I know Gemeinhardts are good, and I bought a refurbished one at my music store for around $315. Is that a good deal I made? I mean, the flute sounds terrific but is it a really good flute? Just curious...
I also play a Gemeinhardt, open hole, but I changed the head joint to a professional headjoint. and Mine sounds great, so clean, and dark, not airy at all. But I think its a very good deal. The 3SH, which the 3 stands for openhole, and SH means solid silver headjoint. So i think ist very good. If has a B foot it would be a 3SHB
Sorry to disappoint you, but it is very rare for me to come across a Gemeinhardt that plays any where near as well as say a student Yamaha. For me, and many other players, the sound gets very 'fuzzy'-sounding when I try to get volume.
That is mainly to do with the design of the head.
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However, once the Bb upper pivot has been prevented from working loose, I find them a very robust 'student' flute.
I agree with Micron. I find any of the cuts of headjoints on Gemeinhardts to be disappointing. They also tend to lack volume. If you are able to, I would recommend trying to put a professional headjoint on it, like flutesandpiccolos did. I would not bother with trying to switch to a different cut by Gemeinhardt however. Even if you can find a relatively inexpensive Yamaha EC headjoint, you would most likely benefit.
I've had millions of Gemeinhardts ranging from student model antiques to a vintage handmade new old stock professional model. Given the fact that I started on a Gemeinhardt (and sell them all the time), I'd say that they're good for students-- especially for the price. In comparison to Yamaha, (my opinion starts here) Gemeinhardt's overall tonal quality is a bit weak and I'll agree to the others that most of the sound depends on the headjoint/blow hole cut, etc. (don't get me started on that!). With that being said, however, I'd say that Gemeinhardt flutes are good flutes to start playing on or for marching band, etc. A student model Yamaha (225) can out-play a Gemeinhardt 2SP (standard headjoints on both, mind you) any day with a richer tone however I think that the Gemeinhardt's may be a slight bit easier to play at first. When recently playing a blind-test to a friend between a Yamaha 225 and my Pearl Dolce ($2400 flute), 1/2 of the time my friend (a non-musician) thought that the Yamaha sounded better. Almost made me want to stomp on the Pearl and just keep the Yamaha! (JUST KIDDING! [the thought crossed my mind]) Anyhow, I personally think that Gemeinhardt flutes are 'good'. I have heard horrible things about the Brio! line though but it seems that a lot of companies have decided to try going that route with a handmade headjoint on a not-so-compatible body and foot, etc. With my experience of buying and selling over 50 Gemeinhardt flutes within the last few years, however, I've found that (on the older flutes mostly, mind you) the quality control seems consistent and that almost all of the headjoints were easy to play. This, once more, is a good thing for a beginning flutist/flautist (whichever term you prefer) as if it's easy to play= motivational point. I feel that the J series of headjoints (both the J and J1) have the better response (between the unmarked models & H1 model),sound better than the other headjoints provided by Gemeinhardt (to each their own), and also happens to be my favorite model which I recommend to beginners especially. It's my understanding though that the 3-series flutes come with (from what I've seen) a J or J1 model headjoint. This may or may not prove my opinion to be somewhat true or I may just be hallucinating as it's almost 4am here. =) Anyhow, my opinion is that Gemeinhardt flutes are good for beginner to intermediate players. For the price you can't beat them as they have a good reputation for being sturdy and etc. (they surprisingly retain their value as well-- if you don't purchase for $$ from a music store!). It seems as though Yamaha's flute prices are around double of what you could get a Gemeinhardt for (with the same specifications) however until you try different kinds and models of flutes, you may never know your true potential. Jupiter and Buffet open hole flutes are good as well but I've only tried a 611RES model Jupiter and International model Buffet (sterling headjoint on both, open hole) but I was quite surprised with both flutes as not too many people say much about either company however they're usually decently prices as well. I think I'm getting sidetracked now. What?! WHERE AM I?! Time for bed I think... *goes crazy*
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ALSO-- personally I would NEVER pay $315 for a 3SH model UNLESS it had a B footjoint (making it a 3SHB). I sold a vintage-era 3SH a few months ago for under $200 in excellent playing condition, bought a 3SB for $300 in July 2006 (with gold lip plate!), and sold a vintage model M3S (equivalent to a 3SB) for $180 needing pad adjustments this past summer. Personally I'd return the flute to the store you'd purchased it from and find something better online, etc. If you could pay 2x more than you paid for your Gemeinhardt ($630-ish), you could find a Yamaha 481 (sterling head, body, foot, open hole, inline G, B foot) as I sold one last month for $670 in great condition. Gemeinhardt's are moderately decent but I think if you plan on having a flute to last you past high school (playing level, not quality level, mind you), I'd recommend finding a cheap open hole Yamaha or similar. Ebay sales are down the drain right now so I'd recommend going there to look up price comparisons, etc. Hope that helps somehow!
That sad thing is the kid who plays with a dull, fuzzy tone, next to a few other players with a full lush, strong tone. The kid with the dull tone gives up, playing flute, because he/she thinks he is just not capable of playing like that. He/she does not realise that the problem is the Gemeinhardt flute, versus the Yamahas, etc.
I suppose a Gemeinhardt is OK, provided a young player is told that the tone/volume problem he/she is having is probably the flute, not the player, and that he/she will one day have the opportunity to make those same great sounds on a better flute.
Still pretty disappointing for the kid, in a conmpetitive world.
Thanks everyone! Although my feelings have become slightly clouded about Gemeinhardts, I still think I am going to keep it. For some reason, I can get a beautiful sound out of it-not just me, I have been told by some other flute players!!(not to sound stuck up). All the third and the few fourth octave notes I can actually get out sound great, at least compared to our school flute, haha. (its a first act ) I really appreciate the input!
again I agree with Micron, the reason I want my students to have really good flutes from the beginning is for the exact reason he stated, when a flute has an easier response in all registers the students do better and stay interested and want to continue to keep playing...
that was how i gravitated toward the Jupiter company some years ago, so many of my students played them and did so well with them, that I contacted the head man and approached them about being an artist/clinician...
I don't know, tough. Some of the older "M" series Gemeinhardt models were identical to the Yamaha student models at the time in sound. I think it's that Yamaha has improved their line over time and Gemeinhardt kind of stood still technology wise. As a result, despite the tone being very close, the Yamaha is without a doubt easier to play.
That said, you can pick up one of Gemeinhardt's top end models for well under $1000 used(solid silver, no less), and with a simple headjoint swap(Yamaha EC/Pearl/etc), it'll easily equal most "Pro" flutes.
Gemeinhardt are good construction-wise at the top end, it's the headjoint that is suffering. So if you just need a good pro level body to go with a custom headjoint, it can save you a lot of money.
Note - I've known people who have bought $5000+ flutes and tossed the stock headjoint as well - it's more common than you'd imagine to shop for a body and/or decide that the OEM offering was inadequate.
searching...
.JPG)
) I really appreciate the input!