After the Yamaha fiasco of cheaply made flutes made in America (avoid serial numbers with A), Yamaha was found to not be following their quality processes with their Indonesian flutes...

Check for the 01 on the tenon, the "made in Indonesia" at the base of the flute and the oversized retaining screws on the mech.

Yamaha is withdrawing the "dogs" from distrubution, but there are still some instruments out there. And they will for a while reappear as used. It was called the "Q" series, I think.

Post by Dean Stallard from Galway chat "Bravo Yamaha"

Yesterday I adjusted a flute. The screw holding the r.h. mech in place had started backing out, so I tightened it up. Thereafter the F key locked. Sound familiar? Conical pivot screws that come loose but can`t be tightened properly because they lock the mechanism. However, this was not one of the usual culprits that I bash on a regular basis....... ......it was a Yamaha!!!! I was absolutely livid. As a teacher asked often for recommendations, Yamaha has always been the instrument I know holds good quality and can be recommended on the whole without worry. That the market is now being pressed so that even Yamaha would move production to Indonesia and cut costs to turn out this piece of junk was a severe provocation. Yamaha has been the benchmark of quality student flutes for many years now (as far as Europe goes at least) and this has meant that I don`t have to find time in my oh too busy schedule to run around town trying flutes every time some band I work with is going to buy a basic student model. This is the second new Yamaha of this type to turn up this Autumn. They actually play very well, but then so did the early Jupiters.... ...for a while, before screws kept coming loose all the time. Before I sat down to rant to you all I thought I should check in with my regular Yamaha sources and voice my contempt, giving them a chance to respond. It seems that these flutes were an experiment in making a budget line of Yamaha. Happily Yamaha has seen the folly of their ways already, coming to the same conclusions about their good reputation being damaged that I had, and stopped this nonsense. BRAVO YAMAHA!!! In all my dealings with manufacturers of student instruments it has been Yamaha who are the shining example of integrity, thinking of their good name and customer satisfaction rather than just short term gains. However be warned, the dregs of this production have been bought up and are even now being sold as the real thing at an incredibly low price. Check for the 01 on the tenon, the "made in Indonesia" at the base of the flute and the oversized retaining screws on the mech. After all, as we have all experienced ( no matter how much integrity we have), when you break wind it does have a nasty habit of hanging in the air and stinking up the place for some time!

and Ginny Atherton:

As promised, this afternoon I stopped by an instrument dealer who is also a winds repair person. It is a Yamaha dealership. Here's what I understand: Yamaha, in an effort to compete with inexpensive Chinese imports, took some technicians and established a factory in China. They discovered that it's difficult to compete with cheap by building inexpensive quality instruments. So, there were many compromises in materials and construction. Last year they attempted to pre-empt those other imports, by setting up temporary rental and sales shops in Costco stores in a few select markets. However, the population they hoped to attract didn't want to pay the price, which was higher than the other Chinese instruments. They only made flutes, alto saxophones and trumpets. This particular local dealer refused to carry the instruments. Yamaha is withdrawing the "dogs" from distrubution, but there are still some instruments out there. And they will for a while reappear as used. It was called the "Q" series, I think. I hope I am recounting the events accurately. Avoid them, was the advice I received.

Thank you Stephen for bringing this to our attention. I recently had in a Yamaha that I think had an 01 written on it, but it did not say made in Indonesia or Q series on it anywhere. I have seen some of those Q series being sold on ebay and was wondering about them. The flute that I had was very similar to the 225 series and I found no problems on it. I just had to reseat a couple pads. I have contacted the person that I sold this to and want to make sure that made in Indonesia is not on it. Thanks for the heads up!

umm... is mine alright? i mean it still plays fine..

((n\where the head joint is meant to be))
_____________
||...........||
|| YAMAHA ||
|| 221 ||
||Established||
|| in 1887 ||
||Made in Japan||
||___________||

And then near the B-foot hole...

724542........V
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So..is mine good or BAD?

