Hi everyone, I'm new here and I need some advice. My wife and I just inherited our three oldest grandchildren approx. a month ago. Their ages are 14, 15 & 17. Our grandaughter is the 14 yr. old and we would like to get her another flute. She is a freshman in high school and has been playing for three years now and loves it. She is borrowing a flute from the school right now because she broke her flute a year or so ago and her parents couldn't afford to repair it so she's been borrowing a school flute since. Her parents are no longer with us so my wife and I would like to get her a flute of her own but we are in the dark as where to go or what to get. She is playing an Armstrong open hole B foot flute now and she REALLY loves it and wants another open hole B foot flute. Can anyone help us? PLEASE note that since we have inherited these kids we are on a VERY low budget. Thank you in advance for your help, Ron H.

I would suggest browsing through the websites of Pearl and Yamaha. Both of these manufacturers have well-built flutes for good prices. In particular, I would suggest one of the Yamaha 211s. However, if your grand-daughter is thinking about becoming a professional musician, you might look at professional flutes.

(she will need one for college).

Yamaha 211 has not B-foot and has not open hole. If live in U.S.A. you might cantact Nancy, http://www.flutestar.com/index.html
Aused Yamaha 371 might be the one for you.

I've bought a used flute from Susan at www.flutastic.com, and was pleased. Flutestar (mentioned above) is another good place to look. All the major flute dealers (Carolyn Nussbaum, Flute World, Flute Center of NY) all sell used instruments, and will do trials. There is also the usedflutes.com list, if you know what you are looking for and take precautions not to be scammed. Stay away from the cheap, Asian made flutes on eBay. They are junk. But the one Chinese made flute worth looking at is DiZhao. I've played several and they are quite nice. The maker used to work for Powell.
My high schooler plays on a Pearl 665 RBE and loves it. It has some features missing on my 5K+ Miyazawa. So I second the recommendation to look at Pearls.
Good luck in your search.

An important thing is having the child try the flute before buying. This can be arranged in USA with suppliers like Fluteworld. If the instrument is used, this is practically mandatory unless you know well and trust the source enough.

I believe Yamaha 3xx is a very good choice, but this brand tends to be more expensive for similar instruments compared with other brands. Also, confirm she really wants/needs a B foot as this increases the price, the weight and in a certain way, the difficulty to play the lowest notes. Also, if you give here an idea of what your budget is you may get more specific help.

A warning concerning the usedflute list. If you post there might will receive several messages from scammers offering to buy or sell flutes, so be extremely careful or do not post there at all.

I'd like to know about an ARTLEY OPEN HOLE STUDENT FLUTE B FOOT. I don't know anything about these but I saw one for sale and thought I'd check with you folks about it. I don't much about flutes at all so I'll probably be asking ALOT of questions. Thanks, Ron.

Okay, I want to THANK everyone for your fine advice but I'm at a loss STILL. I don't know what you mean when you say things like "I recommend you a Pearl 665 flute, It has professional features like ponted key arms and the sound is lovely." I don't know what the difference is in "Open Hole" flutes from other flutes and if they are any better or how they are different. I don't know what it means when it says "B foot". What difference is a "B foot" from one that doesn't have one? Thanks again for your help, Ron.

this page explain everything about those things you don't know about flutes, like.. offset g, inline g, d roller, e mechanism, open holes, closed holes, b foot, c foot ..... here it is [url]http://www.fluteworld.com/index.php?action=strona&wart=13[/url]
that web explain all with pictures and comments.
bye bye!
I would like to help you if you ask

sorry the link is:
http://www.fluteworld.com/index.php?action=strona&wart=13

I am afraid you cannot buy a flute suitable for your granddaughter without her direct help and her thoroughly trying of the candidate instruments. It is not enough that you learn all the details and intricacies of the instrument, even if you could. She should be able to tell you what she needs, based on her previous experience with school flutes and her colleagues' flutes. Her teacher (if she has one or could contact one) could help a lot and also her band director (though not always).

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i.e. If she is not currently playing an "open holes" instrument, it would be a bad idea to buy one of this kind. Unless this was mandatory in the place she is studying, which I doubt.

I think it usually is better to buy a flute with open holes, because you can use plastic plugs for the holes in the beginning and after a while take them off when you are ready for it.

Thank you ncpnic for the website link.
Also, I know my grandaughter is playing an open hole B foot flute right now. It is an Armstrong flute though I don't know the model. I would like to buy her a flute of her own, as per stated in first post, as a surprise gift. I know it is best if she try it out first but I REALLY would like this to be a surprise. As I stated earlier I wanted to know the meanings of different terms so I would have, at least, an inkling of an idea what was being said. I know "It is not enough that you learn all the details and intricacies of the instrument" but that's not what I was wanting to do. I am in the process of asking her band teacher, at the high school where she is in the 9th grade, what she REALLY needs. I THINK the open hole B foot was what was available for her to use, but I'm not sure. Thank you ALL again for your help and advice. Ron

Beware of buying a used flute without it being play tested, many many flutes are sold in unplayable condition... where it could cost a few hundred dollars more just to get the flute to play.

usedflutes.com and craigslist.com are good to find something local, but you really need to bring your grandaughter with you to try out flutes.

As an example, in my city someone was selling a Yamaha flute that was priced rather nicely and the pictures looked good, but when I went to play it. It would not play. The keys were not sealing. It looked like someone bent all the keys so that the flute could not play and no amount of screw adjustment could make the flute play.

And then there are Chinese flutes that play when you first get them, but over a short time the springs stop springing and the flute is unplayable and unfixable.

So do be careful.