I currently have a Gemeinhardt 2SP and am looking to upgrade. I went to the local music store today to try out different brands and narrowed it down to;

Gemeinhardt KGM Limited - Nice Flute, I tried it with a standard headjoint and the original 9k Solid Gold lip-plate. The gold does make the sound warmer, and the J1 silver makes it sound crisp, but almost piercing on the upper register. It has an in-line G that I'm sure I will get used to in time. The keys also had the most resistance than any other flute I tried.

Azumi SRBO3000 - Sounded a bit airy, the model I tried had the Z-Cut headjoint that I'm not sure I like so much, it made dynamics much more difficult. The body however has a cheap feel to it and the Bb trill key sticks out just enough for me to accidentally hit it now and then while playing... this one is not on the top of my list.

Altus 909 - This was a alright flute, sounded ok but 'nothing special'. It also has a silver plated body that I'm not so sure about. The mechanism also seemed alittle lackluster when compared to the 1107.

Altus 1107 - Great flute, but almost twice as expensive as the rest of the flutes I tried out. The tonal response was very smooth, and the mechanism was the smoothest out of all the flutes I tried. But again, I'm not sure if I can afford to spend $4000 on a flute.

So what do you guys think? Anyone have any experience or tips with these flutes? I am a senior in high school and am looking to get a flute that will last me though college. If I've forgotten about a great flute, feel free to mention it also!

Thanks!

<Added>

Oh, turns out I was playing an Altus 807 at the store... I thought it was the 907. I'll have to try that one out when I go pick up some music next week.

I would avoid getting another Gemeinhardt if you plan on going through college with a flute. You are looking at different levels of flutes here, so it is like comparing apples and oranges. I would recommend looking into the Powell Signature or Conservatory model, Muramatsu, Miyazawa, Brannen, Burkart or on that lines if you plan on using it through college and becoming serious on it.

<Added>

If you don't wish to spend more than $4000 you may also want to look into Yamaha. I forgot to put them on the list.

Hi Kara,

Thanks for your reply. I had a little reservation about the Gemeinhardt after reading about their mechanisms online...

So you think that neither the Altus 909 or 1107 would be a good choice for me? I'm not sure about the Powell, Muramatsu, or Miyazawa... there are no dealers in my area so they might require a bit of work to try out. I'm sure I could find an online retailer that would allow a trial though.

But what Yamaha models would you recommend? I must admit I'm beginning to get a little scared with the prices of some of these... although I'm sure their worth it.

The Altus flutes would be fine too if you like them and they fit well with you. As for Yamaha, anything from the 500 and series on up is what I would recommend. If you are going to make this big of an investment then I would definetely look into trying as many different flutes as you can. First thing you could do is call up Flute World and talk to them. They have many different models to choose from. Then there is always the Flute Center of NY, Carolyn Nusbaum (sp?) and JL Smith, just to name a few companies. They will all send out flutes on trial. Flute World has some really nice used flute too. You most likely can get more for your money if you find a nice used flute and just have it serviced. Be careful about what condition it is in because repairs can get very expensive. There are many other threads on this that you may want to search and read in this forum. I don't think that a lot of people respond as much anymore to topics such as this because it is asked almost once a week.

I've contacted Flutesmith and Fluteworld and have got catalogs on the way. A used flute might be the way to go, some of those are almost $1000 less than new!

Thanks again Kara!

Your welcome anytime

Hello,

I would second the advice to try as many flute as possible. I bought an Altus 807 after trying many flutes, including several other 807, and that particular flute was clearly working better than the others for me (resonance, tone color and ease of play). I am guessing that it is because the headjoints are handcut that one can find variations even between "identical" models.

Good advice.

Also look at Sankyo - very good if you have the money. Even their most basic model is semi-handmade(as opposed to true where the production is a couple dozen per year). Far better than most machine-made models. IMO, the 300 is the best bang for the buck. I never understood silver keys, since the metal they are made out of doesn't affect the sound and silver or gold cost more to fix if something goes wrong.

Sankyo also is offering the Kingma system on their flutes as well, which looks interesting(relatively new development in the last couple of months I only found out about a few days ago) Play normally or use the extra keys to play a full quarter tone scale.(!)

Sound-wise, I love Powell, but I've heard that their fit and finish aren't as good as they used to be.(plays great, but a bit sloppy around the edges in how it looks for the price).

Used is also good, naturally.

Luckily my Powell is beautiful and perfect, not sloppy at all. They play fantastic and that is most important thing, I think.