Hi - I`ve just purchased a secondhand Miyazawa Flute and someone mentioned they weren`t very reliable maintenance wise??? Any thoughts?

My flute professor at UCA has played on her Miyazawa for 34 years and it is still in very, very, very good condition with a beautiful sound to boot! So you should have a Long-lasting flute in your hands.
I plan on getting either a Miyazawa, Pearl, or Brannan-Cooper flute when I get to college. I hope this helps and e-mail with any other question you might have, okay!

My flute professor at UCA has played on her Miyazawa for 34 years and it is still in very, very, very good condition with a beautiful sound to boot! So you should have a Long-lasting flute in your hands.
I plan on getting either a Miyazawa, Pearl, or Brannan-Cooper flute when I get to college. I hope this helps and good luck with it!

wow! I really messed that up din`t I! The second post makes more sense. Sorry.

"My flute professor at UCA has played on her Miyazawa for 34 years and it is still in very, very, very good condition with a beautiful sound to boot! So you should have a Long-lasting flute in your hands."

Why?

I`ve seen Miyazawas that are severely corroded after a few years, and the environment could not be blamed. I hope current models no longer have this problem, but it used to be quite common, and is probably why they died as a popular make in my country.

i know well-established flute professors in the UK that have/used to have Miyazawa and are very happy with them. I also know 3 members of NYOGB that also have these flutes. They are in the top 7 in UK, surely this says something?!
Beth x

Going just by numbers sold is not a great indication of quality. It is more often an indication of very successful marketing, and the field of marketing is riddled with efforts to deceive buyers.

The marketing a decade or two ago here was quite successful until the problems started to become well known. Flute players who payed good money for their flutes did not want to risk problems that should not even exist in student flutes. So quite quickly, the market for this brand completely collapsed.

As I said before, Miyazawa may have improved their act since then. They may have improved it A LOT.

I am not making any comment on CURRENT Miyazawa models, simply because as a technician I do not see enough of them to regard my comments as being valid.

It is OTHER people in this forum who seem to think generalisations about a brand or model can be validly made after experience with only 1 or 2 flutes. I learnt that this was not appropriate years ago.

I have had my Miyazawa for 12 years. I did wonder at the time whether I should have pushed the boat out and gone for a Sankyo. Having tried my friend`s Sankyo since, I am SO glad I didn`t. I know it comes down to personal preference and what you get used to but I love my flute. I get excellent results from it, tone and intonation is very reliable (now I`m starting to sound like an advert!). I have had to have one or two very minor adjustments to it over the years, but these have been general wear and tear (combined with full time peripatetic teaching!) rather than any design flaws.

Meme - what are the problems?
Mine was checked at 2 different music shops by the technicians before I bought it. It is quite old but definitely playable with no major defects though could do with a service. I guess there isn`t a lot more I could have done but I would appreciate knowing what potential problems I could be facing.
I love the sound versus the Pearl 501E I was playing, also it `handled` a lot better.

What WERE the problems...

I haven`t sen one for almost 2 years, but my note book records:

- Extraordinarily sharp C#.
- `Hard, aggressive" sound.
- Soldering which failed.
- Key cup diameter, hence pads, too small with respect to tone hole diameter, making pad seating unreliable.
- Pitting of the silver plating.
- Split E in conjunction with In-Line G, which in a mechanical sense is functionally precarious, and should not be done. As expected, some keys jammed during certain note changes. The flute in question was sent back to Miyazawa, who thought they fixed it, but there was no change. As I had already told the owner, it was a design fault that would forever live with the flute. This is the sort of flute that is sold on Ebay, to another sucker! :-)

"I am not making any comment on CURRENT Miyazawa models, simply because as a technician I do not see enough of them to regard my comments as being valid."

Maybe this is an indication of CURRENT quality then.

Southerngirl, if you are happy with your purchase - you like the sound and the action I wouldn`t worry too much about it. Get playing it and enjoying it

Thanks for all the info.
It does have pitted silver plating but everything else seems in order and the cosmetics worry me less than sound quality and enjoyment of playing.