Thanks for the info. I will take her to the store and let her compare.

oh good.

Has anyone bought a venus flute? are they good? There are a few on ebay and i am thinking of buying one as a spare.

Only buy a flute if you can try before you buy or you may be buying a pretty decoration. If you cannot play the flute try to see if you can get someone who does play to with you flute shopping and have them play the entire range of the instrument.

Venus Flute:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=624&item=7316342023#ebayphotohosting

... and I don`t think I`ve ever seen a flute advertised with a screwdriver.

this is referring to arak who insulted the trevor james flute

dont ever insult those it is a beautifully ade intsrument and for the price its gorgeous beacuse people cant afford 3000 dollar instruments and i prefer my flute to the 3000 peice of junk. (sorry if i come off a little arrrogsnt, but i want my point across)

and by the way there british made

Arak knows his stuff! He has been a repair man for many years, so I think he should know more than some little kid. I have to say that trevor james flutes are crap!

Crap?

http://www.worldwind.co.uk/2004/company/R&D.htm
http://www.worldwind.co.uk/2004/flutes/allsilvertj.htm

I haven`t heard too many great things about them myself. I have yet to try one.

Piko, what is your point by posting those links? Any flute company is going to praise their flute and make is sound like it is the best. Do you really think they are going to post on there that it is crap?
Tell me this, if Trevor James is such a good brand, then why don`t you see any professional players playing on one? They do list some as being pro models, right?
The plating wears off fast and the metal is so soft that it bends fast.

Okay, I see, none of the models on that particular site are listed as a pro model. My mistake, sorry.

Flutes and piccolos NEED to go in ONCE a year during your down time to be checked, cleaned/dusted, regulated and oiled. If you aren`t doing that, then of COURSE there will be problems. That runs about $135 bucks from my master tech.(I drive 140 miles, and make an appointment so he clears his whole day to tear down and then rebuild my flute.) But on an instrument that I`ve played on for YEARS and love, that is priceless. It keeps my flute in top form. You`d be amazed at the gunk that gets into the rods even in a clean case in a house that runs an air filter.(`sides, Jeff is great and lets me play with all the spec/floor model flutes as he believes that they die if no one plays them. So I bring stacks of Quantz and the odd Hindemith and all my faves and lock myself in the practice room for as long as I like.)

*****Someone had a question on a piccolo.*******

How much are you willing to spend? Are you a doubler, or is this your primary instrument?(feel free to email me picc person. I LOVE the picc, it`s my specialty.)

I LOVE my Gemeinhardt 4PSH. Solid silver head and composition body. It can crank out the "Stars and Stripes Forever" like nobodies business and is great in flute ensembles as well. It is however, 11 years old, so I can`t state their current production quality. With very fastidious care I have had no problems with it.

Same goes for my Gemeinhard 3SB flute, bought in 1991. It has been repadded once, and I don`t think it even really NEEDED it then. Daddy paid for a "last hurrah" overhaul before I moved to CA. Since then, I had the headjoint cork replaced and a few minor adjustments. My tech has put it into miraculous working order. Friends with pro/custom Powell and Yamaha gear were impressed.

They play in excellent tone with not much effort on my part.

Are we talking about students and these instruments?

You really want to go with a known maker, and try QUITE a few of the same model. I tried THREE of the exact same flute and I liked "my girl" the best.

Find a great tech...Jeff could have made a bundle pushing Straubinger Pads on me. I wanted them. A new headjoint too...custom. He said, "Nah, not worth your money, it`s a good instrument, and for those upgrades (would cost about$1500-1800 for a silver custom HJ or stock Powell and more for the Straubingers)he`d rather I saved for a Signature Powell, or Muramatsu (which I love as well.)

A lot of this is in personal preference of headjoint cut. Just from the playing standpoint that is MOST of your sound.

Then it comes down to durability.

My Armstrong student model was a good little workhorse from 4th-8th and then through marching band where it was ABUSED. After an overhaul, guess what? STILL plays, sounds ok, but not resonant enough for my taste.

If you take your flute in for its yearly tear down and cleaning, it will treat you well.

I`m not familiar with Trevor James, but from their website it looks like they offer a lot of custom flute work and different styles you wouldn`t find from other flute vendors.

Their is usually a difference between ones base student models and their more professional lines.

I followed a posted e-bay link, and I didn`t know whether to laugh or cry when I saw this:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=624&item=7335468232

WHAT is with the technicolor flutes? EEK, and THAT monstrosity being better than gold as far as tarnish goes...well yeah...but um...yeah, HOW does it sound? YIKES!!

Pretty and expensive paper weight I think. :D

I used to know someone who played on a partly brass flute, and he was amazing. I wouldn`t knock it simple because it`s brass (I actually think it looks quite good), but I WOULD be wary seeing as I`ve never heard of Venus flutes before. I`ve just done a google search and they have no website at all, which I would find a bad sign.

I wonder if it`s completely brass and not just "painted" like their other flutes. I suppose you could get it professionally adjusted and clear coat the screws to keep in adjustment.

I wonder if the screwdriver comes with.