Well I would only buy a student/intermediate flute from online vendors... store bought A Gemeinhardt can sell for more than Yamaha`s over here. I`ve seen the Gemeinhardt 3SB going for $1700 once and I was just in schock.

Mr. Smoking you are either inexperienced in playing the flute or are Trolling around. There are noticable differences between headjoints of the same cut and the different different cuts produce are quite interesting.

I can agree with THAT. I had a 3sb and after a month the d key of the right hand was coming loose.

And i didnt play it like a professional wrestler either.

Just poor quality. Im deninetly sticking with yamaha, unanimous good reviews, and theyre just easier to play on. Definetly didndt want to encourage another yamaha vs. gemeinhardt debate, but thats my two cents.

::stutter::

And I`ve owned my 3SB for 8 years and have no such problems.

Good luck on your Yamaha. Maybe you`ll get a good deal on usedflutes.com an awful lot of used Yamahas are sold there. Most are newish and the previous owners lavish praise of Yamaha quality.

I have been playing for 20 plus years. The difference in the headjoints are very minimal at least. Like I said before, all their headjoints pretty much suck anyway.

If you are so high on the Geminhardt that you play, then it only is showing all of us where you are in your level of playing. I wouldn`t touch a Gemeinhardt with a ten foot pole, nor would any well accomplished flutist.

I play on a flute that surpasses your little 3Sb. SO, don`t tell me that I am inexperienced. You are calling the kettle black on that one.

"If you are so high on the Geminhardt that you play, then it only is showing all of us where you are in your level of playing. I wouldn`t touch a Gemeinhardt with a ten foot pole, nor would any well accomplished flutist."

Well, I don`t personally care for Gemeinhardts either, but that is a personal opinion. How could you POSSIBLY, with any form of decency, make the statement that you made. There is NO WAY you could back up that claim!!!
All you are doing is making yourself look like a fool when you make such sweeping negative statements. Plus, in the process you give people reason to go TOWARDS a Gemeinhardt because you now hold NO CREDIBILITY.

My headjoint alone is worth more than my flute let alone the Yamaha 321 flute. There is most certainly a difference, otherwise I would have purchased a new flute.

I meant worth as in musical value of the head vs the flute itself... though on second glance it almost cost as much as that Yamaha flute, but I got a good deal.

Smokin, some well accomplished flutist have no choice and have to play on a Gemeinhardt because that is all they can afford.

It doesn`t make you a bad player, just maybe limited is all.

A lot of people don`t even realize that there are much better flutes out there. They are just used to what they play on.

Maybe you should lay of the doobies. Lol!

"Gemeinhardt makes flutes that range from $200 student to handmade $6000 flutes."

What model, and where have you seen a handmade one for $6000? Link? I have never seen one that much before anywhere in the US. Maybe the prices are higher in other countries?

If Gemeinhardt makes such great professional flutes, then how come it is that I have yet to hear of or come across a professional flutist that plays on one?

Switching headjoints to improve a flute is one thing, but you are only buying time with the body of the flute.

IMHO, I just could not categorize Gemeinahart with any of the leading professional models out today. Handmade or not, they simply are just not built as well.

Piko, I can certainly understand your loyalty to the name brand of flute that you play on. I am very loyal to Powell, because that is what I play on. I think that goes the same for a lot of others too.

You make some very good points, Piko, but being a teacher and a repair tech, I still would not recommend them. Sorry.

Piko, from your description of the 300 series Yamaha, I can only assume that whatever you played was very different from the many 311 flutes I have played, with great consistency.

It is not just a student head. It is a VERY well designed head. Not the same as an EC, but VERY well designed nonetheless.

What you say is inexplicable to me.

In USA there is unfortunately some sort of link between Vito and Yamaha, Perhaps what you played were Vito heads with Yamaha name on them. Then I would understand your disappointment.

BTW, I don`t take much notice of "Hand-crafted" head. A machine these days can do a VERY good copy of a head that has proved itself to be of outstanding design.

Why interfere with that process with hit-and-miss hand-crafting, unless you are aiming for randomly aiming for an even better head, perhaps every 1 in every thousand that is hand crafted?

I saw a promotional Jupiter video where the student flute heads were being hand crafted. Hmmm! I guess the only reason was that they did not have the required machinery.

Gemeinhardt has always made the KGLtd which is their handmade flute, it is available from flute world. The KGMLtd "Millenium" is their $2000 range flute.

So KC, you would make the claim that all Gemeinhardts $1000+ flute are note worth their equally valued counterparts? (basically their intermediate->advanced)

"Gemeinhardt has always made the KGLtd which is their handmade flute, it is available from flute world. The KGMLtd "Millenium" is their $2000 range flute."

Which one is the $6000 handmade model that you were talking about?

Putting the words handmade in a description, can mean anything.
It can be handmade, but still not play any better than a machine made Yamaha student flute.

KG Ltd
http://www.fluteworld.com/Merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=KGLTD