i just bought my global last month (well, december. whatever) and i must say i love it. it sounds much better with a clarion headjoint. try it if you can!

I was able to try the Global with different styles and cuts of headjoint including the clarion, but for me it didn't make that much or a big enough differnce to justify spending that much more money when the original worked very well for me. My thoughts were that if I was going to spend that much more than I might as well just get the next step up which was the Burkart and Phelan. Besides, it left me enough money left over since I saved cash then to buy another flute headjoint. lol!!

im very jealous. i wish i could afford that kind of stuff. what did you buy?

different strokes for different folks, i guess. when i tried, the clarion made such a difference, it was worth the extra money ($300 i think including tax).

my next goal: i want a 10k burkart. of course, i cant afford that so im going to keep on wanting. at least until i become rich and famous (HA!)

Ah yes.. the Burkart flutes were wonderful!

I bought a Nagahara DA cut heavy wall with 14K riser. I did have one like this before, but it was not th heavy wall. I just tried a bunch of them and was not looking for a headjoint at the time, but for some reason I kept coming back to this one. I didn't want to know the specs at all when trying them out so that it didn't cloud my judgment at all. I liked a lot of the Nagahara heads but none that really blew me away over my current Goosman head until I tried this one. Yes, I did get in trouble with my husband and I always ask before I purchase anything, but he was sleeping, I was in love and the fair was closing in 5 minutes. Besides, I figured he was going to let me borrow the rest of the money to get a Hammig piccolo, so since I saved a bunch and was happy with the Global I though I might get away with it. lol!! Needless to say, all I had to do to get out of the dog house is play the headjoint one time for him and he was in love with it too. We both have only ever liked the Goosman over everything I had tried and he would pick that one every time, but we both love this Nagahara. I don't know if it is heavy wall or what and that is what made it stand out? So now me and my best friend have almost the same headjoint except she has a 18K riser. That is kind of funny how we have almost identical taste with flutes and headjoints.

So, no I couldn't afford it myself at the time, but I did have money from selling my last piccolo toward it along with several flutes that I will be selling. I always do pay the husband back. I am always owing him for something. lol!!
I most likely will have to sell my beautiful Goosman so that I can pay him off quicker though. It was either that, or sell my Muramatsu and I didn't want to do that. I never like any kind of debt over my head if I owe my husband! I am such a headjoint junky, I don't think that I will ever stop!

Now I am once again sick after I just got over being sick. I think it is because someone else must have been sick and tried out a flute at the flute fair and I played it after them. UGH!

So how are you enjoying your new headjoint? If I could breath I would be playing mine right now

Oh and by he way, they wanted to charge me about $600 more at Burkart if I wanted to change up the headjoint. So, I really didn't want to spend that much more.

i could borrow money from le beau, but i feel so bad owing people anything. well, depends on what i have to owe ::wink wink:: i am a typical woman. i have needs.

i really like my new headjoint, except its "technically" still on loan because i only have about 70% of the funds to buy it. so its on a month long loan as of right now. unless youd like to buy a gemeinhardt 3sb from me... haha

i tried a nagahara when i was going through my first test of headjoints. it had a platinum riser. and i wanted it soooo badly. until i saw that it was about $2300 and i put it right back.

with the headjoint upgrade on piccolo, i probably just talked flute world down. my bill ended up being $2173.84 so i have no idea. the one thing i dont like about the global is the wood grain. it bothers me so much because its so wide and angular. and it doesnt match the headjoint. ARGH!!! my ocd is too much lately.

Hello 8notes Forum,

I've read the dialogue on 8notes.com related to Brio! Flutes. In the interest of accuracy, I am taking this opportunity to respond directly with these facts. I apologize in advance for the lengthy reply, but so many issues were raised.

• I’ll clarify the specifics on Brio! Flutes and Gemeinhardt below, but first would like to state clearly that Greg Pattillo does indeed play a Brio! flute, and he plays it all the time. Our collaboration with Greg began in the summer of 2007, after we saw his videos for the first time on YouTube. We were as shocked as everyone at the astonishing virtuosity of his techniques, and musicianship.
• Since August, Greg has been playing his Brio full time, before that he played an Osten-Brannen, which was nearly black with tarnish. Greg’s chemistry tarnishes solid silver very quickly, and his new Brio is already nearly as tarnished as the flute in his original YouTube videos filmed over a year ago.
• Greg’s Brio has a head joint built 100% in Elkhart (as are all Brio head joints) on the Dana Sheridan Series platform. Because of the unique demands of Greg’s techniques, we enlarged the embouchure just a bit to allow for projection of the percussive effects, which require incredibly strong aspirations of air and pressure. All Dana Sheridan Series head joints are hand cut, and since we have highly skilled head joint makers on staff at Gemeinhardt, we were able to identify and execute the tweek that worked for him. In fact, we may at some point work with Greg on a “PattilloStyle” head joint designed specifically for the extended techniques he is cultivating.
• I will not speak for Greg, but will say this much: our work with him goes way beyond simple endorsement of a product. Greg’s prerequisite for working with a manufacturer was to believe in the instruments (this is a prerequisite for us as well!). Greg can play whatever flute he wants and he is not paid to say anything about Brio!. He respects the quality and ethic at Gemeinhardt and Brio and chose to play them (he often jams in the subway on a Gemeinhardt 2SP!). Greg (with his trio, Project) is also a dedicated educator and often volunteers his time to schools to encourage kids to join music programs. Beyond the ads and the endorsement, less visible to many are Greg’s ongoing music education activities, which we are proud to sponsor. Greg represents an incredible opportunity to inspire a new generation of young flutists through his genre crossing style. Gemstone Musical Instruments is proud to be the company he chose to work with to further his own musical goals. Our website will begin to document some of these activities in the months to come. In the meantime, check out www.whatisproject.org.

