I was just wondering if $2,500 is a fair deal for a Pearl Elegante 795 gold-plated (over sterling silver). I could normally get the Elegante for $1,500 so is the gold plating worth the $1,000?

Oh, and if any of you know about this flute, was the PF-8500 a good quality flute? Thanks!

Gold plating is not worth the money IMHO - completely cosmetic, doesn't change the way the flute plays and looks awful when it starts to wear off. Buy the 795 without the gold plate and save the $1K.

Don't know anything about the 8500, although with that model number I'm guessing it will be an entry level hand-made flute, and a good instrument.

All I really know is that the newer versions of it are the Cantabiles. And thanks for the tip.

If you are referring to the gold plated Pearl that winds101 is selling then I would say no, it is not worth the price. I know her user name on ebay and can tell you that she purchased this flute for only $1150 and is charging more than double what she paid for it after not putting any work into herself. Look at the link that Suzie provided. She also used the original sellers photo on her website which is a direct copyright violation.

GOOD RIDDANCE! At least work for a profit, jeez!

I couldn't agree with you anymore! Over charging to that extent is deceitful in my opinion.

>>All I really know is that the newer versions of it are the Cantabiles. And thanks for the tip.<<

Newer versions are not cantabiles. This flute is a Taiwan produced Elegante. Same as you can buy new today. The gold plating was mostly likely done aftermarket by the distributor back then. The Taiwan factory does not gold plate. Only in Japan. Current street price for an Elegante is @$2,100..new. We don't sell a gold plated Elegante.

Joe B

As a flutist, I can't imagine that gold plating would be worth the money. Solid silver flutes play just beautifully if you put in the time in the practice room. I would think the Pearl flute would play very well, as would others of the same stripe, i.e: Sonare', Azumi, Yamaha, Miyazawa, Sankyo. Try to play any of these to get a feel for what you like about flutes.

As for pin-pointing that the flute was made in Taiwan, care to explain how to tell? It has the same faced-in open hole keys that mine has but you said mine (in particular) was produced right before the Taiwan merge (if I recall correctly). Does the aftermarket plating apply to ALL of their gold plated flutes or the rose gold or what? My first Pearl was made in 1996 with 10kt yellow gold plating that I was told was factory done then... I guess that explains the cloudiness around the ribs of my flute if it was done aftermarket? I can provide a pic to show the cloudiness if you'd like! It's BIZARRE and doesn't polish up or anything almost like it's burnt or something! Thanks!

If it doesn't say Japan on it, it was made in Taiwan.

As far as the plating is concerned, I had one of these in recently that had the plating worn off mostly on the embouchure plate. The person wanted to know if just the headjoint was replated, would the color match. This was the yellow plated gold. The answer was that no they couldn't guarantee it unless the whole thing was done since they didn't use that karat for gold plating. I ended up replating just the lip plate with 24K gold which was a pretty close match.

Gold plating is done at the Japan factory. If it didn't come from Japan, it was probably plated aftermarket here in the US and then sold as new.

When they moved production from Japan to Taiwan, the pre-existing components went there for assembly as well. There is always a possibility that some were gold plated in Japan and then sent to Taiwan afterwards to be finished. But each serial # would have to be confirmed at the factory if this is the rare case.

The Japan models are usually stamped 785 and were discontinued in 2004, There was a 7851 Soldered tone hole model that was discontinued in 2003. Taiwan Elegantes 795 started in 2003, so there is that one loose year cross over when things moved over.

Also, Cloudiness under the gold plate is most likely tarnish. Gold plate is very thin and there is enough porosity to allow sulfur compounds in the air to pass through and tarnish the silver underneath. If it looks a little bluish or blackish, like a bruise, then its tarnish.

I'll be at the Florida Flute fair again this year, if you want to come show it to me again..

Joe B

the guys at the Jupiter factory told me that they don't gold plate anymore due to the cost and the fact that it can wear off and react to skin poorly, doesn't really help the sound anyway

Personally, I would never purchase anything from Winds101.com. Liz's prices are nearly always inflated from what you can find elsewhere.

And all her items are "gorgeous" in all her listings. How can that possibly be true?

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She has now replaced "gorgeous" with "lovely" in describing nearly all of her flutes.

I meant that I thought the other flute (not the Elegante) was the previous Cantabile. Is that a bad price for it? And what do you guys think of this flute?

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-RUDALL-CARTE-OPEN-HOLE-FLUTE-LATE-1800s-CASE_W0QQitemZ280412535162QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4149e3b97a

Well I'm not familiar with that at all, could I adapt to it?

Alright, thanks! And are there any disadvantages to playing the open G#?

Oh, and do you know anything about the other flute (not the Elegante), and if it is a good deal?

So you basically swap the G and G# fingerings, and hold down the G# key (the left pinky, to make sure I understand) for notes below the mid-octave G?

I would stick to a more modern flute with a modern scale for your main flute. There are many threads on this forum that discuss
different brands that would be helpful to you. You might also try using the search button at the top of this forum if you haven't already.

<Added>

I suggest this because you may find more options for what you are looking for in your price range. There are many threads discussing Pearl flutes also.