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choc_powder
(13 points)
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i recently bought an open holed flute with a b foot,
the problem is, i've never heard of the brand.
its brand is "J. Michael"
its a japanese brand. i've visited the website www.jmichael.jp
i've asked a couple of people and they also have never heard of this brand.
any of u heard of it?
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StephenK
(386 points)
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They are a Chinese manufacturer.
From the bottom of the quality control page:
"We have picked up several factories in North China to tie up with technical and finalcial relationship and to develop the best quality and highest performanced instruments."
Note the misspellings on the quality control page! 
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Tibbiecow
(289 points)
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I am also interested to hear if this is a reasonable quality flute that plays well for its new owner.
An open-holed, B-foot flute may not be an upgrade to a basic student flute in good condition by Yamaha, Pearl, Jupiter, Armstrong, Emerson, Gemeinhardt and the like. Many times ignorant band directors tell flute players that they should upgrade, and their new flute should have open holes and a B-foot- only because these are the only obvious attributes of most upgrade flutes.
The cheap Chinese/eBay flute market has taken advantage of this ignorance and sells virtually unrepairable flutes that are often more difficult (rather than easier) to get a good sound from than a good quality student flute.
Open holes and a B-foot do not an upgrade make. The design and engineering, which influence playability, feel, and response, that you can really only find by test-playing the flute as well as asking about its repair/reliability, are the deciding factors.
Most upgrade flutes DO come with open holes and a B-foot, and there really are not any big problems with these versus closed holes (you can plug the open ones) and a C-foot (the B-foot is a little heavier, and makes the flute longer.) So I'm not saying that you should NOT have these specs on a flute, only that they make very little difference to the majority of flute players, with an occasional exception.
In most cases, if a student has a good flute (closed hole, C-foot), the best bang-for-the-buck upgrade is a used, pro headjoint(In some cases only $250 to $500).
<Added>
The open holes and B foot BY THEMSELVES do not make a flute play better than closed holes or a C-foot.
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JimMillen
(324 points)
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Never mind the pontification from others --- the French (open hole) flute IS superior to a Plateau flute.
Some manufacturers are, in fact, NO LONGER offering the Plateau flute --- unless by "special order".
That's because almost all "serious" flutists pro OR amateur, always opt for the open hole flute.
There are several reasons for this. There are people on this forum who maintain that Plateau flutes are "just as good" as open hole flutes. Don't pay any attention to that nonsense.
That's THEIR opinion. Possibly, because they CAN'T play an open hole flute.
As far as the "make" -- I've never heard of it.
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Patrick
(1388 points)
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nonsense, don't listen to the last post...even though I also prefer the open hold flute, there are many many flutists worldwide who play a closed hole flute and sound just as good..
get what feels best to you...
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vampav8trix
(197 points)
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Never heard of it.
I do recommend play testing brands before you buy them. If I can't test it, I wouldn't buy it. If the manufacturor is reputable, they will allow you to test play the flute before buying.
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flutesandpiccolo
s
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Open-hole flutes being superior, one that has nothing to do with this forum, they are asking about the brand of their flute? and two open-holes are more of a personal choice, rather than a professional feature among flutes, since the company issuing the flutes feels that a open-hole flute is "superior" non-sense so not listen to that post, I am sorry, with all do respect but I have to completely disregard what you said.
No Choc_powder, if your flute plays good, you like how it feels, in your hands its response, and sound, and after a few months of playing it and its mechanically good, then their is no serious issue here, you know?
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flutesandpiccolo
s
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Sorry-so don't listen------ and for any other mistakes, my fingers tend to fly of the keys sometimes
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Kara
(2843 points)
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I have seen that brand on ebay before. I have written to the seller several times asking where it was made and never get a response. Hmmm... I wonder why? So let us know what you think, I would be curious.
Oh and yeah.. please don't listen to anything Jim/Phil has to say. I agree with the others. He is only trying to stir up trouble and I am sorry he had to respond to your post in the process.
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suzie
(342 points)
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I think that in many ways plateau (closed hole) flutes = open hole flutes. It's like saying that ANY flute with french-pointed arms and a B foot= professional. Mind over matter in most cases. I'll bet you a vintage closed hole Haynes would knock the socks off an open hole Yamaha 285 for example. The difference however, aside from closed vs open hole keys, in this example is the company differences. But then again, to each their own. I think that if it wasn't in so many folks' heads' that open hole = better, than many people would be playing on closed hole. There's a bunch of bickering about which (closed or open hole) flute setup is better when the same metals are being used, same pads, construction, etc. so how much difference can there really be?! I know open hole is sometimes important for trills in some songs but don't think that's always the case. It was my understanding that most companies offer either open hole or closed hole flutes and in my opinion offering one or the other is like making open hole flutes with inline G only. Doesn't seem to make much sense to me.
Here's a link Google just led me to:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Flute-2059/Open-hole-vs-closed.htm
Usually with companies, if I can't say it I won't even contemplate buying it. If it's the name of one of my favorite characters in a Disney movie, something I see when I look up while standing outside, or a slight variation of an already well-known company (Pearl River I believe is one!) I usually just overlook it-- unless I'd want to smash it with a hammer or give to my friend to make lamps out of... =) Hope it works out for you though. Either way I'm sure it'll be a learning experience!
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Micron
(1329 points)
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I totally agree with tibbiecow.
I don't really have a clue what fluteandpiccolo was trying to say, but if he/she disagrees with tibbiecow, then I strongly disagree with fluteandpiccolo.
Open holes on a flute are like 4-wheel drive on a car. Very few people need it. Many buy it just for status. Otherwise, some of the very best cars DON'T HAVE IT!
If a buyer is sucked in by the open hole over-hyped advertising, then he/she has well and truly been sucked in!
Very low quality flutes form China are coming into other countries under all manner of brand names. No doubt they are also coming into Japan the same way. Don't buy them.
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Kara
(2843 points)
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Micron, fluteandpiccolo was posting in response to the trolls post above that has been hidden because so many people flagged it. Click on the plus sign and you can read it.
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searching...
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