PerrinLark, have you found a flute? Did you end up getting the Yamaha?

Hello again. I figured you guys were doing rather well without me! Thanks for all the advice and...um the curious rantings. No I have not purchased the flute yet, I was suppose to go out today to try some more but my driver bailed. So here I remain, my g-hardt seeming more and more inadequate as the days go by. I keep noticing things that I hate about it, it makes playing not so much fun. The Yamaha is still on the list, however. It just felt right to play. But at this point ANYTHING is better than what I got!

Please, if you can, just skip over that mess and try to ignore it. I am sorry myself that I even responded to it.

So sorry to hear that your ride bailed Were you planning on going to a local music store? If you are unable to get to there and you do want more time with the flutes at your own leasure, if possible, you might want to think about calling Flute World up and seeing what they can send you. Sorry if this was mentioned before. I don't feel like sorting through the mess right now to see if it was. Also, if you don't want a hold on a credit care or don't have a credit card you can always contact the Flute Center of NY and Phil can set you up. They are pretty laid back there and very helpful. Hope that helps some. I do feel for you with your Gemeinhardt. I have to play a nickel plated Bundy for almost 5 years and when I got my Gemeinhardt 3SHB as an upgrade (many years ago) I thought I was in heaven. lol! Little did I know what else what out there!

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Oops... Little did I know what else WAS out there!

Sorry about that! Shame your ride bailed! Still, what you've got is probably better than my ancient B&H emperor which has the noisiest mechanism EVER!!!!! Lol! I'll have to get it serviced and have the corks replaced before my Grade 4!!!!!

Pyface- That stinks! The thing is the more I play my flute the noisier the mechanism seems to get! Now every time something goes wrong, I can't help but think "Stupid flute..." In fact I've been stealing my teachers Jupiter to play, even though his flute drives me nuts as well.
As for the Bundy, I know what you mean. My teacher's first flute was a Bundy! He said it was like blowing through a piece of dented steel pipe.

Perrin, when you get your new flute, please don't think that it's the "perfect" flute -- as you wrote in the title of your original post.

If you think at first that it is "perfect," and then you find that it doesn't do everything you wanted it to do, or you find another flute in two years that IS better for you, or your technical and tone requirements outgrow your flute -- well, you'll be just like everyone else here.

EVERYone is searching for the "perfect" flute or headjoint. But the fact is that no such thing exists, especially for people at the beginning and intermediate levels.

Micron- Yeah...it does need oiling. I plan on sending it in for some maintenance before returning it to it's proper owner, I just want to have my flute in my hand before I give this one up. Really though, I wasn't commenting so much on the fact that my flute has really problems, but more that all its little idiosyncrasies seem amplified now that I have played better.
And as for the Perfect Flute, I know its not possible to find one! I know that there will always be better, I simply want to find one that fits me. One that I can be content with for a long time. Thanks for the concern though!