d gladly do business with him again.
Specs: made from grenaditte, a man made composite (the composition of
materials is proprietary so I have no idea what the ingredients are),
made to resemble instruments made of grenadilla wood. I understand
there’s a piccolo out there made of the same stuff, though I’ve never
seen nor played it. Comes in your choice of black or black. In-line
G. Low B foot. Gizmo key. It’s much lighter than any silver flute
I’ve played.
Extras: Aluminum case with plastic sides (very cool looking),
zippered carry bag with shoulder strap, wooden cleaning rod, cleaning
cloth.
Sound: I will start by saying that I absolutely LOVE the sound of
this flute. When I play a silver flute I spend a lot of time trying
to overcome the “silver sound” – that high-partial, edgy, bright,
silvery-ness that many flute players favor, but I find annoying. The
Grenaditte Flute, like wooden flutes, will not make that silver sound,
no matter how hard you try; it’s just not there. For me this is a
good thing. You do get a fat, rich, beautiful, almost wood-like
(actually better than wood if you ask me) tone. The lower octave
speaks securely and loudly all the way down to low B. The middle
octave sounds very sweet. The third octave notes speak much more
easily than any silver flute I have played.
Mechanisms, etc.: The action of the keys is very light on closing,
and quick opening. They seal extremely well. The keys look like
plastic but aren’t. I’m not exactly sure what they’re made from, but
they are a joy to play.
Intonation: Impeccable!
Overall impressions: I love the fact that I don’t have to spend a
whole lot of time wiping this flute after playing. The black
composite material is such that fingerprints don’t show up, so people
like me who have acidic sweat don’t have to worry about tarnish or
wearing through the silver plating. It mainly just needs to be swabbed after playing. Another bonus is that this flute won’t crack like wooden instruments – and you never need to use wood oil.
This flute has become my main flute. (I just took it on an 8 day
cruise I was performing on, and it responded beautifully.)
Microphones seem to love this flute. I performed with it through
condenser and dynamic mics and was always pleasantly surprised at how
good it sounded when amplified.
I can hardly stand to touch my silver flute now, even though I just
had it re-padded and cleaned. I find my ‘ideal’ sound (described
above) easily on the Grenaditte Flute.
Some things to be aware of: This flute has a thicker outer diameter
than the silver flute does, so some adjustment in hand placement will
be necessary - especially for the left hand.
I did have a little trouble with the right hand countering the
tendency of the flute to roll inward. I bought a thumbport for the
right hand, and that took care of the problem. Because the Grenaditte
flute comes in a custom fit aluminum case, there’s enough room to leave
the thumbport on the flute when storing it in the case - another thing
I really like!
The only thing I wish was included or offered as an add-on is a D#
roller. I spend a lot of time playing in the lowest register (I play
low B way more than most flutists), so slurring from low Eb to low C
(or low B) is a bit awkward. A D# roller would make the move a lot
easier.
I’ve let four or five other good flutists play this flute, and it
seems the default sound when you first play this flute is a very sweet
mezzo-forte with a strong fundamental and very few perceptible
upper partials. It will take a couple of days’ embouchure work to
gain a consistently fat tone on this flute. After a couple of days
practice, though, a full range of tone colors becomes possible - from
the ‘default’ sweet tone, to the big, in-your-face, fat tone that
traditional Irish players strive for.
All in all, I’m in gob-smacked serious love with this flute.
Aldon Sanders (LimuHead)
)
???Don’t know what this means, I can’t see the fibers inside the bore! ???
