I'm happy with my flute for now. I get a good sound out of it. Looks never count. But I just broke my sholder so I will love it even more when I can play it again.

How did you break your shoulder?

I was riding by bike on loose gravel, downhill, while holding a bag, fell in a ditch on my shoulder. It will be better in 4 weeks.

I have a Yamaha. It's a great brand but I wish I had a Gemeinhardt, but I just can't afford it.

fluteplayer765, Yamahas are far better than Gemeinhardts. The headjoint cut, the scale, and the mechanism are all far superior on Yamahas. It is frequently remarked on this forum that Gemeinhardt hasn't improved their design in decades, whereas Yamaha is constantly striving for improvement and produces the best student flutes on the market.

If you played a Gemeinhardt that you felt was better than your Yamaha, perhaps the other flute was in better adjustment than yours. Perhaps it's time to take your flute to a good tech for a COA (clean/oil/adjust).

Buying a Gemeinhardt 3KSB to take camping was a big mistake. The price was right, it had a solid silver body, plated keys, gold springs, and hidden adjustment screws, but a crappy "J" headjoint which was described as "freeblowing". I guess I needed a headjoint with more resistence as I just don't like the tone I get from this flute. Oh well, live and learn ...

I have a Gemeinhardt and I recently bought an Azumi 3000. I also tried a few Yamahas, and my opinon is that the Azumi is superior to all of them and the Gemeinhardt is bettar than the Yamahas especially for the higher notes. The Yamahas I tested was made in Indonesia but I heard that the ones from Japan is better.

I think it really depends on your back ground in whether you think a Gemeinhardt or Yamaha is superior. The majority and most (if not all) professional, or well advanced, or flute tech, are going to say that that Yamaha is more superior than a Gemeinhardt. Of course since I am familiar with the mechanics and built of a flute and know my flutes like the back of my hands pretty much, I am going to say that Yamaha is superior to a Gemeinhardt in every way. Comparing flutes and studying their built was a long time hobby of mine. To each his own..

I have a gemmy 2sp that my parents bought for me in the 6th Grade.

I would like to have an older Sankyo Etude, Haynes Commercial or something of the like :D.