((( Obviously my post didnt come out as planned )))

Your Yamaha should be ok. It's just those with the warning signs to be wary of:

1. Check for the 01 on the tenon,
2. "made in Indonesia" at the base of the flute
3. oversized retaining screws on the mech. (Yamaha screws are usually really teeny).
4. "Q" series
5. The older USA problem: A in serial number.

I would like to say to only be worried about newer flutes, but I have seen Q series flutes around for a while now so they are amongst us.

Maybe some has some photos of what to watch out for?

Micron,

Don't be too harsh on Dean. He's not a technician after all. When one becomes enamored with a particular brand and things change or reality sets in, ivory towers can crumble...

Technicians see lots of things differently than the average player because, as such, we look at flutes in a little different way.

We have tons of the yamaha A serial number here in the US and they are fine, serviceable instruments....just like many others out there.

If it's fixable in a cost effective way, that's all that matters. It certainly isn't the end of the world that many make it out to be. Don't let it trouble you.

Joe B

Probably I am worried without reason, but my flute is new,it has a 01 on the serial number (close to the tenon footjoint side). The complete serial 1s: 018730

The pivots are rather big (relatively speaking) I estimate them to vhave a 2.2mm head diameter, estimated with a caliper from outside (I did not take them out, of course).

No "A", no "Q" series, no "made in Indonesia). There is a "made in Japan" on the headjoint, between the "EC" and the "925"

go - no go?

Jose,

Don't PANIC!!! Your flute will be fine..Finding well fit pivots, headed or not, on any student flute is a rarity. (Dare I say even a few pro models occassionaly....)

If you do routine maintenance, it should give you many years of enjoyable playing..

Joe B

Thanks, JoeB, my flute is a YFL674, could it be considered a student flute or maybe more an intermediate model, I suppsoe.

For the moment it is fine and it is much more than I can take profit from, at my present skill level.

I was just asking (not in panic, anyway). I bought it at Fluteworld through Internet and I would be dissaponted to know if it was not what I thought it to be. But in any case I prefer to know what I really have.

Hi Jose Luis! As you know, the defining lines between a student, intermediate, and professional instrument are somewhat blurred, but I would say the YFL-674 qualifies in the upper intermediate/introductory professional range.

I always love reading all of Leras tales. I need a good laugh at the end of the day.

Maybe Lera should start her own blog...

Lera does have her own site (though not a blog, differences are increasingly slim) and she has been making efforts to attract visitors there, through direct Emailing.

IMHO it is an effort that merits our support, even if there could be fears that the proliferation of different sites could eventually damage this or other already consolidated sites. I do not think it is the case, at least with this particular Forum, one of the most interesting, open and "fresh" I know.

We all know she has a peculiar orthography and I see we have all learned to coexist with it.

Checking other posts here and other places, I have found this type of writing is not so peculiar and I would say, more common than I had expected. Me myself, sometimes have to write in German and I am sure that my writing looks to native speakers similar or worst than her written English.

After all, the important thing is to be able to communicate and share things. And enjoy doing it.

If sometimes it could be funny, I do appreciate the rare opportunity to smile or laugh a little. Being able to deal with people that have vastly different backgrounds, origins and cultures is one of the best things that Internet has brought us and -I really hope- is expanding everyone capacity to deal with and tolerate those who may differ with the standard in any way. I consider it to be enriching and mind opening.

The story of the her brother's sax is funny; it reminds me another case with my wife's dentist (at the time we lived in Venezuela): She went to a new dentist to have a periodical check and the dentist said that there were 12 caries (sp) that needed attention. It was a big surprise for her, as caries in her teeth had been very rare so far.

After consulting with another dentist, It turned out that it was not true at all.

These things happen in any profession, I would dare say that even with instruments technicians. By no means the great-great majority of them should be included. I think this profession is quite trustable, as all other professions are.

If sometimes it could be funny, I do appreciate the rare opportunity to smile or laugh a little. Being able to deal with people that have vastly different backgrounds, origins and cultures is one of the best things that Internet has brought us and -I really hope- is expanding everyone capacity to deal with and tolerate those who may differ with the standard in any way. I consider it to be enriching and mind opening.

Yes, we all have different backgrounds, but that still does not make it okay to make up story after story. I don't find anything enriching about that.