On the subject of Brio flutes:
• Brio flutes are manufactured in an incredibly successful partnership with Taiwan’s pre-eminent maker, with whom we have an exclusive relationship in the US market. As a company, we do not “out source” in the typical fashion. Many of the components of a Brio and Gemeinhardt flute are US made, and assembled with our partners in Taiwan and China. This process involves shared expertise, shared tooling, training and quality control. While many companies view China simply as a source for low prices, we believe that a high quality instrument is possible through effective management and collaboration.
• As I mentioned above, all of our head joints are US made and will continue to be made in the U.S. The Dana Sheridan SERIES head joint is executed from a design given to us by Dana Sheridan directly. They are all hand cut by our master flute maker Tom Lacy, who logged many hours with Dana Sheridan at the bench to achieve consistency in the heads with Dana’s name on them. We take this “signature” head joint very seriously, we are proud to have worked with Dana on it, and rest assured if he were not pleased with the results, Dana would not allow his name on them. We absolutely do not imply that the heads are cut by Dana, and the “some guy” in Elkhart who does cut them happens to be Tom Lacy, who can make a flute from the ground up as beautifully as anyone in Boston.
• Many of the key components are US made, and sent to China or Taiwan for assembly.
• We implemented a two tier magnehelic bench testing process, one in China and a second tier in Elkhart. This testing process provides our partners with an objective measure of finish quality for our instruments.
• Finally, all Brios are play tested by myself and Tom Lacy before shipment.
• Brio! is a collaboration, much in the way Honda is. Many Honda vehicles are mostly made in the U.S., and some are mostly Japanese-made. All the vehicles are Honda, and they are respected for their quality regardless of origin. Honda controls their design, manufacturing process, and quality control, regardless of where that is. Our model of collaboration at Gemstone more resembles this than what is typical “outsourcing” in the music industry.
• The Factory Tour video clearly shows Greg walking past the bronze Gemeinhardt sign on the front of the building, and Gemeinhardt, Gemstone Musical Instruments and Brio are all referenced in the video. As I explained above, many of the components and finishing, and 100% of the heads for Brio! are made in the facility Greg toured. It is not in the least bit “misleading” to show this video on the Brio site. By the way, the flute on Tom Lacy’s bench in the video was a Brio!

Unfortunately, our industry as a whole has earned itself many of the generalizations made about Chinese instruments. Under previous ownerships and management, Gemeinhardt has also had its ups and downs. Gemstone Musical Instruments, which owns Brio! and Gemeinhardt, is now under strong private ownership and the effective leadership of Dr. Gerardo Discepolo, an accomplished flutist himself. Two vice presidents in the company are flutists, and our shop is a reservoir of flute making skills. We are people with a dedication to quality, and we are proud of our recent achievements with Brio and Gemeinhardt. Because we are proud of our global partnerships, we speak of them openly, and trade publications have covered our global collaborations repeatedly. It is no secret. I look forward to those skeptics hearing Greg live on his Brio, or trying a new 2SP from Gemeinhardt. These are flutes made to the highest standards in the industry, and I encourage the other contributors to 8notes.com to reevaluate our instruments in light of the transformation our company has undergone.

Regards,

Mark Hutchens
Vice President of Marketing
Gemstone Musical Instruments

That's not surprising. They did a similar thing with the "Roy Seaman" piccolo.

Gemeinhardt sent me a Brio! flute to test because I told them I was looking to purchase a professional flute. Not really what one would consider professional. The sound did not surpass the quality of my 3OSB flute which for costing three times as much one would think that it would. I was very shocked to see "Made in China" plastered on the rib of the flute. REAL professional quality eh? Anyway, the keys seemed to be quite flimsy. I was told by Gemeinhardt that it was because of the gold springs but there is no way that they'd be that light. I'd like to feel the keys under my fingers when I play. Perhaps that's just me though. They claim the headjoints/lip plates are each handcrafted by Sheradin but apparently the master one was made by him and they inspect every 50 or something like that. They may look nicer than a regular 3SB with the pointed keys and such but they sure aren't worth the price they're charging.