Hi. I am considering buying my own piccolo for school. I have an option. The brands can be Gemeinhardt, Yamaha, Armstrong. I would like a joint on the head of the piccolo but it wouldnt matter, would it? So I was wondering which would be better. By the way, I want a plastic one.

Yamaha...definetly Yamaha. I have a plasic body Yamaha and it has been one of the best piccolos I have ever used.

Yes, Yamaha definitely seems to be the best piccolo in that price range.

I really think that Yamaha is one of the best built ones, but because of intonation issues on it, I would choose the Armstrong 308 all platic piccolo. I played on one for several years and loved it.

Yamaha student, and also 62 model. Great piccolos for their price. Judging from comments in various flute forums, it seems that they have universal popularity.
Personally I do not find intonation to be a serious issue on Yamaha than any others I`ve tried. As stated elsewhere in this forum, I think any player has to adjust a bit to any piccolo, and any piccolo player must be conscious of intonation with every note, and make embouchure adjustments accordingly. It may well be that a piccolo is designed more for a particular embouchure, which any given player may or may not be prepared to use. Therefore perhaps, brand and player may sometimes need to be matched.

I think that as a general rule, the more you pay for a piccolo, the more the tiny nuances of tone hole and bore shape have been adjusted for best intonation (and evenness of tone and volume). The top Yamaha is far more expensive that the 62, that USED to be their top model.

I also agree that some piccolos are designed more for a particular embouchure.

I suppose that is why I find it strange that about 90% of the people that I have talked to at some time that has or does own a Yamaha piccolo has also said that they have had intonation issues with it as well.

Well, maybe Japanese people and American people have different embouchures, since they do use different languages that make different muscles stronger on the mouth. I heard that french people tongue the flute lighter, because of their pronounciatin of their language. A different story, but I read somewhere that the low end piccolos of Yamaha are made by Armstrong, but I don`t know if that is still happening.

Yamaha made by Armsrong!

I have heard many strange things such as this, e.g. Le Blanc owning Yanagisawa. Most of them turn out to be false. So I would be interested in your source and its reliability. Otherwise I suppose it is reasonable to assume that it is false.

BTW there is SOME sort of connection between Vito and Yamaha for student clarinets, but the precise deatail of this connection seems rather elusive.

When I asked a visiting engineer from the Japanese Yamaha factory to explain a very disappointing Yamaha plastic bass clarinet, resembling a Vito, but with a Yamaha name on it, that I had seen, he looked very embarrassed.

Arak, that is interesting that you brought that up. I always did wonder a bit about Veto.

A while back someone told me that the Vito piccolo was manufactured by Yamaha. I wonder if that it true or not.

Even if it was, it is probably not too relevant, because there may well have been different (lower grade?) specifications for the Vito branding.

Furthermore, Yamaha may well have set up a factory in USA for making Vitos and Yamaha student clarinets and pics. But all the Yamaha instruments I have seen have been completely made in Japan. In USA, as far as I know, there are still import duty incentives to have at least some American component in an `imported` instrument. The setting up, perhaps including the corking and padding of American models "made in Japan" may be carried out in USA to capitalise on lower import duty.

When it comes to talking about the same model even, in different countries, especially for student instruments, there may be substantial differences.

I have hard form people in USA that Vito and Yamaha student clarinets are the same, but they certainly are not here in my country. The Yamahas have quite a range of details in which they were superior, at least until recently.

The same possibly applies to piccolos. Who knows. Yamaha certainly seems to be very silent on the issue.

Which would you think has a better sound quality, longer lasting, most reccomended and the best piccolo for an 11 year old - plastic or metal?

Plastic, definatly

"Which would you think has a better sound quality, longer lasting, most reccomended and the best piccolo for an 11 year old - plastic or metal?"

Kelly, your question re the MATERIAL that the piccolo is made from has been done to death in recent threads. Have a read of them - do a site search if necessary.

I am quite sure nobody here wants a repeat presentation of the polarised opinions, well researched material of substance, and irrational obstinacy that have been already presented several times. Also, look at the threads on materials used for flute bodies. This material is equally relevant for piccolos.

Unfortunately you will find little agreement on your question in this forum, but at least you will be more informed.

A far more important issue is the quality of manufacture - both acoustic and mechanical. This is where you must consider brand names rather than material. There are junk ones in both plastic and metal (and timber!). There are VERY high quality metal ones available, for `megabucks`. There are good student plastic ones, such as Yamaha.

If you intend playing your piccolo outdoors in extremes of temperature, or very low humidity, then timber is probably not suitable, because these conditions encourage it to crack.

Playing in the rain is unhealty for traditional-type pads, and encourages springs and pivots to rust. You mauy find models with springs and pads that are of materials that cope better with rain.

i`d definatly go with yamaha. my friends have geminhardt and don`t seem to have too much trouble with them other than the pad and the rain.. i`m not familar with the armstrong ones however

Kelly, as a professional flutist and teacher, I always recommend a plastic piccolo. They blend better and are more versitile. Hope that answers your question.