I am a very new player. Opened my first ever flute on Christmas day and didn`t even know how to put it together! The name on my flute is Stagg. What does everyone think of that. What problems might I come accross?

Hi,
Has the plating on your piccolo worn off? I`m considering purchasing a 24k plated Venus flute. Do you recommend it still? By the way, have you any knowledge of brass plated flutes?

Do not waist you money on one of those. Repair techs such as myself will not even touch them when they break. They will break too!

Our of curiosity I bought a cheap $49 nickel flute from ebay, and I`m tickled pink! It`s a great cheapass flute: no joke!

I bought it as a backup, and because -- as sick as it might seem -- I kinda like the soft, mellow sound of a nickel flute for variety. I had a loaner nickel flute once when I was in high school band, and I liked it more than my own flute. So for $49, this purchase was a painless experiment to see whether I liked the old loaner flute or the metal.

I admit: none of my flutes are terribly fancy -- I own a 25-year-old Gemeinhardt student model (my flute from childhood) and an Armstrong 303b. My cheap nickel flute sounds just as nice as the others considering what it is.

My two flutes will be in for repairs shortly, and for $49, I now have something to play while they`re gone.

If I had a child, this particular nickel flute would be a fantastic first instrument. If the child didn`t take to the instrument after a year or so, I`d only be out $49 and it could be given to another child. If my child wanted to pursue playing flute, I`d upgrade.

Of course I wouldn`t bother to repair this thing if it broke ...for $49, why bother? It`s like a bic lighter ... it`s disposable. Point is: this cheap, silly flute a lot nicer than I had expected.

It may seem nice now, but try playing it as your main flute a least and hour a day. Students buy these flutes that literaly fall apart. They are not even worth the $50 in my opinion.

This cheap nickel thing is going to be my main flute for the next six to eight weeks whether I like it or not. I`ll report back in two months to say how well it`s holding up -- and if it breaks anytime afterwards I`ll post that, too.

The cheap ebay flute is an experiment for me as it is. It has a very unique soft tone and it`s fun to play with it. I guess you could say it`s a toy more than an instrument at the moment.

The flute will endure an hour a day of personal practice and two hours per week of county band practice.

The trouble with such a challenge is: these cheap assembly line flutes probably differ wildly in quality from flute to flute. Even if this one lasts, that doesn`t mean another flute from the same maker will.